Thomas McNamee

I'm going almost the full five stars on this because it's the best cat book I've read to date. I've not read a ton, to be honest, but McNamee manages to capture both the science and the essence of the relationship between a cat and its owner. He is undoubtedly a man coming at the subject with heartfelt appreciation and love for our feline overlords and his advice is rational, sound and passionate.

I learned a lot from this book. I never knew that the sticking out of the tongue was a sign of friendship and acceptance; I always thought Easter-cat just left her tongue sticking out sometimes. The front leg stretch isn't really a stretch, so much as it's a gesture of acceptance and friendship. McNamee has me a little stressed out about Easter-cat's insistence on only eating dry food. Small things like that, as well as much bigger issues like separation anxiety have given me much to think about.

McNamee also talks about a lot of very sticky issues, especially regarding breeding, the cat's need to hunt, and the feral population problem that plagues communities around the world. His overview of how Italy - specifically Rome - is tackling the issue is an inspiration, if not a complete solution. I think he does a phenomenal job bringing home the basic idea that cats (and any pet for that matter) are not merely personal possessions or accessories; they are living creatures with as much right to quality of life and dignity as we might and arrogant humans so.

This book is a weaving of science and personal anecdotes about the author's cat, Augusta. Those personal parts are brilliant, and sometimes nail-biting. Full disclosure: I flat-out skipped chapter 7 on sickness and death. I'm a sissy, and the first 6 chapters convinced me that McNamee was going to write chapter 7 with at least as much passion and heartfelt sincerity and there aren't enough tissues in the world to get me through that chapter.

I knocked off half a star because some figures at the start seemed to fantastical to be true, and though there is a notes section at the back, those figures weren't cited, leaving me and others feeling distrustful of the data. Otherwise, I thought this was a brilliantly written, fantastic resource for anybody who wants to be a better cat slave.… (meer)

This book was less about the inner lives of cats, or the science and secrets of cats than an ode and memoir about the author's cat, Augusta. The science bits were interesting though some of the numbers quoted lack a reference and make verification difficult. There were also many interesting sections on feral cats in Rome, sensory input and raising kittens and the semi-domestic nature of cats, as well as the stupidity of humans who keep wild animals in their homes and are surprised when it eats them or shreds the house. The majority of the book involves stories about Augusta. Sometimes these stories tied in with the more informative parts of the book, sometimes they didn't. I haven't lived with a cat for years, so I'm not as inclined as cat-owners to go all soppy over the Augusta sections (maybe if Augusta was a German Shepherd it might have been different), but I did find the book entertaining and well-written though lacking in science.
_________________________________________________
OTHER BOOKS:

-The Lion in the Living Room: How House Cats Tamed Us and Took Over the World by Abigail Tucker

- Furry Logic: The Physics of Animal Life by Matin Durrani & Liz Kalaugher

- Domesticated: Evolution in a Man-Made World by Richard C. Francis


… (meer)

Some people think that the story of his cat Augusta detracts from the factual aspects of the book, but I think it's what keeps the book from getting too dry. And believe you me, there is nothing dry about the last chapter or two. It is kind of like Marley and Me in that way, but even more so for me because I'm a cat person. It also doesn't help that my beloved Sweetpea, 16 years old, has been diagnosed with cancer.

Whereas I read the end of Marley and Me on a plane, crying like a baby while some stranger had to sit next to me, I read the end of this book at home and had access to a lot of tissues and a cat to cuddle. I recommend the latter!… (meer)

I enjoyed McNamee's book and encountered quite a bit of new information about the problem of feral cats and cat communication and vocalization. However, the book is generally not about what the title claims that it is: the inner life of cats. There is also some information presented that seems unnecessarily obvious: what to do if your cat goes missing, for example. Prospective readers who have recently lost a beloved animal should also be advised that McNamee describes the decline and euthanasia of his longtime feline companion, Augusta, in a fair bit of detail.

Although it is largely expository, The Inner Life of Cats does contain engaging memoir elements. McNamee tells us the story of Augusta, who was abandoned as a three-month-old kitten on a road near his Montana ranch. I mostly enjoyed reading about Augusta's adventures, and I certainly understand the author's desire to give her an enriched life of outdoor freedom, though it is not what I would choose to do. However, I have to say I was very uncomfortable with his decision to let Augusta out of doors when he and his wife moved to San Francisco. To give McNamee his due, he does discuss the many dangers of a cat's being allowed out of doors (along with the challenges of keeping a cat entirely indoors). Oddly, however, he omits any discussion of the possibility that a cat can acquire F.I.V.--the feline equivalent of H.I.V.--often contracted in territorial disputes by male cats from bites by infected toms.

A quibble of mine: McNamee's references to feline nutrition are quite superficial. He appears to suggest that because the American Association of Feed Control Officials identifies nutritional requirements for cat food, it somehow oversees pet food production and ensures the quality of commercial foods. It does not, and neither does the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In fact, according to Susan Thixton, "The United States Department of Agriculture has no regulatory authority over pet food. The USDA does have a voluntary pet food certification program, but it is not acknowledged by FDA or State Department of Agriculture." Pet food is poorly regulated indeed, and poor diet is linked with a number of modern feline medical problems, including inflammatory bowel disease and hyperthyroidism. Interested readers may wish to visit Thixton's Truth about Pet Food website for more information.… (meer)