I thought at first this book was going to be nothing special- personal stories about the author’s cat, alongside historical stuff about how they came to live alongside humans, how revered they were in Egypt, how they’ve retained their wildness in form and behavior, etc. But then just when I thought this was like any other books about cats, it started to get really interesting. There’s a section about scientific studies done on how early kittens should be socialized to human contact. Another about how specifically cats aim their vocal communication at humans- not each other. There’s a description of a group in Rome that feeds and provides for feral cats- including adopting them out- and all the controversy about supporting feral colonies this way: is it really helpful? also more on the debate if cats are responsible for reducing songbird numbers. More on why cat problem behaviors arise, with strong nods to the guy who does the My Cat From Hell show, and lots about how the comfort of a cat in his environment is so important to his mental health, and state of calmness. There’s much about what makes indoor life for a cat enjoyable and satisfying (high places, play that involves the whole hunting prey sequence, not getting scared or stressed by loud noises, punishments, etc) and then a very personal in-depth consideration of dealing with an older cat’s final illness and passing on. There’s grieving, and then the joy of a new kitten in the household again. So yes this book does have a lot of what my cat did stuff- and it’s delightful to read, but there’s also so much about recent or fairly unknown studies on cats, and what we can learn from them, and how that can make the lives of cats among humans better. He’s got an interesting opinion that most cats are standoffish and seem uncaring, because they lived with people who didn’t show them much affection! Also his idea that: if most indoor pet cats are sterilized, because that’s what good pet owners do nowadays, but the shelters and rescues keep getting filled by kittens born to the feral and semi-feral cats still roaming around- which are then fixed and hopefully find new homes- are we inadvertently selecting for cats that are less people-friendly? Because unless you’re on an island, there’s always wild fertile cats out there that will wander in and fill the gaps in feral colonies. I had never quite looked at it from that viewpoint before.
Borrowed from the public library.