To apply for IFB membership please fill out our application form and return by email to the admissions officer. You will then be contacted via email within fourteen days to arrange an interview.
Cost
Full member £60 Affiliate member £75 with annual renewal.
Interview
To make membership accessible to all, interviews may take place via Skype.
The interview will be held with two full IFB members. We want to learn about you, your experience with cats, your ideas and philosophy about the relationship between human and cat, and your future aspirations. We also want to hear about your academic studies and, if already qualified, explore any areas of special interest or expertise. If you are still studying, we would like to know about your aims and goals for the future.
Application Decision
After the interview a decision will be made within 14 days and you will be informed via email. If unsuccessful, you will be given appropriate feedback and areas for development, and you may re-apply for membership in six months’ time.
Affiliate Members
Affiliate members will be studying to have a recognised academic qualification to the level of foundation degree (or equivalent – level 5) and they will be actively supported while they gain knowledge, experience and academic qualifications.
If you join us as an affiliate member, one of our education officers will support and guide you in your learning. Your mentor will be available for contact by email and/or phone.
You are allowed to carry out client consultations while you are an affiliate member and still studying with the support of a full member, and we will coach you on how to write client-friendly reports. Your reports must be sent to the education officer for feedback and it is recommended you watch our training video on report writing skills. To support your continued professional development, we hold regular webinars with guest speakers from various fields of feline study. We also offer you the opportunity to shadow one of our fully qualified behaviourists, if location allows.
Once you have gained your qualification you can apply to become a full member, we will observe you during a client consultation. This can be done via video or Skype if the assessor cannot attend in person, or if convenient you may travel to one of our full members who will carry out an observed consultation.
Full Membership
In order to be a full member of IFB the applicant has to have a recognised academic qualification to the minimum level of foundation degree (or equivalent – level 5).
In some very rare individual cases we may accept a mature member who has established a good reputation as a feline behaviourist and has the sufficient theoretic and practical expertise, without necessarily having studied at foundation or degree level in feline behaviour. These are people who have a minimum of ten years’ experience, are known to existing Board members for having done excellent work with felines, and are particularly valued for what they can offer newer members in terms of their experience. The majority of the board must agree to a non-qualified person’s membership.
Once you have joined us as a full member, we recognise that you are still learning – like all of us – and continue to offer support.
All members are required to submit CPD forms annually providing evidence of activities, books, articles, DVDs, courses, seminars, workshops and webinars attended, and any other areas of personal development. A minimum of 40 hours CPD per annum is required and the year runs from 1 July to 30 June. Any member joining part-way through the CPD year will have their hours calculated on a pro rata basis. Applicants, if accepted, need to abide by our Code of Practice and Ethics and CAWC Code of Conduct.
Support
Help is always available! You can ask a question on our friendly (closed) Facebook forum, or you can ring or email any of our members for advice.
Questions
If you have any questions about joining us, please contact our Executive Director on info.ifbglobal@gmail.com, or if you feel you would like to apply please complete our membership form and email it to info.ifbglobal@gmail.com.