Sammie, the Ragdoll Cat

Kay Barker
State College, PA 

I'm so grateful to Kris Hopkins for changing the behavior of my Ragdoll cat Sammie. Sammie became very aggressive at an early age and he was attacking me almost daily for no apparent reason. His behavior was not like anything I had ever experienced in any of my rescue cats of the past. I chose him for the Ragdoll’s docile, gentle, unique temperament traits, none of which existed in Sammie. I was certainly at the end of my rope, but also very much attached to Sammie. I had to do something before he would become aggressive with someone else, possibly my young grandchildren. After consulting with my vet and Sammie's breeder on several occasions and not really making any progress in changing his behavior, my vet said he had heard Kris Hopkins was now working in the State College area as an animal behaviorist. Possibly she could help. I called Kris and I think within a week we had set up our first appointment for her to stop by to meet Sammie and me. Kris immediately diagnosed the problem and set up a plan of action for me to work with Sammie. Within a week we were seeing amazing changes. By the end of the training Sammie was no longer biting me. He has become more and more loving and from time to time when the aggression rears it's ugly head, he stops himself and looks at me as though he's saying "I know, that's not acceptable" and stops immediately. Kris was incredible at working out a solution and was very caring and helpful in turning my Sammie around. I actually miss her visits, and I would highly recommend her to anyone who might be thinking about giving up their best friend for whatever reason because, as Sammie and I have learned, change is possible. Thank you Kris, and Pet Behavior Change.