Lost Cat: A True Story of Love, Desperation, and GPS Technology

Note to self: do not read books about cats during your lunch hour at work, or you may get teary-eyed at a non-optimal time. That said, I loved this. The illustrations are so lovely, and the story is told with a surprisingly deft and light-hearted hand for something that is really quite dark at times. This is, after all, not just about a cat that leaves and then comes back. It's about love and loss and the inevitable ways things change over time. It's ultimately hopeful and warm and charming and I wanted to read it again as soon as I put it down. I also wanted to hug my cat. Many times. All the way through.

Lost Cat is a funny and heartwarming tale of the extent to which people will go where their pets are concerned. After author Caroline Paul is injured in a plane crash, she is depressed and on pain killers. She feels that things couldn't get worse until her shy and easily frightened cat, Tibby, goes missing. She is devastated but five weeks later, he saunters home none the worse for wear - if anything, he seems healthier than when he left. At first, Caroline is thrilled to have him back but then some other emotion sets in - jealousy maybe, a touch of bitterness. After all, she has loved and taken care of Tibby since he was a kitten - how could he abandon her like that? Worse, he now won't eat at home and heads off daily for parts unknown show more without so much as a wink or a wag of a tail to her. She conjures up all kinds of explanations for this new cavalier attitude he has developed - he went walkabout, he went on an important and secret expedition to Antarctica, he's a pirate.

With the help of her partner, Wendy McNaughton who also illustrated the book, Paul tries to discover where Tibby goes when he leaves each day. They attach GPS and a cat cam to his collar; they contact a pet psychic and a pet detective (yes, they do exist outside of Jim Carrey movies); and they tack leaflets to every tree and post. Nothing works until McNaughton convinces Paul that perhaps actually getting out and talking to their neighbours might be the best solution. At first Paul resists, after all, who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of the people living in this quiet upscale neighbourhood in San Fransisco. Finally, though, in desperation she agrees and soon she learns, like Tibby did before her, that there's a great big wonderful world to discover if she is willing to take that first cautious step outside her door.

Thanks to Paul's great self-deprecating sense of humour and McNaughton's wonderfully silly illustrations, Lost cat makes for a fun and funny read. Pet lovers everywhere will recognize themselves in some of the insanity and cat-haters will enjoy seeing their own 'crazy kitty lady' aunt so well and lovingly depicted in Paul. show less

It always seems slightly condescending to call a book "charming," but this one really was. I was looking for an undemanding, shortish bedtime read over the weekend and this off the bookshelf pretty much at random as I drifted by—I gave it to Jeff a couple of years ago, but had never read it myself. The book, by Caroline Paul, tells of her mission to discover where her beloved cat Tibby disappeared to for five weeks—and then came home well-fed, smug and sleek, with newfound kitty confidence. It’s illustrated by Paul’s partner, Wendy Macnaughton, who’s a favorite artist of mine—she did a wonderful graphic essay on the San Francisco Public Library—and the book is, yes, utterly charming, not to mention full of cat surveillance show more tips. show less

A beautifully illustrated book that should only be read in hard copy, not Kindle. It's the brief, but heartfelt, tale about a couple whose cat disappeared. Altho the cat returns on his own, he is obviously eating somewhere else. This drives his people crazy. They start an investigation to find out where he's been and is going back to. The volume morphs into a detective story as they use GPS and a kitty camera. Turns out to be a lovely small tale about our relationship with our pets and our neighbors. Another of those fast reads I need right now and worth the time to dash thru.

This is a very sweet book. It drew me in, and I read it in one sitting.

The author is going through a rough time, when her cat seems to dessert her. It becomes her mission to find him. She feels she must uncover where he is going, but also why he left her.
She becomes obsessed, much to the dismay of those around her.

With the help of posters, persistence, time, and GPS tracking devices, she does manage to get answers. However, the answers may not be the ones she wanted. Be careful what you wish for.

I love this book. It is written with honesty and humour, and with love.

The book opens with a woman in a plane crash. An experimental plane. She's all damaged and stuff, and requires crutches, casts, and all that good stuff. Not sure if the relationship is 'newish' or 'just started' or something like that, but the woman, Caroline, had been dating this woman named Wendy.

The point of noting the newness, is the part where both had been, more or less, on their best behavior. Now Caroline can't be. What with being damaged and somewhat out of her mind on pain killers. So . . . I have no idea why I'm starting this book this way. Right, so, Caroline isn't sure if she can count on Wendy, but knows she can count on Tibby and Fibby - the twin cats who have lived with her for the last 13 years.

Except, somewhere along show more the way, after months of being present in the house (instead of mysteriously disappearing for hours at a time), one of the two cats does a runner. Disappears. A frantic search is conducted. Months go by. And then, Wendy and Caroline are awoken to the sound of a deep mew. The missing cat, Tibby had returned.

Caroline, for various reasons, really wants to know where the cat had been for months. So, she starts doing weird things, like attaching GPS devices to the cat, and cameras, and talking to psychs, pet detectives, and someone who supposedly can teach you to talk with your pets.

An interesting book. I had this vague idea that there was going to be humor involved, at least I had this idea take root based on some of the reviews, or something I'd read. This is not a humor book. On the other hand, I did find myself unexpectedly teary-eyed at one specific point. A deeper less humorous book than I expected.

April 25 2016 show less

My husband found this little gem at the library. Paul wondered where her cat went when he disappeared for weeks on end. As well as other methods she tried tracking him with GPS, which only showed a street map covered with a mass of scribbles like a child's first attempt with crayons. A little video camera on his collar showed he spent hours sleeping among the dandelions, as well as lengthy footage of the back of her own head while he slept on her pillow. Happily she found the answer in the end. This is a very entertaining one-afternoon read. The illustrations were done by Paul's partner, Wendy MacNaughton and are just priceless. This is a creative story by a very astute cat watcher. A must-read for cat lovers, but anyone will enjoy this.