Out now! Scaredy Cats! Fight, flight, freeze...and feline?

With arborist Duane Hook and feline behaviorist Kristyn Vitale, Ph.D. and behavioral biologist Lee Niel, Ph.D.

👇 New episode dropped - listen here 👇

Scaredy Cats! Fight, flight, freeze...and feline? with arborist Duane Hook and feline behaviorist Kristyn Vitale, Ph.D. and behavioral biologist Lee Niel, Ph.D.

What’s really going on with fearful cats - and why should we rethink the label “scaredy cat”? Behavioral biologist Dr. Lee Niel shares expert insights on how to read cats’ signals and understand what they’re trying to tell us. Returning guest expert Dr. Kristyn Vitale explores the environments and conditions that can create so-called scaredy cats. Finally, meet arborist and emergency responder Duane Hook, who rescues cats stuck in trees and offers a unique perspective on feline fear, trust and resilience.

Check out Cat in a Tree Emergency Rescue at catinatreerescue.com.

Special thanks to Georgia Mason, Ph.D. of the University of Guelph.

Support the podcast at https://ko-fi.com/6degreesofcats for as little as $1 / month for stickers, early access to new episodes and behind the scenes audio. View the show notes and more on The Captain’s Log, the companion podcast newsletter here: linktr.ee/6degreesofcats.

And check out these supplementary episodes:

• 5 Ways to Say ”I Love Mew”: Using the 5 Love Languages…With Your Cat?

• Cats Are the Consummate Domesticate: Origins and Evolution of Our Feline Friends [Pilot]

About the experts:

• Duane Hook, an Ohio-based arborist and cat rescuer has been helping cats in North America down from trees since 2010. You can watch his harrowing rescue missions on TikTok (tiktok.com/@getmeowtahere) and YouTube (@DHook) - all happy outcomes! - and learn more about his work at getmeowtahere.com.

• Kristyn Vitale, Ph.D., is the founder of Maueyes and star of Netflix’s hit feature film, “The Mind of a Cat”. Her innovative research on cat behavior and human-animal interaction has been published in multiple peer-reviewed journals and been covered by such international publications as Science, National Geographic, The New York Times, and The Times of London.

• Lee Niel, Ph.D., is a behavioural biologist trained in animal behaviour and welfare with expertise with both laboratory and companion animals. Dr. Niel holds the Col KL Campbell Chair in Companion Animal Welfare at Ontario Veterinary College at Canada's University of Guelph, and her research and teaching are focused on the behaviour and welfare of companion animals.

Producer, writer, editor, sound designer, host, basically everything*

• Captain Kitty (Amanda B.)

* with co-executive producers Binky & Snuggles and new associate Peanut

Animal voices include:

• Binky, Snuggles and Peanut _^..^_

Music:

• Leathered: "Look Alive" © 2025

• Additional sound effects from Pixabay.com

Logo design:

• Edward Anthony © 2025 (Instagram: itsmyunzii)

Research used:

• Adolphs, R. (2013, January 21). The Biology of Fear. Current biology : CB. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3595162/

• Cantor, C., & Price, J. (2007, May). Traumatic entrapment, appeasement and complex post-traumatic stress disorder: Evolutionary perspectives of hostage reactions, domestic abuse and the Stockholm syndrome. The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17464728/

• Chetty, R., Hofmeyr, A., Kincaid, H., & Monroe, B. (2021). The Trust Game Does not (only) Measure trust: The risk-trust. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics). https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/soceco/v90y2021ics2214804319302290.html

• Costandi, M. (2023, February 15). Your brain is wired to detect fear, outside of your conscious awareness. Big Think. https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/brain-fear-unconscious-awareness/

• Davis, D., Hogan, A. A., & Hart, D. J. (2025, September 19). Myths of trauma memory: On the oversimplification of effects of attention narrowing under stress. Frontiers. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1294730/full

• Dawson, L. C., Cheal, J., & Mason, G. (2019, November). Humans can identify cats’ affective states from subtle facial expressions. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/336964729_Humans_can_identify_cats’_affective_states_from_subtle_facial_expressions

• Evangelista, M., Watanabe, R., Leung, V., Monteiro, B., O’Toole, E., Pang, D., & Steagall, P. (2019, December 13). Facial expressions of pain in cats: The development and validation of a feline grimace scale. Scientific reports. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31836868/

• Fitzpatrick, K. (n.d.). Animal lover. Dorothy Parker Society. https://dorothyparker.com/dorothy-parker-haunts/animal-lover

• Fraidy-cat - etymology, origin & meaning. etymonline. (n.d.). https://www.etymonline.com/word/fraidy-cat

• Graham, C., Pearl, D. L., & Niel, L. (2024, January). Too much too soon? risk factors for fear behaviour in foster kittens prior to adoption - sciencedirect. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168159123003131

• Hancock, P. A., Kessler, T. T., Kaplan, A. D., Stowers, K., Brill, J. C., Billings, D. R., Schaefer, K. E., & Szalma, J. L. (2023, March 27). How and why humans trust: A meta-analysis and elaborated model. Frontiers in psychology. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10083508/

• Hardee, J. T. (2003). An overview of empathy. The Permanente Journal. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5571783/

• Indecency, Obscenity, Profanity and the 7 Words Forbidden by the FCC. Pacifica Network. (2025). https://pacificanetwork.org/indecency-obscenity-profanity-and-the-7-words-forbidden-by-the-fcc/

• Kolaitis, G., & Olff, M. (2017, September 29). Psychotraumatology in Greece. European journal of psychotraumatology. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5632764/

• Lamotte, S. (2021, October 27). Why am I a scaredy-cat and you’re not? The Science of Fright. KSL.com. https://www.ksl.com/article/50269734/why-am-i-a-scaredy-cat-and-youre-not-the-science-of-fright

• Li, Y., Zhi, W., Qi, B., Wang, L., & Hu, X. (2025, September 19). Update on neurobiological mechanisms of fear: Illuminating the direction of mechanism exploration and treatment development of trauma and fear-related disorders. Frontiers. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/behavioral-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2023.1216524/full

• McLeod, S. (2025, March 18). Albert Bandura’s social learning theory in psychology. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/bandura.html

• professional, C. C. medical. (2024, December 19). What is the limbic system?. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/limbic-system

• Ray, K. S. (2020, May 17). Scaredy cat: Why is that?. De facto Cat. https://defactocat.wordpress.ncsu.edu/2020/02/15/scaredy-cat-why-is-that/

• Scaredy-cat. Cambridge Dictionary. (n.d.). https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/scaredy-cat

• Schlote, S. (2023). History of the term “appeasement”: A response to bailey et al. (2023). European journal of psychotraumatology. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10078115/

• Schmidt, N. B., Richey, J. A., Zvolensky, M. J., & Maner, J. K. (2008, September). Exploring human freeze responses to a threat stressor. Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2489204/

• Why are cats scared of thunder and fireworks?. Purina US. (2025, June 5). https://www.purina.com/articles/cat/behavior/understanding-cats/are-cats-scared-of-thunder-fireworks

• Zak, P. J. (2024, February 20). The neurobiology of trust. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-neurobiology-of-trust/