A behaviorist or a new vet starts from whatever you can show them, and memory alone blurs exactly the details that matter: how often something happens, what came just before it, and whether it is getting worse. A short written record, built over a week or two of ordinary days, turns a worried summary into evidence a clinician can work with from the first appointment.
The Behaviour Itself, Recorded Factually
For each behaviour that concerns you, note when it happens, including the time of day and what was happening in the house. Record the triggers you observed, such as visitors arriving, a particular cat passing the window, handling of a certain area, or a change in routine. Write down the frequency, whether that is several times a day or twice in a month, and the duration of each episode, from the first sign to the point where she settles again. Note what you tried in response and what followed, including approaches that made no difference, since a failed response still narrows the possibilities. Keep the language factual throughout: describe what she did, in what order, rather than labelling her character. Words such as naughty or dominant are verdicts, not observations, and they can pull a consultation toward an argument instead of the behaviour itself.
The Context Around the Behaviour
That behaviour rarely makes sense without the life around it, so document that too. Set out her daily routine: feeding times, play, sleep patterns, access to outdoors or windows, and who handles which care tasks. Name everyone she lives with, people and animals alike, and how she generally responds to each of them. Describe her litter setup in plain detail: how many trays she has, where they stand, what litter fills them, and how often they are cleaned. Then add any recent changes at home, such as building work, a new pet, a house move, visitors staying, or a family member leaving, with rough timing against when the behaviour began. A change that lines up with the start of a behaviour is often the thread the clinician pulls first, and it is the detail owners most often forget to mention.
Videos and How to Hand It Over
Presentation helps the clinician use your record quickly. Put a short summary on the first page: the behaviour in one plain sentence, when it began, and how often it now happens, followed by the dated notes behind it. Bring relevant earlier history with you, including previous vet findings and anything already ruled out, because a new clinician should not have to repeat work another practice has done. If more than one person cares for her, ask each of them to add their own observations in their own words before the appointment; two accounts of the same episode often reveal a trigger that one observer alone would have smoothed away in the telling.
Short phone videos, taken only when doing so is safe and does not prolong her distress, can show posture, sequence and intensity better than any description. Film from a distance, keep clips brief, and never provoke the behaviour to capture it. Bring the written record and the videos together, ordered by date, and be ready to say what outcome you hope for, whether that is calmer handling, an end to night-time episodes, or simply understanding whether she is in pain. Mention anything medical you have noticed alongside the behaviour, such as appetite, drinking, grooming or litter changes, and let the clinician decide what needs examining. At appointment time, KinsLe can hold the paperwork together, because Pet Passport stores her documents as a single packet a new clinician can read in order.