A Review: Cat Sense

Have you ever thought about what your cat is thinking about, when he's looking at you? Or what he does all day when you're not home? I am curious about what goes on, inside my kitty's brain and why he'll go and do one thing while it doesn't seem to logically make sense to me. I read the Cat Whisperer last month and learned a great deal about why cats do what they do and how to address some of the less desirable consequences of not meeting their basic requirements.

John Bradshaw is the writer of Cat Sense and his book takes a slightly varied approach to Mieshelle's book. In Cat Sense, it's more about the cat as a species, its history of coming to be and includes many factual studies done, to discuss the details of what he is talking about. The breakdown of the book is well thought out and flows well, too. We start about the history of cat and move to cats of the future and go through everything else in between. Bradshaw is thorough in his details and it is clear a lot of research has been done on his part. I like that he includes a few illustration scattered throughout the book where helpful and the various "extras" that he includes in boxes throughout the book. His writing style is clear and easy enough to read for the average reader and the prose he chooses is simple enough for even the non-science types.

I felt like every sentence was teaching me something new. He isn't about dumping a bunch of facts for you to read... no, this is not a text book but rather a critical collection of feline history and behaviour compiled through a logical and thoughtful concept and a logical hypothesis made. A lot of his musings are just that... thoughts and questions based on both what he andecdotaly observes combined with scientific research that he pulls in. He provides a good deal of food for thought about some of the current practices that humans employ, to control unwanted cat breeding and reflects both sides of the debate. I found myself critically questioning things I believe and support right now. It gives a different perspectives and either further reaffirms what I think, or encourages me to reflect about some of the perspectives I hold.

The best piece of information I learned was that our cats view us as a type of surrogate mom and giant non-hostile cat. This all makes sense because mother cats and their kittens are very close and I've seen daughters stay with their mothers for the long term but I rarely see males of the family stick around. I wonder if Buckingham tells his friends that he's got two mommys.

If you have a cat or just have a wonder of what makes animals tick, you'll find this read informative and enlightening. I'd highly recommend all cat owners to pick this book up so they can learn about their fuzzy feline friend!

I couldn't resist!
This is both hilarious and common of what people
think of cats.