Nils Uddenberg (1938–2025)

One cold winter morning, the author and his wife find a cat sitting on their fence, and, despite having long ago decided never to get a pet, they soon take the cat into the house and into their hearts and life is never again the same. This is obviously a very sweet story about the love that develops between man and animal, but what's really different here is Uddenberg's ponderings on the mind of the cat - being a psychiatrist, he can't help but wonder about the psychological workings of his show more new friend. He's great about not becoming too sentimental about the cat - he is very aware that the cat is becoming a huge part of the family's life, while, for the cat, they are mainly a ticket to food, warmth, and some cuddles. Someone said the read leaves you feeling smooth in your soul and I absolutely concur. (Unfortunately, this is currently not available in English.) show less

"I am a qualified doctor; I am a lecturer in psychology...into philosophies of life...
Nowadays I am also a cat owner or, I wonder, is it in fact the cat who owns me," says Nils Uddenberg

We had our first hard freeze this Fall morning on Alec Mountain. It's a bit chilly inside the cabin and I don't have a thing I have to do today.

I've been saving this little book for just such a morning. I lit a nice fire in the fireplace, pulled my rocker up to the hearth and began reading.

I like to get to show more know the author of each book I review. In this instance, I found that Dr. Uddenberg is a retired Swedish psychiatrist with seven published books; some with serious titles like Prometheus and Dryad : man, nature , technology and ethics.

Not all of his works have fifty-cent words in the title. Some focus on nature and the environment like Vanishing Creatures (eight essays on humans and apes). With his deep interest in nature, I was truly surprised to read that for most of his life he had no interest what so ever in acquiring a household pet.

But at some level I instantly related to his feelings as I have proudly proclaimed for years my distaste for sharing my life with any kind of furry pet; cats in particular.
I can't help it but I get this icky feeling when cats wind themselves around and between my legs. Maybe their independence and arrogance threatens my need to control my own space. Plus there is something just not right about a slinky creature walking around a house with Edward Scissorhand appendages.

So imagine my surprise when an abandoned black kitten shows up at my front door a few months back and I let him into my life. Today, as I settle into my chair, my new furry friend, Itzey, warms himself on the hearth beside me. Together we will see what changed Dr. Uddenberg's mind although I suspect the doctor didn't have a chance the minute the cat chose them.

This newly retired 70-year old and his wife had freed themselves from any encumbrances and were now free to do whatever, whenever and wherever they pleased. When they weren't flying off to parts unknown, they live in a little house in Lund with the traditional picket fence or in their apartment in Stockholm.

Weary from a recent trip to Namiba in Africa the good Professor peers out his bedroom window to discover a cat peering back at him from the top of the garden gate. Dismissing this encounter with little thought, he was surprised several days later to discover the cat in their garden shed seeking warmth by curling up in a basket filled with garden tools.

Two weeks later, returning from Stockholm. the cat was still in the shed and despite the winter cold appeared well nourished and comfortable in its furry coat. But I knew it was all over for the Professor when he took pity on the cat. When he removed the tools in the basket and replaced them with a warm towel the cat had found a new home but it would be sometime before anyone else but the cat knew it.

Carefully and methodically the author describes the process whereby the cat trained them into becoming pet owners. The story unfolds in a voice clearly crafted by years of academic experience and when I begin to feel lectured I remember that I am in a way being lectured. This warm-hearted man is sharing his hitherto repressed feelings in the only voice he knows. He wants us to appreciate the most intimate detail of his developing love affair with Kitty. He wants us to love Kitty as much as he does.

My favorite sections of the book are his descriptive psychoanalysis of the cat's bizarre behaviors.

One other highlight that should be mentioned is the delightful illustrations throughout the book done by Ane Gustavsson.

It was truly worth waiting for just the right moment to read this heartfelt bonding between the old man and his cat. As reported in other reviews, the final pages reveal the true depth of emotion he has developed for Kitty.

Here is an excerpt to entice you to read this charming little book.
"...it has become a philosophical challenge to try to understand at least a little about her world. She is after all a part of my daily social interaction and one likes to understand those who are close to one, even when they happen to be cats." show less

Nils wasn’t a cat person, but a little cat who came to be called Kitty changed all that. When a stray cat started living in a garden shed, Nils and his wife felt sorry for it, and fed it. As any cat owner knows, that was the beginning of the end of Kitty’s life as a stray. Belong many more months passed, she was fed regularly, then spayed, then sleeping inside the house, then had her own pet door, and then pretty much ran the household. This book chronicles the story of how Kitty trained show more her humans, how they became more knowledgeable about the ways of cats, and how they ended up loving each other. It’s a tender tale, but it has its humorous parts, too, especially the chapter on mice. It’s a delightful book, and not just for cat owners. The illustrations are quite wonderful, too. show less

"The Old Man and the Cat" is a wonderful little book. It is a quick read,just a handful of a book, with a great deal to say about human/cat relationships. How the author and his wife become "cat people" could apply to any of us, who, upon finding a stray cat in our yard, find ourselves adopted as caretakers despite our own opinion on the subject. I found the illustrations enchanting. The cat was made especially endearing by the large size of the main object in the illustration and finding show more the cat peering out from above, below or to the side of the object,say a window or piece of furniture. The pencil drawings are fuzzy, and soft and portray the love the author has for his "Kitty" by making the illustrations so very endearing. As a former psychiatrist, Uddenberg questions the behavior of animals, cats specifically and their relationships with their humans. Is it driven simply by the need to be fed and sheltered or the desire for comfort and physical closeness? There are several anecdotes that the reader can relate to and some observations that may inform new owners what inspires their cats behavior. A quick read, highly recommended; would make a nice gift for a cat lover. show less