No comments about Cat Tales: Snippets on Life from Our Favorite Felines.

5 comments about Guide to Owning a Maine Coon Cat (Guide to Owning).

1. Of the three books that I purchased on the subject of owning a Maine Coon Cat. This book has the most spectular pictures of these breathtaking animals. The photographer did an outstandling job to catching the image and personality of each animals.



2. "Guide to Owning a Maine Coon Cat" starts out strong with a detailed exposition of the various Maine Coon origin theories: the 'Marie Antoinette'; the 'Viking'; the 'Racoon cross'; the 'Lynx cross', among others (I favor the 'Viking' since Maine Coons and Norwegian Forest Cats look an awful lot alike).

   The author then spends a good deal of print on the Maine Coon personality and the breed standard and colors. The photographs are beautiful, professional and in color.

   It's when we get to the chapters on care, grooming, and feeding that this book strays away from Maine Coons and becomes generic and uninteresting. The photographs deteriorate into advertisements for various grooming and food products. Some show the covers of other books from the same firm that published this book, i.e. T.F.H. Publications, Inc.

   Go ahead and buy this book, but buy it for the first 38 pages.




3. The basic content of this book is generic to all cats, but what sets it apart from others is the very high quality of its pictures.

   The reader can get a very good idea of all the background, behavioral characteristics as well as colors and patterns without a lot of further research. Easy reading for the new MC owner but not as complete as "That Yankee Cat," or "This is the Maine Coon Cat."




4. The basic content of this book is generic to all cats, but what sets it apart from others is the very high quality of its pictures.

   The reader can get a very good idea of all the background, behavioral characteristics as well as colors and patterns without a lot of further research. Easy reading for the new MC owner but not as complete as "That Yankee Cat," or "This is the Maine Coon Cat."




5. The first half of this book is very good detailing the Maine Coon breed, history and standards. Wonderful photos. The second half fails miserably. It is too generic. It does not go into specific details about this particular breed. It just gives the general feeding and caring patterns which are similar to other cats and other books that I have read. It does not tell you what the ideal weight should be, etc. Another area that it fails is to tell you about a specific hereditary trait which I found out about on the internet: hip dysplasia. So only two stars for this book.

5 comments about Hemingway's Cats: An Illustrated Biography.

1. When one thinks of Ernest Hemingway, one usually thinks of a macho adventurer, going on safari, running with the bulls or deep sea fishing, just like the heroes of his novels. One does not often picture him at home caring for stray cats and dogs - yet that's exactly the Hemingway we meet in "Hemingway's Cats." We also meet his four wives and his children, but the stars are the many cats and dogs Hemingway cared for over the course of his life. He often brought home strays, and they became part of his extended family. At one point, he had over 35 cats at his estate in Cuba, and according to this book, he knew the names and family trees of every one. He even let some of his favorite cats eat from the table. This was one dedicated cat aficionado! The most interesting anecdote in the book, I thought, came after Hemingway's suicide, when Fidel Castro came to pay his condolences to the widow. The cats came up to investigate who he was, and Castro paid them not one bit of attention - he didn't pet them or acknowledge them at all. I think anyone who loves cats, Hemingway, Cuba, Florida, or any combination of the above would enjoy this book.



2. Though the illustrations of this book should have been sharpened digitally, they but slightly take away from this warm account of Hemingway's love for his pets.
   
   I seldom mention this, but it was a 6-toed "Hemingway Cat" that spurred me into action one Spring day in 1997. I met Hemingway at his 1959 Pamplona Fiesta. He invited me to join his group. I was a young American freelance writer/photographer from Madrid and he generously let me photograph him. I had just returned from backpacking through the mountains of Tunisia to find a WW2 battle site called Hill 609 at a fortified mountain. Hemingway knew the outfit; he liked what I had done. Despite our difference in years, we spoke the same language.
   
   Long after his death, many years later, a large black tomcat brought a trailing gray and white kitten into my Florida backyard and left it. My wife and I had no kids. I tried not to allow the kitten to adopt us. But that was impossible. She did anyway. I nicknamed her SuperPaws though she won our hearts as simply, Pooky. As she grew into a quietly beautiful young lady and our love for her grew deep, I wondered if Hemingway was trying to tell me something with this strikingly singular big-pawed cat. Her sudden appearance touched me. The big black tom cat that brought her to me, then disappeared from our neighborhood. It made me think of Hemingway and his cats. It made me in the back of my mind wonder if there was any connection at all. I am definitely not superstitious. Still, was there a meaning to this? I had always intended writing a Hemingway book, but never did. Now, I wondered if something -- Hem maybe -- was urging me to go ahead and do it.
   
   Pooky's presence seemed more than happenstance. That spring of 1997 I kissed my wife, JuliaAnn, goodbye and returned to Europe to backtrack Hem through his Paris haunts, back to Pamplona before the fiesta, and then backpacked into Spain's high Pyrenees where I found such strange things as where he and his buddy had hidden bottles of wine to chill in a spring near where they trout fished, and an old piano in a hostel where he stayed, with his name, incorrectly spelled, scratched on it along with a wrong date.
   
   After his death other books filled in unknown details for me. I put them all together, our chance meeting, his interest in me, what I saw at Pamplona, and then what others reported later. Things fitted like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. My memoir, "Hemingway's Paris and Pamplona, Then and Now" was published in 2000. In late 2003, Pooky, our beautiful long-furred gray and white neutered female cat disappeared after a full moonlit night outdoors. We believe she was visiting three new kittens that lived across the street. I was off on a trip but my wife searched fruitlessly, driving around the deep woods behind the houses across the street. No Pooky. The city said they had recovered no dead cats during that period. I figured she might have been catnapped. But losing her was as sad as losing a family member. Worse, the following spring, 2004, my wife of 48 years suddenly developed a fast-growing strain of lung cancer and died. The coincidence of these strange events still haunt me.
   
   Hemingay's fondness for cats always had a subtle but very profound affect on his inner self. All cat lovers know and have felt this but none of us seem to understand why. Yet, there is nothing quite like a cat to make you appreciate the profound pleasure of their company. No wonder the Ancient Egyptians had such reverence for them. Cats were working their wily ways with mankind even back then. As for the peculiar circumstances surrounding the sudden addition, then loss, of a Hemingway cat to our family, I have no answers. But I still love and respect them all, mysterious as they are.
   
   Robert F. Burgess



3. After buying my copy, had to rush out and buy five more for gifts! This is a must have for any Hemingway Fan or Cat Lover!! An enjoyable read but the best is the artistic display of the photos. The photos have a softer side and is so refreshing after a long day of computers and TV's. This book won't leave my coffee table!



4. This is the perfect book for Hemingway fans and animal lovers. Hemingway is seen as a compassionate man who was endlessly devoted to his canine and feline friends. The photographs are beautiful, and the book is very well-written.



5. The tender side of Papa Hemingway? You need to read this biography to get the whole picture of his macho persona. Hem was absolutely devoted to his cats and dogs. The sentiment ran fine and deep. My only qualm with this book is in the quality of the black and white photographs. So many of them are blurry and the contrast of nearly all is downright poor. It makes me wonder if no one around him had a camera that could shoot decent pictures. Composition is generally good, but, man, you would think that some digital enhancement could have improved the lot. The 4-stars are for these faults alone. Otherwise, it is nice to have these selections from his family photo album. The text is always revealing and charming.

4 comments about Natural Remedies for Dogs and Cats.

1. The vast majority of people today believe that commercial pet food provides a safe and healthy diet for their dogs and cats. Veterinarians, who generally receive minimal instruction in nutrition, also recommend feeding only commercial animal food. CJ Puotinen disputes this advice in her latest book, Natural Remedies for Dogs and Cats.
   She's interviewed dozens of holistic pet care experts and studied all the available research on pet care. Time and time again, the evidence points to commercial pet foods as the source of chronic health problems in animals.
   If left to themselves, dogs and cats eat raw prey that they have caught. This gives them a variety of food and nutrients. Even if prepared foods could imitate the variety, which they don't, the processing they undergo destroys the nutrients. Additionally, commercial pet foods contain a host of unhealthy products.
   Puotinen describes the best diets for dogs and cats, and then explains how to achieve that. She even includes some recipes.
   The second section of the book is devoted to natural remedies for ailing animals. She describes the basic nutrients needed by all animals--our pets need vitamins and minerals, just as we do--and how to best include them in a healthy diet. She then explains how various herbs are used in achieving and maintaining pet health. This section also includes recipes, such as one for a natural flea powder.
   Puotinen provides an extensive resource section, including e-mail and web addresses.
   She says her purpose "is to define, explain, and demonstrate herbal and nutritional techniques that many pet owners have used with good results," adding that "an informed owner is a pet's best medical insurance." Readers will find that she has provided all the information and resources they need in Natural Remedies for Dogs and Cats to help them help their pets have long and healthy lives.



2. A 5 star book for sure! CJ Puotinen has provided yet another wonderfully supportive and educational reference book along the same lines as her indispensable "The Encyclopedia of Natural Pet Care". For those of us who want to keep our pets healthy the natural way, this book offers everything from feeding the best diet for our mainly carnivore friends--a raw food diet--to making your own natural flea repellents with oodles of terrific informaiton inbetween. I have saved so much money by making my own tinctures, etc. but more important, have healthier dogs because of what I learned and practiced from these books. That means hardly any visits to a veterinarian! The added bonus is the references in the back of the book. Everything at your fingertips. You can't beat the wealth of information for the price of this book!



3. I have a copy of this book, and of CJ's Encyclopedia of Natural Pet Care. I raise all my dogs (I raise Jack Russells) on an all natural diet. The recipes that I found in these books helped save the lives of a litter of pups that I had who lost thier mother at 3 weeks. At that age, conventional dogfood would not have saved them. And what about the preservatives that are in commercial dog food? I cannot understand how some one can claim to love thier pets, while all the while feeding them food thats full of poison? This book has made me more aware of what the average consumer does not know, and I encourage every one to take the time to do research on BHA and BHT. Those are ingredients that you will find on most of your pet foods as a preservative. Thank You CJ for writing this book, and my pups sure do thank you too. If you start an animal on an all natural diet in the beginning, or a little at a time, it will go more smoothly then trying to change them cold turkey.



4. I didn't find this book so useful. My dogs refuse any otherkind of food except their freshly cooked chicken i prepare for themevery night. Although I tried to follow some advises from this book, I saw that they prefer to starve than eat anything else.I thought they would die since they didn't eat anything for 2-3 days and gave up! The author insists that it's a matter of time that your dog will get used to the new diet, but I see that it is not. I think it has to do with the personality of each and every dog, and that's the reason I will never get a book like this. They don't change their nutricion no matter what I do, so I prefer buying books which deal with their psychological world and ways to communicate with them, instead of books which actually waste my time reading them.

5 comments about The Kitten Owner's Manual: Solutions to all your Kitten Quandaries in an easy-to-follow question and answer format.

1. My daughter recently adopted a kitten and this book was quite helpful to her in caring for the new pet. She had many questions that were answered and she constantly refers to it when situations arise that she needs assistance. This book is great for new parents of kittens.



2. I learned more than I ever thought possible regarding the care of cats. A terrific book, and my only regret is that it was not available some sixty years ago when I started my love affair with cats. I am doubly impressed that the Humane Society of the Unted States has endorsed this terrific owners manual. My hats off to Arden Moore along with thanks for writing such an informative book for all cat owners.



3. There is some very valuable advice on how to deal with your kitten. I immediately stopped playing the foot under the covers game with my kitten in order to discourage her from attacking my toes. There are sensible suggestions on how to say "no" to your kitten. And I'm anticipating a move in the next few months, and I think Moore's suggestion to rub a wet towel on your kitten and then rub the towel on the walls of the new house, so that she'll recognize her own scent, will work. On the other hand Moore thinks you ought to keep a first aid kit for one cat that would easily fill the needs of a family of five, she suggests cutting the handles off of paper bags so that kitty won't get herself strangled in them, she suggests making your own scratching post, and gives advice on how to make several toys that pretty much amount to ones you can buy or glorified versions of regular items (socks, a belt from an old robe) that are sure to bring out kitty playfulness without the elaborate Martha Stewart like construction. I was also confused by some of the eating strictures. One table says kittens can't eat dry food until 12 weeks, but the text has kittens eating dry food much earlier. Moore seems to make light of lactose intolerance, and among her kitty treats includes scrambled eggs with margarine and cottage cheese!!! And her kitty chowder seems more like a human treat to me. Counterpointing the interesting suggestion to give your kitten a small piece of raw tuna as an alternative or addition to brushing are chapters on command training, new age therapies and kitty massage. This is fine and cuddly, though I doubt I'll teach my kitten to do much more than sit, if that, and I'm not taking her for acupuncture. This primer is written not so much by a cat lover as a cat fanatic. (Though I admit that if you're going to be a fanatic, it may as well be of cats.) Still I prefer the more practical down to earth advice of Cats for Dummies, than some of the outlandish, occasionally preposterous, cat adulation techniques of the Kitten Owner's manual. Then again, I am going to try the kitty massage.



4. I have been a cat owner for over 7 years and there was alot in the book that I was amazed at. I never knew you could train your cat to speak and things. I was able to follow the guide and now my cat speaks! It took alot of treats tho!!!
   Cant wait til her next book comes out.



5. Arden Moore's "The Kitten Owner's Manual" is a highly informative, clear and often entertaining answer book THAT ACTUALLY works. So often I have turned to a pet book to help me care for my new kitten and I've come away confused and at a lost -- for ideas and a few bucks. But with this book, my questions were answered about my kitten's destructive habits, its finicky diet and its nervous behavior whenever strangers come into the home. It's a simple and very helpful book that gave me the solutions I needed.

5 comments about Garfield Fat Cat 3-Pack #10: Contains: Garfield Life in the Fat Lane (#28); Garfield Tons of Fun (#29); Garfi eld Bigger and Better (#30)) (Garfield Fat Cat Three Pack).

1. Great reading. Perfect for a relax after a stressful day at work



2. Without a doubt, he's the coolest cat out there in comics. With his crazy insane appetite, his total love for Odie (kidding) and attacking the mailman on a regular basis. This is one that wont disappoint, but again this is Garfield so its hard to do that anyways. Love having 3 books together in one pack, it just goes to show. Even after all these years his comics are as funny as ever.



3. The service was excellent! The books were shipped quickly, and the condition was excellent. My son just became interested in Garfield, and he reads and re-reads these books. It keeps us both happy that he is reading, and keeping his skills up, and he enjoys the material. I'll be back again for future purchases!



4. This book had lots of jokes that were funny. HAHAHAHAHA-HEHEHEHE. I love reading this at night because when I get a good laugh it helps me sleep.



5. This is the best Garfield book ever!I love this book so much I read the book in two days and it has like 300 pages!It has Garfield in the fat line Garfield tons of fun and Garfield bigger and better! If you want these 3 books just get this fat cat 3 pack!

4 comments about The Tao of Meow.

1. Great book for any cat lover
   
   author of "Hobo Finds A Home"



2. This book is, quite simply, a masterpiece. It manages, at one time, to be a book that anyone who has ever owned (or been owned by!) a cat will find laughing-out-loud funny while at the same time being a fascinating look at Lao Tzu's classic 'Tao Te Ching'.

   Each of the poems in Tao of Meow have a lot of similarities to 'Tao Te Ching', which makes the book a fascinating dialogue with Lao Tzu's work. It's an interesting way to gain some new understanding of it. All philosophy should be studied with such a sense of irreverent joy!

   This is a book that you'll want to own and have on hand so that you can thumb through it -- either to learn or to laugh -- again and again.




3. There have been many translations of the Tao Te Ching, but who better to do it than a cat? Cats just naturally understand the wisdom of the Tao. Although this is categorized as a humour book, and is very funny, it in fact a good interpretation of the Tao. Yes, it is meant to be read by humans.

   Besides, this book is worth buying just for the sweet picture on the cover.




4. If you have ever been owned by a cat, you have probably wondered what your pet is thinking at those moments when their smug, aloof feline behavior has you endlessly opening and closing doors, worrying over what cat food will entice their taste buds, or hoping they will come and play with you today. Carl Japikse's cat, Waldo, provides us with many wonderful insights into cat thinking. "The Tao of Meow" is full of anecdotes and cat tales about the simple, common-sense thinking that gives cats access to nine lives, while we, as their faithful nameless ones, have but one life to live in service to them. "Tao of Meow" is a series of 81 short poetry-like pieces reflecting cat thoughts on subjects that range from cats raiding rabbit nests, through a cat's view of human luggage, to insights on what control really means. "Tao" is funny and thought-provoking. Many of Waldo's guideliens for everyday cat living serve as excellent advice for how we humans can live our lives more effectively. This book is a must for anyone who has loved cats and been mystified by their uncanny knack for controlling our human behavior.

3 comments about The Body Language and Emotion of Cats.

1. This was a real eye-opener for me. It was amazing to read of the complex range of behaviours and emotions you can spot simply from looking at a cat. Barry, my spaniel, and I often watch Maureen, next door's Persian as she walks across the wall at the end of my garden. We have detected disdain as she walks away from us with her tail in the air and back-eye winking, and smug pity as she eyes Barry's vain yapping from behind the French windows, but I am intrigued to learn that cats can feel pessimistic and have a rudimentary concept of the bourgeoisie and slapstick humour.



2. Being a cat owner myself, when I found this book I was curious enough for an impulse buy. Once I started reading it however, I found it hard to put down. The detail and explanations of daily behaviors that I saw in my own cats cleared up many questions. Forgive the pun, but my curiosity far from killed my cats, if anything it has brought us closer together. I highly recomend this book to any cat owner who wants to better understand their cat!



3. If you're looking for a fun book about cat communication be sure to pass this one by. It's long on physiology - for example, a detailed explanation about how purring is produced - but very short on psychology: There's little discussion of what causes a cat to purr.

   The author takes a completely clinical approach to her subject matter. For her cat ownership is obviously a very serious business, fraught with difficulties. She addresses only "problem" behavior - as if cats' actions and antics couldn't also be curiously delightful and funny. She perceives bonding with cats as an obstacle for humans, worthy of an entire instructional chapter.

   Somehow I thought that a book with this title would have rich insights into all kinds of cat behavior. I expected some humor; maybe a little anthropomorphizing; and the kind of warmth I feel from the three sweet little furballs now dozing on my lap. No such luck. It has all the charm of an autopsy.

No comments about How to Work Like a Cat 2009 Calendar.

5 comments about The Cornell Book of Cats: The Comprehensive and Authoritative Medical Reference for Every Cat and Kitten.

1. After recently going through a mysterious illness with my 6 month-old kitten, I realized that my reference shelf is severely lacking in cat-care books. I used the Internet to research kitty fevers, loss of appetite, kidney malfunction, and any of the specific diseases my vet mentioned she was testing for, but despite the wealth of information available online, there is no replacement for an expertly-researched cat-care manual. Cat Fanciers maintains an outstanding cat behavior FAQ online, and the Cornell Book of Cats was one of the highly recommended titles. I am extremely pleased with my purchase. This is a book I will be consulting for years to come.
   
   The Cornell Book of Cats contains chapters authored by different subject matter experts. This does lead to some repetition throughout, but this isn't a book intended to be read from front cover to back. The reader should select articles based on his or her particular cat situation. Are you picking out a new cat and need to know which breed will best fit in your home? A new cat owner wanting to cure bad behaviors? A first-time kitten owner in search of medical and kitten-care info? A longtime cat owner with a slightly sickly cat who needs to know if the situation warrants a vet visit? A cat veteran who heard anecdotal home remedy advice and needs an expert opinion on the benefits and risks? Wondering what the reproductive cycle in cats, male and female, is like?
   
   The text is supplemented with high-quality black & white illustrations and breed photographs. Includes an index.



2. The title says it all. If you're not a vet, this is the next best thing, to help you know what to ask your vet when your cat has problems. Also is great for minor aliments and first aid.



3. This copy I bought for our local non for profit shelter. I have purchased at least 10 copies of this book. It is written in a matter that both the professional and the pet owner can understand. It proofs to be most valuable for a cat owner. Educates and helps the cat owner understand both health, anatomy and illness in a cat. Also, valuable when you bring your cat home to understand "just what did the vet say?"



4. I disagree with readers who say that the book is too general or out-of-date. It's a BOOK, not an article in a scientific journal.
   
   That said, I also disagree with readers who say that it's too complicated. I believe that it's an important book for any responsible cat owner to have on the shelf. If you're worried but aren't sure whether something is an emergency or not, you can check here before making a midnight call to the vet or racing to the emergency clinic. If your vet tells you that a condition is suspected or diagnosed, it's a great reference to start to learn more about it, or to help you formulate questions for your vet. No, it's not a replacement for a visit to a vet, but it's a help.
   
   Remember how every new parent read Dr. Spock's book 40 years ago? Well, I see this in the same light. A MUST for cat owners that provides information, helps allay fears, and guides you. If you have a serious question, it gives you the right technical terms to do more research. If you don't remember all of the details that you heard at the vet's, you can use it as a refresher.



5. "A cat is only technically an animal, being divine." - Robert Lynd.
   
   "The twenty-first century may be the century of the cat," says Franklin M. Loew, former Dean of Cornell University's renowned College of Veterinary Medicine in this book's preface, citing statistics according to which even at the end of the 20th century, the number of cats in the United States alone already equaled that of the entire human population of Europe (and with sinking birth rates among humans, it is not hard to guess where that particular trend is headed in the near and midterm future).
   
   Authored by the staff of Cornell's Feline Health Center, "The Cornell Book of Cats" is an indispensable reference guide for every cat owner who cares about his or her feline companion(s). The book provides detailed coverage on every aspect of feline life, from the cats' origin and breeds to cat (mis-)behavior, nutrition, anatomy, reproduction and all major instances of disease and infirmity. Particular attention is given to kittens, aging cats, skin and sensory disorders, internal disorders and medical emergencies. While the explanations do rely on a number of medical/veterinary terms, they are generally clear, comprehensive and easy to understand; in addition, most of the veterinary terminology is defined in a 22-page glossary at the end of the book. Numerous figures, tables, sketches, statistics and photos further illustrate the text; and treatment suggestions are provided for all diseases and disorders described. As the authors point out, this book is *not* intended to make a visit to the vet unnecessary in each and every instance (and sometimes, the remedies suggested here are only the beginning of the path to complete treatment) - but the book does help a cat owner determine when the often not inconsiderable expense of a visit to the vet is truly warranted. Moreover, it is a tremendous supplementary resource to even the best vet's recommendations, and it provides a wealth of background information on our four-pawed friends. Highly recommended.
   
   "A house without a cat, and a well-fed, well-petted and properly revered cat, may be perfect house, perhaps, but how can it prove its title?" - Mark Twain.
   
   Also recommended:
   Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook, Fully Revised and Updated (Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook)
   Think Like a Cat: How to Raise a Well-Adjusted Cat--Not a Sour Puss
   The New Encyclopedia of the Cat