Celia Haddon

This book is not really what I expected it to be from its title. The book is a primer on taking care of cats for persons with no experience. It is a dry, humorless instruction manual. Long time cat persons such as myself will find nothing in the guide they don't know from their interactions with their kittens and cats. Because many tips pertain to early kittenhood, a person picking this book up later may be too late to achieve desired results. Better books exist. Skip this one.

Merlin the Monstercat removed this from the TBR pile and placed it on my bedside table. I assumed that I was meant to read and digest the lessons therein. Monster certainly stared long and hard in my eyes to be sure I read this little book.

I think Monstercat must have co-authored this one. He has certainly made an art form of page 33: 'Enter the litterbox and diiig deep, making sure to scratch the plastic of the tray so as to make an interesting squeaky noise. This works particularly well show more if the litterbox is in the kitchen. A blizzard of litter thrown through the entrance also gets attention.' Merlin can make the scratchy sound echo through a two storey house; he can spread litter through three rooms without moving from the tray in the laundry, including into the dogs' beds and water dish; and he has perfected the timing of deposits with mealtimes. Ewwwww.

I believe he is now working on the second volume '100 more ways to train your human'. *sigh*

see more comments here:
http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/3118498 show less

In her introduction to the book, Celia says it's for "cat lovers, cat devotees and people who are willing to admit being mad about cats", which just about sums it up!

She has collected together an anthology of poetry and tales about cats, which are great to dip in and out of. It's a varied collection, from a wide time range,and they've been collected into various chapters:
The nature of cats
Kittens
Cats at home
Nonsense and nursery cats
Miniature tigers
Remarkable cats
Farewell

As a smaller sized show more hardback, this would make a lovely present for any cat lover. show less

A very funny book with lots of humour about what cats must think about us, like why we do useless activities like going to school and shopping when we could do what they do- energy consumption (eating), energy consevatioin (sleeping), more energy consumption (you don't wanna starve) and more energy conservation (sleeping.)