Books on Animals
Cats: General
If you want to buy a book, clicking on the book cover will take you directly to that book on the Amazon.co.uk web site.
See also:
Fiction
dealing with cats
Cats:
Single breeds
Books
on cat behaviour
Books
on cats health and nutrition
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Playing with Cats
With more and more cats living indoors now, play is an important factor in preventing kitty from becoming bored or frustrated. This little book tells you how you can help you cat live out its natural instincts to watch, stalk and ultimately catch prey, using toys and games. The section on behaviour and how cats learn helps you to understand why play is so important. Ideas for creating a stimulating playground for your cat range from a simple cardboard box to more elaborate ‘obstacle courses’ involving shelves and climbing posts. Great book for those owners who want to keep a little bit of the tiger in their lap cat. Older children would enjoy this book too and would have great fun with some of the ideas for playing with the family cat.
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Indoor Cats
Katrin Behrend
Barron’s
ISBN 0 7641 0935 9
This book covers all the basic care of cats such as health, feeding and behaviour with a particular focus on the needs of indoor cats. Each chapter ends with a useful question and answer section. The importance of providing a safe yet stimulating environment is discussed and there is an intriguing idea on how to incorporate a cat trail into your living room with a few simple ramps and shelves. This book would be equally useful for both new and experienced owners, and I can see older children, probably 10+, enjoying reading and carrying out the ideas for entertaining the family cat.
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Bird Watching for Cats - An entertainment guide for indoor felines
Its well known that indoor cats can sometimes suffer from boredom and this book aims to help you brighten up their lives by setting up bird tables and feeders right outside the windows to provide an ever-changing view. The book states that cats will be able to satisfy their hunting and stalking instincts without harming any birds, but I do have slight reservations about this. There is no doubt that cats will be fascinated by the actions of birds so close to hand, but its possible the cat could make a sudden dart at the window pane and end up with more than just a bad headache! Nevertheless, the concept of keeping indoor cats entertained in this way is a good one, but with some degree of caution. There are some lovely photographs and the book would equally be of interest to keen gardeners and bird watchers.
Review by Gillian Harvey
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Cat Sitters Handbook
This is a bit like a driver’s manual, but for cat sitters! And it is a great idea for those cat owners who end up writing copious notes on scrappy bits of paper for their long suffering cat sitter! Its everything your cat sitter needs to know about your cat/cats all conveniently set out in a compact format, you just fill in the blanks. It gives a little advice about choosing a good cat sitter, followed by the all-important section detailing your cat’s particular foibles and fancies. There are some helpful tips for the cat sitter and there is even a feedback form for the cat sitter to fill in so that you can read all about what your cat got up to while you were away.
Review by Gillian Harvey
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Illustrated Catwatching
Desmond Morris's exploration of cat behaviour is presented in question form - Why does a cat purr?, How does a cat fight? etc. The answers provided are simple and straightforward, often amusing , but always informative. The accompanying photographs are stunning, capturing cats of all shapes, sizes and colours in many different situations.
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Catlopaedia
There is a mine of information in this excellent book, covering cat management, feeding, anatomy and physiology, diseases, first aid and behavioural problems. It would be suitable for first time owerns who are keen to know more about their pet, but also for the experienced cat owner/breeder. The sections on signs and symptoms of illness and behavioural problems take the form of 'what if' questions, for example 'what if my cat scratches the furniture'. There are also highlighted 'history tips' throughout, which emphasise information which might be significant to a vet when making a diagnosis of health problems. Highly recommended.
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Housecat, How to Keep your Indoor Cat Sane and Sound
This is written by an American author, Christine Church, and it offers some practical and interesting ideas for providing an appealing and stimulating indoor environment for your cat. The section about acclimatizing a cat to the indoor environment is particularly useful, as some of the author's own cats are used as examples. There is also a very good section on behaviour, signs of stress, aggression etc. The section on de-clawing is directed at an American audience, where the practice is widespread, although less so in recent years, and it may offend the British reader. However the author neither condones or condemns the practice, and does discuss alternatives.
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Know Your Cat's Purr Points
A wonderful little book, which every cat would like their owner to read and study in detail. This guide to transporting a cat to earthly delights is based on an acupuncture manual. It shows cats' most sensitive points, and how they should be stroked, tickled, or otherwise attended to by diligent owners.
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The 9-Life Habits of Highly Effective Cats
This book will delight anyone who has sat as an unbeliever in a meeting laden with management-speak. Cats don't need to study manuals, and they have much to teach us. Learn how to recognise the optimally effective cat. You will never achieve this state, being a mere human, but you can move towards enlightenment by studying cat wisdom. The illustrations are cool too.
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Dancing With Cats
Very gentle humor, and hilarious photos from Heather Busch. Burton Silver wrote the text, which parodies New Age-speak, in such a gentle way that even dancers who use this sort of language are forced to smile. A book that will leave you feeling at one with the universe, and aware that yes, your cat really is laughing at you.
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Yoga for Cats
This is a yoga manual for cats which is both funny and serious. It will appeal to stressed out owners, both for the illustrations and for the text. Purists may argue that cats do not need yoga manuals, they already have the knowledge and wisdom, but purists would be missing the point. Enjoy this book, it is a real treat.
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277 Secrets Your Cats Want You to Know
This is a fun book which is packed with information from the most trivial cat facts to some deep insights. It's worth reading just for pleasure, and those moments of recognition when you look at your cat and start to undertand more. It's also a very practical guide to enjoying life with your cat, with tips on a wide range of topics, from litter boxes to communication between humans and felines. This is an ideal book to dip into, and is a surprisingly good reference book, as well as being very funny.
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Wild Cats of the World
This new book on wild cats is a delight for cat lovers. It's a fat book, which is well-illustrated, and it brings together a lot of information on wild cats, big and small. Understanding wild cats is one way of understanding our domestic cats, and why they behave the way they do. The authors make explicit links between wild and domestic felids. Critics may quibble at some of the entries and interpretations, but it is a massive task to bring together up-to-date information on the world's felids, and make it accessible and enjoyable to read for a non-specialist readership. This book is very well illustrated, and a delight to browse through, to discover the numerous species of smaller wild cats that few people know exist.
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Cats into Everything
This is the story of a Californian household with nine cats, who have trained their human slaves to cater for their every whims, and record their star turns with photographs. The photos are excellent, and the little stories give many insights into cat behaviour. There's even a record of what happens on the household bed at night when the couple are asleep - they set up a camera to record the cats' night-time adventures. This is a very entertaining book, and it's reassuring to know that there are other people who are as dotty about their cats as we are.