Of course, there are more than four books that you might buy a cat lover this Christmas but I would like to select four because I’ve just written about four reasons why your cat loves you!
Catwatching
This is the best book on cat behaviour that you can buy. It was written many years ago and is perhaps the first book available internationally on cat behaviour. You may know that it is written by Dr Desmond Morris PhD. He is a world-renowned English zoologist, ethologist (a zoologist who studies the behaviour of animals) and surrealist painter. He understands all animals including the human-animal and wrote the world famous book The Human Zoo.
Catwatching is a very slim book published in 1986 by Jonathan Cape Ltd. It looks rather old-fashioned but is all the more charming for it. The author asks questions and answers them. He adds information about sayings in which the cat is used. Altogether it’s a wonderful book which I heartily recommend and I’m sure you can but it at a very good price on Amazon.
What Cats Want by Dr Yuki Hattori
This is what I would describe as a Christmas book for the 21st century. It is lightweight with plenty of illustrations. It is easy to understand. The author and illustrator get the message across very directly and straightforwardly. It will certainly help a cat owner become a better parent and companion to their cat.
It is also well illustrated. It’s translated from the Japanese. Dr Yuki Hattori is a Japanese veterinarian and author. He is a bit like the Japanese version of Britain’s Dr Bruce Fogle. Indeed, he may have got his idea to become an author from Dr Fogle who is also internationally renowned as an author/veterinarian.
Veterinarians can obviously impart an extra amount of gravitas into what they say about the human-cat relationship. They can also add-in a sharpness concerning domestic cat health which the average writer about cats cannot.
I would recommend this book particularly for teenage children or perhaps even younger. Youngsters are the future of the relationship between humans and domestic cats. They are the ones who can improve the welfare of cats so this book could be quite important in that objective.
The Legacy of the Cat by Gloria Stephens with photographs by Tetsu Yamazaki
If you want to learn about the cat breeds then this book will do the job. There are beautiful photographs and the descriptions and analysis are excellent and very understandable. It’s perhaps the best book on cat breeds that you can buy. Gloria Stephens is a former cat show judge and knows a lot about the cat breeds and Tetsu is Japan’s best-known cat photographer and a world-renowned international cat photographer. I’m told that he photographs cats without any assistance. If this is true it’s remarkable because when Helmi Flick photographs cats in her studio, her husband handles the cats and positions them and sometimes the owner will also help.
Cat Owner’s Home Veterinary Handbook by Eldredge, Carlson, Carson and Giffin
This is the best book you can buy on cat health and home treatments. If you want to enhance your knowledge about feline anatomy, health, illnesses, paediatrics, geriatrics, general healthcare, pregnancy, chronic diseases and infections et cetera, it’s got it all. It’s a thick book, very nicely written and easy to understand and I highly recommend it to a cat owner who wants to enhance their knowledge. It is not a substitute for taking your cat to a veterinarian when needs must.
Happy Christmas. We need some fun this Christmas as the coronavirus pandemic has dominated and flattened out our lives. Our lives have become more one-dimensional but it is a good time to read a book!
