Masson - a psychoanalyst- went out and purposefully acquired five cats to live with him, then observed their behavior and interactions. Each chapter of the book examines in depth the character of cats via nine distinct emotions or mental states: narcissism, love, contentment, attachment, jealousy, fear, anger, curiosity and playfulness. As the book- and Masson's relationship with his cats- progressed, I enjoyed speculating along with the author why cats do many eccentric things, and comparing his observations with my own experiences living with cats. If you've ever lived with a cat, or wondered at their alien nature- aloof, uninvolved, mysterious- you will certainly enjoy and learn from this book.

From the Dog Ear Diary ( )

What I Enjoyed

(1) The stories about the author's own cats & his relationship with them. They really reflected the love he has for them and they for him. They were also quite funny.
(2) How the author addressed cat behavior (and dog) from an evolutionary standpoint. He says that because humans and dogs both evolved to live in groups, while cats evolved as solitary animals, people see dog behavior as "normal" and often look at cat behavior as something requiring explanation when in fact it is perfectly normal.
(3) How he tempered his statements that cats don't generally need us with the caveat that they do love us regardless. He seemed to respect both the cat psyche and the bond that people and cats have.
(4) The anti-declawing and pro-spay/neuter stance. Not revolutionary, but I am surprised at how many people don't know what declawing really is.

What I Didn't Like
(1) His insistence that cats are meant to be outdoors and that by keeping them inside we are in some way harming them or hurting their quality of life. It's easy for a man who lives on an beach in a New Zealand rain forest to let his cats outside and feel pretty safe - no natural predators, he knows all his neighbors, the dogs nearby are nice, etc. As an urban apartment dweller, its just not possible for my cat to go outside, and I don't think he would want to. Every time I take him outside (holding him or on a harness) - he curls up into a little ball! I think it's ok to make some compromise in the name of safety.
(2) The sort of lackadaisical attitude he had toward cat safety in general. He talks about how cats do what they want and go where they want and basically says that if your cat wants to run away, you should let him/her because cats need to be free. It seems like this attitude again ignores safety and quality of life issues for a cat - what happens to a cat after it runs away? It also ignores the emotional bond that humans have with their cats.

Other than these two issues, I thought the book was fun. I learned a fair amount about the psychology of cats - although most of his conclusions were based on conjecture and observation of his own cats, rather than on any hard science. It was a nice light read. ( )