How to Talk to Your Cat [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

My daughter and I read "How to Talk to Your Cat" and were amazed by the number of inaccuracies stated throughout the book.

The author states that cats are "completely self-sufficient and can leave you at any time and go off and make a living." It's this kind of ignorance that contributed to the explosion in the feral cat population we face today! People pick up and move and abandon their cats thinking they can fend for themselves. Hunting is learned by watching other cats, and then putting those lessons into practice until they are perfected. Offspring of non-hunting cats rarely make good hunters themselves. In other words, house cats that have never been outdoors could never just "leave at any time and go off and make a living." They'd starve to death!

She also states that "cats are loners" and they "don't like company, including other cats." Cats are not anti-social. They have intricate social interactions with their own kind. Two of my cats are very social; they love the attention of people (even those they just meet) and the camaraderie of other felines. Feral cat colonies are found in every city and town throughout the world--the perfect example of their social nature. Cats also possess the ability to form close friendships with people. I own 8 cats and I have a unique relationship with each one. They are my babies and I couldn't imagine life without them.

She recommends only having one cat. She goes on to state "cats dislike other cats and will fight." Cats are social beings; they do like other cats and the only time they fight is to establish territory or male dominance, not because they dislike one another.

The author tells us that cats are o.k. with our leaving; they will not sulk. She doesn't know my cat Amber. Once I pull out the suitcases, she knows what's about to follow. She follows my every move when I go from room to room to gather things to pack all the while whimpering. I once had to cut a vacation short when her caretaker told me she wasn't eating or using the litter box. She was so upset by my absence.

Finally, she states that "the deeper the claws dig [into furniture], the more status the cat has." Huh? Scratching is a way of marking territory. Depth of the scratch has nothing to do with status. Feline social standing is measured by the amount of land a cat can lord over it. At the top of the hierarchy are unneutered males, followed by females that haven't been spayed, spayed females and at the bottom are the neutered males.

Her book would have been better suited for the fiction, not non-fiction classification.

I find it ironic that the author doesn't even own a cat, yet somehow she feels she has the knowledge and expertise to write a book about them.

I really enjoyed this book. I have read many books on cats and this is just about the best one. Informative yet entertaining when reading it. You will understand you cat better and have fun doing it. Very well written on a level for both young and old and not boring anyone.

This entertaining and informative book touches on the history of cats and shows young people the various ways cats communicate with their human companions. Readers discover that cats can have as many as 19 different ways to say "meow" and that their tails, ears, and whiskers play an important role in their communication with people and other cats. While much of the material is a wonderful introduction on cat behavior, the author talks about cats going outside freely at night (most humane groups advocate cats remain indoors for safety) and notes that those cats will eventually get into fights. She also mentions their eventual return home with bloodied wounds, but fails to advise the reader (supposedly young children) to get the feline proper veterinary attention. This was my only disappointment with the book, however, and it should not be dismissed on this one account, as there is good information in here for little learners.