Cat Sense: How the New Feline Science Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet

TLDR: This is a book written by an academic with a very dry writing style. He provides a thorough coverage of the domestic cat’s history as well as its biology and behavior. Despite the marketing of the book, the author does not give cat owners direct advice about how to be a better friend to their cats.John Bradshaw has clearly spent his life in academia, conducting animal behavioral research studies and publishing that research in academic journals. While he is knowledgeable, his writing style is dry and often discursive. I am kind of a geek for cat behavior / biology though, so this was not a problem for me. If you are hurting for cash and looking for a thorough grounding in cat biology, history, and behavior, honestly you can find a lot of what this book covers in this area on Wikipedia 🤷‍♀️Bradshaw makes frequent references to the fact that research is lacking in many areas of cat behavior. He gives some suggestions for why cats may exhibit certain behaviors but always points out when his theories are not substantiated by research. This is not a problem for me either. It is good that he is pointing out that a lot of this book is just his opinion. More research in the field of feline behavior is definitely needed. Props for pointing this out.What is a problem for me is Bradshaw’s ambivalence toward exposing pet cats to the risks that accompany allowing them to roam free outside, as well as the risks that accompany not spaying or neutering them.To very briefly summarize these risks: cats that are allowed to free roam are at high risk of: serious pain injury from cars, animals (including wild and other domesticated species), accidental falls, ingesting poison, exposure, human cruelty; causing pain and injury to other animals (including harming cats whose owners responsibly keep them indoors or restrained outdoors); facilitating the spread of zoonotic disease (ex: parasites, FIV); contributing to public health concerns (ex: toxoplasmosis); negative impact on local ecologies; undiagnosed medical conditions (ex: urinary tract conditions cannot be tracked if owners are not monitoring elimination); death. Cats who are not neutered or spayed are at high risk of developing reproductive related illnesses (ex: mammary cancer, testicular cancer, pyometra); stress and illness due to pregnancy or childbirth; contributing to the well acknowledged global pet cat overcrowding issue. This is not a complete list.Bradshaw does mention these risks, but only incidentally, and he does not instruct cat owners to seriously consider them when making responsible choices for their pets. The implication is that because it is possible that pet cats may be stressed by living indoors, that it is equally responsible pet ownership to allow cats to free roam outdoors. This is not the case. He does not cover the option of harness / leash training your cat as a solution in any significant capacity.I also have a problem with the argument he makes in the final chapter. The domestic cat is in absolutely no danger of extinction due to broadly implemented policies of responsible spaying and neutering. Please refer to any data published by any authoritative veterinary or animal welfare organization. There are many. Pet cat overcrowding is a concern. While Bradshaw makes a few aside comments about the speculative nature of his argument, he also makes much use of a study (of his own design) that he admits is too small to be meaningful to justify his point. In short, Bradshaw states to his audience (this book is marketed toward regular cat owners, many of whom it can be assumed own unaltered cats) that more human-directed breeding is necessary to advance the species. I have a problem with the implications.To conclude, this book contains very little direct advice for how to interact with your pet cat in a way that improves human-cat social bonds. The information provided concerning cat history, biology, and behavior is accurate and thorough. This information is available from other sources that are much more clearly written. The author attempts to establish himself up as an authority of good cat ownership but does not adequately inform readers of the serious risks associated with outdoor cat lifestyle. The author inaccurately describes the scope of the threat that spaying / neutering presents to the future of the domestic cat.

A very valuable book, indeed. A fascinating time for cats and their keepers ('owner' is technically correct but can one really 'own' another living creature?) is right now.The book has some anatomical information - it is good to know that cats are pretty much colorblind and cannot taste anything sweet. More fascinating are the sections about how cat's brain differ from our own - not an easy task because we do not know what is really going within any brain of a mammal including our 'special' brains, to say nothing about non-mammals.I am not the original owner of my cat but she, obviously, spent the early part of her life with someone else and does not seem to be traumatized by that experience. Still, she took her time to become affectionate with me (a month or so) and if someone comes to the house, she usually hides quite well behind the garments in my closet.The conclusion of the book presents almost a recipe how to improve domestic cats. It defines, in my opinion, the ideal domestic cat for the 21st century rather well: a friendly` INDOOR NEUTERED cat. That is, neutered only, after proper evaluation, she is allowed to have one or two litters. That pertains, obviously, only to female cats.The problem with tomcats is quite different. Some of them should never be neutered if, somehow, they are obviously fathers of the best cats possible in a given area. Most of them - as long as they live in homes - have to be neutered since their urine really stinks for essential reasons well explained in the book.Many, many years ago I visited a family owning a mighty male cat and his smell filled the whole floor of an apartment building in an affluent part of the city. I was just a kid then (in the fifties of the last century) and it was not up to me to make any comments on it. But the stink was almost unbearable.The author hints that the 'breeders' of the new and improved (truly 21st century generation) of a cat cannot be commercial breeders. There is no money in it, obviously. The money comes only from the looks, not from behavior. Cat shows cannot, by definition, deal and reward good behavior.My suggestion is simple: various clubs of cat 'fanciers' and cat enemies should get together and figure out how to breed ideal cats defining what ideal cat is in a given area.The author is bit skeptical about the real damage to the wildlife by domestic cats and he correctly points out to the feral (and a few wild) cats as well as other non-felines like rodents. There are places (mostly outside apartment buildings) where the tomcats' odor may not be too objectionable.The book has plenty of ideas for further work in the interest of the cat fanciers and cat enemies and, most importantly, for the future of our beloved pets.Five stars without hesitations. Highly recommended to both cat lovers and cat haters.

This is not a quick guide to understanding your new pet. The author is thorough, sometimes repetitive in the major point of his thesis. This being that only over the past few decades have humans changed their relationship to cats from that of vermin controller to a pampered pet frowned on for its hunter instincts in a modern home or apartment. To validate this point, he gives a very detailed history of the cat. However, for anyone setting out with new kittens there is much to help you re-consider how you relate to your cat. The socialisation of kittens, mother/ kitten relationships and how the cat relates to you, are particularly useful. You will see your cat in a new light if you are prepared to read this thorough piece of research and observation but it takes a little persistence.

For a book that is supposedly aimed at examining cats in great detail, and revealing great mysteries about cats, it does an abysmal job.The information regarding how cats "learn" is laughably incorrect, especially in regards to concepts such as conditioning, and the majority of the book seems to "explain" behaviours by comparing cats to dogs (and how terrible cats are at doing the things dogs can do), going back and comparing wildcats to domestic or feral cats and using the "solitary predator" explanation for just about EVERYTHING.If you know anything about cats, biology, animal behaviour/conditioning or training DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY. I'm glad I got this as a freebie with a gift voucher.

The cat is, of course, like any other animal, open to all kinds of scientific and historical study, including dissection, scanning, and DNA analysis. To those who look forward to their first sight of their pussycat as they open their eyes first thing in the morning, do not complain as the cat walks past the scratching post to rip up the furniture, and drift happily to sleep cradling their purring pet in their arm hoping for another day at home with the cat, commitment to a cat is religion; I knew a boy whose main motive for growing up way to be able to allow his cat up onto the table with being scolded by his mother.John Bradshaw is, happily, a believer, and his cats Splodge, Lucy and Libby (nothing on the naming of cats, perhaps dealt with in his way by T. S. Eliot ‘The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,/ It isn't just one of your holiday games;/ You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter /When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.’ — am I alone in thinking those rhymes are contrived?) and none of the fascinating cat facts presented seem to have been acquired by cutting them open.Actually, the early history of the cat is uncertain (how were they domesticated? By whom? The Natufians? — how much further forward does that get us) and the later history of the cat is distressing. Still, the book is full of information.A lot of this information passes before your eyes several times. Among the many attractive beasts, who did not become the domestic cat, for example, ‘were sand cats, Felis margharita, large eared nocturnal animals that [WAIT FOR IT] hunt by night, using their acute hearing’ (18). And lest it be thought this recourse to pleonasm is momentary aberration, just over the page we find ‘As its name implies, the fishing cat is a strong swimmer and specializes in [WELL, WITH A NAME LIKE THAT, WHAT WOULD IT SPECIALIZE IN?] catching fish’ (20).Bis repetita placent, said someone who could well have been Horace, and who, in any event, had not read this book. Among the oft-repeated truths are: wild cats (now) have domestic DNA; Egyptians regarded cats as useful; cats hunt; black genes are recessive; mice are a balanced diet, but until recently, cat food was not; dogs are domesticated longer than the cat; dogs can be trained to do lots of things, whereas semi-domesticated cats only really do ONE thing; cats are naturally solitary, and need to learn to socialize with others of their kind, as well as with dogs; cats are territorial; the gesture consisting of holding the upright is probably recent… &c &c.While it is true that some truths do not bear infinite repetition, this ought not to obscure the fact that there are many rich and fascinating insights in the book, which will give the ailurophile useful glimpses of the workings of the feline mind.There are things it does not explain:1) Why does a cat who has just peeped out of the back window and discovered it is raining, then go to the back door in the hope the weather might be better there?2) Why do cats, exclusive carnivores, inspect Waldorf salads and bowls of tomatoes with envious glances?3) Why do cats always look askance on cat food?4) Why do cats knead/pound?5) Where did the myth that cats like milk come from, given that many won’t touch it?6) Why is it impossible to give a cat a present that isn’t food?7) Why do cats, who generally avoid water, meow to be let into the bathroom?8) Why do some cats chew plastic (but it is explained that come cats gnaw fabric)?9) Why will a cat who finds its owner reading ALWAYS seek to insinuate itself between eyes and page?10) When there is a shirt on a clean and soft duvet, why will the cat always sit ON the shirt?11) Whenever a box is left on the floor, why will a cat always step inside, and assume a pose of immense seriousness?12) Do cats enjoy speech?13) Do cats like having Radio 4 on?Perhaps there is a place for a book about cat owners? Why do you laugh at cats (the electronic media seem to exist for that purpose)? Why do we say ‘Who’s a silly girl?’? Why do we talk to cats? Why does an even quite comfortable house with no cat in it seem unbearably dull?I did come away after reading this book with a feeling of wellbeing, though, and my faith strengthened.

I wish John Bradshaw lived next door! He is obviously a very nice man who has a very great deal of respect and sympathy for animals, without any saccharine sentimentality. This is a fascinating book which explains so much about why cats do things and gives a real insight into how to approach your relationship with your feline companion to the benefit of you and, more importantly, your cat.There is a wealth of detail on the history of the domestication of the cat which, at times, makes for grim reading and I advise a certain amount of caution, as it is quite harrowing.I have a theory that no one should be able to keep an animal without sitting some kind of test, and this would be required reading if that ever happened!

Lots of interesting stuff about cats as you might expect, though there did seem to be a lot of repetition of the same facts in the earlier chapters. Having acquired two feral cats from the Cats Protection League over 3 years ago as 10-month old youngsters, I was hoping to have tamed them by now to the point that they would happily come indoors and sit on the sofa. It was fascinating to learn why this was unlikely ever to happen (perhaps I should have read the book before agreeing to take on ferals! They are quite happy living out of doors and will come when called but they'll never be house cats). Recommended reading for anyone who wants to know more about what makes cats tick.