Who We Are

Meet the Founders of Happy Cats Wellness

Hello, and welcome to Happy Cats Wellness. We are Cathryn and Gene Jirlds, and we founded Happy Cats Wellness with a simple but powerful mission: to help you keep your cat happy and healthy through preventive health care.

Our motto is, "A happy cat makes a happy home." And we truly believe that. But getting there? Well, that's been quite a journey for us, and we want to share that journey with you.

Who We Are

We believe that the animals we share our lives with deserve dignity and respect. They deserve access to the resources they need to live the kind of lives that lead to contentment, good health, and happiness. 

That probably sounds pretty straightforward, right? And yet, for much of the time we've been caring for cats, we struggled to figure out exactly what that meant in practical terms.

Like so many cat owners, we relied on conventional wisdom. We asked family and friends for advice. We turned to Google when problems came up. And you know what we discovered? Most of the advice was confusing, conflicting, or just plain wrong.

We learned the hard way that cats don't always get the care they need for good health. When cats don't have the resources they need for normal behavior, stress builds up. That stress causes them to act out in ways that make everyone unhappy. And those behavior problems can lead to real medical issues.

What is Preventive Health Care?

Before I tell you how we got to where we are today, let me explain what we mean by preventive health care, because it's at the heart of everything we do.

Preventive health care means being proactive instead of reactive. It means regular wellness exams, even if your cat seems perfectly healthy. It means screening and lab work to catch problems before they become serious. It means creating a home environment that reduces stress and prevents behavioral issues in the first place.

Think about it this way: cats are masters at hiding discomfort and illness. In the wild, showing weakness could make them vulnerable to predators. So they've evolved to be incredibly good at concealing pain and sickness. That means by the time we notice something is wrong, the problem might already be advanced.

That's why regular physical exams and lab screening are so important. Your veterinarian has the trained eye to spot the subtle signs you might miss. Lab work can reveal issues that aren't visible from the outside at all. 

Early detection means early intervention, and that can make all the difference in your cat's quality of life and longevity.

But preventive health care isn't just about veterinary visits. It's also about what happens at home every single day. It's about understanding your cat's essential needs and providing an environment where cats can thrive.

Why We Created Happy Cats Wellness

So why did we decide to create Happy Cats Wellness and share what we've learned? Well, that brings me to the real heart of our story. It all started with a little kitten named Eddy Peabody.

Let me take you back to that summer morning that changed everything for us.

I had just come home from a taichi class when my mother met me at the door.

"There are kittens underneath the deck," she said. "This is the second day I've watched them playing in the grass. They're very young. Just a few weeks."

"Have you seen the mother cat?" I asked.

"Not once," she said. "I think she may have abandoned them."

And that's how it began. Our relationship with Eddy and his sister Lucy.

When we took them to the vet for necessary tests and vaccinations, we discovered that Lucy was immensely adoptable. Sweet, healthy, and outgoing. But Eddy was a different story. He had several congenital issues that kept him low on the adoption list. Issues we didn't fully understand at the time.

Driving home from Eddy’s first visit with the veterinarian, looking at that tiny, frightened little kitten in the carrier, we both told him, "Don't worry, little guy; you're coming to live with us, and you're going to love it.”

There was no way for us to know then just how much Eddy would come to mean to us, or how he would transform our understanding of what cats really need.

Eddy's Impact on Our Lives

I won't tell you that taking care of Eddy has been easy. His medical and physical issues have been demanding. But here's the thing: it's been absolutely worth it. We would happily do it all over again.

Eddy gives back in love far more than what caring for him requires. And he's taught us so much. He's such a little trooper. No matter what medical issues he's faced, he always bounces back. And he trusts us implicitly. That trust is humbling and precious.

It was in caring for Eddy's health and medical needs that we came to a sobering realization: we knew much less about caring for cats than we realized. That realization became a turning point. I asked our veterinarian where I should look to learn about cat behavior and their essential needs. She introduced us to resources from organizations like the American Association of Feline Practitioners, the Indoor Cat Initiative from Ohio State University, and other evidence-based sources.

The more we learned, the more we realized how much we hadn't known. And when we shared the information with friends who are also cat lovers, we discovered that they were just as unaware as we had been about their cats' essential needs.

Our Mission

That's when it occurred to us that most cat owners and their cats could benefit from this same information. Maybe we could help bridge that gap between what cats actually need and what people think they need.

That was the point at which we decided to build Happy Cats Wellness. Our mission is simple: to make the essentials of cat care available to others like us—people who love cats and want to give those cats the best lives possible.

With the help of our veterinarian and the trusted resources we found, we learned how to reverse unwanted behaviors and, even better, how to prevent them in the first place. We learned about environmental enrichment, the importance of regular wellness exams, how to be effective health care advocates for our cats, and so much more.

We built our website, happycatswellness, and our podcast, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Podbean  to share that information with other Cat Champions.

Why This Matters

Here's something that might surprise you: controlled studies show that many cats are not getting the care they need for healthy, happy lives. Visits to veterinary practices have been declining. Too many cats aren't receiving routine wellness exams because their owners don't realize how essential those visits are.

There's a common misperception that if a cat seems fine, regular medical check-ups are unnecessary. But remember what I said earlier: cats are experts at hiding discomfort. By the time problems are obvious to us, they may already be serious.

Declines in wellness care are directly correlated with increases in preventable and treatable diseases. That breaks our hearts, because so much suffering could be avoided with the right information and preventive care.

That's why we're here. That's why we created Happy Cats Wellness. We want to help you give your cat the best life possible, and we want to make it easier for you to do that.

Join Us

We invite you to join our community of cat lovers who are committed to giving their cats the care they deserve. Explore the resources on our website, and stay

tuned to our podcasts as we dive deeper into all aspects of cat care.

Eddy Peabody inspired us to start this journey, and now he serves as our Chief Feline Officer, our constant reminder of why this work matters. Every cat deserves a home filled with understanding, compassion, and the resources needed for a happy, healthy life.

Thank you for being here with us. Together, we can give our cats the lives we know they deserve. Until next time, remember: a happy cat makes a happy home.