Explore the role of scent in cat social relationships

Kristyn Vitale

Dr. Kristyn Vitale is a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (CAAB) and an internationally recognized expert in cat behavior. She is a researcher and educator in animal behavior, companion animal welfare, and human-animal interaction. Vitale received a Master of Environmental Science from Miami University (USA), where she studied free-ranging cat social behavior, and a Ph.D. in Animal Science from Oregon State University (USA), where she researched cat social cognition and human-animal interactions. She also served as a Visiting Research Fellow at Kyoto University (Japan), where she studied cross-cultural differences in the human-cat relationship. Vitale’s main area of expertise is focused on human-cat interactions, cat social behavior, and the impact of life experiences, such as cat training and socialization classes, on cat cognition. In addition to her work with cats, she has supported research into dog-human and dog-dog attachment bonds, dog-assisted interventions for children, and the impact of human socialization on domestic pig behavior. Her research has been internationally featured in media outlets such as Science and National Geographic, and in documentaries such as How the Cat Conquered the World (ARTE France) and Inside the Mind of a Cat (Netflix). She is the founder of Maueyes Cat Science and Education, an organization dedicated to enhancing cat welfare and strengthening the cat-human relationship through education, behavior consulting, and science outreach.