Review of The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Your Cat
Posted: 17 Jun 2025, 15:31
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Your Cat" by Jia Mau.]
As a first-time cat owner, I could only wish I had found author Jia Mau's The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Your Cat sooner. Mau's material provides a comprehensive guide on the mental and physical care of one's cat to make sure that they not only survive but thrive. There were multiple times I found myself wishing to have found this book years ago with its cat care advice.
The book started out with some much-appreciated context with the history of the domestication of cats. This was not a section I expected in such a book but was a much-welcome surprise. Shedding light on how cats have been viewed throughout history offers plenty of context for their roles in society, as well as adding depth to the book.
The book was full of personality as the author explained the ins and outs of raising cats through their own experiences with their three pet cats, Fig, Lavender, and Daisy. I was not expecting a non-fiction book such as this to come with characters, let alone ones as fleshed out as these. As a cat owner myself I couldn't help but empathize with Mau's recollections of their mischievous antics, which helped put their training advice into further context.
When I came for advice regarding the care and wellbeing of cats I found the guide quite comprehensive. I quite appreciated the section on recognizing mental health issues in cats since that is an often neglected area in cat care. The sections regarding safety referring to “baby proofing” one's home for a cat certainly got a chuckle out of me since I use the exact same phrasing about maintaining the home for my cat. Certain pieces of advice like securing blind cords for your furry friend are words of wisdom I have desperately needed in the past. When it came to advice about training Mau offered plenty of options, and it never once felt like they were trying to sell something or offer a one size fits all method.
Overall I was very satisfied with the book and would give it a five out of five stars. It is a cornucopia of wisdom for any cat lover. I have bookmarked multiple pages of cat training techniques to try out later. On top of being full of sage cat wisdom, I couldn't find a single typo or grammatical error. This a title I would happily recommend to any fellow cat lover.
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The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Your Cat
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
As a first-time cat owner, I could only wish I had found author Jia Mau's The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Your Cat sooner. Mau's material provides a comprehensive guide on the mental and physical care of one's cat to make sure that they not only survive but thrive. There were multiple times I found myself wishing to have found this book years ago with its cat care advice.
The book started out with some much-appreciated context with the history of the domestication of cats. This was not a section I expected in such a book but was a much-welcome surprise. Shedding light on how cats have been viewed throughout history offers plenty of context for their roles in society, as well as adding depth to the book.
The book was full of personality as the author explained the ins and outs of raising cats through their own experiences with their three pet cats, Fig, Lavender, and Daisy. I was not expecting a non-fiction book such as this to come with characters, let alone ones as fleshed out as these. As a cat owner myself I couldn't help but empathize with Mau's recollections of their mischievous antics, which helped put their training advice into further context.
When I came for advice regarding the care and wellbeing of cats I found the guide quite comprehensive. I quite appreciated the section on recognizing mental health issues in cats since that is an often neglected area in cat care. The sections regarding safety referring to “baby proofing” one's home for a cat certainly got a chuckle out of me since I use the exact same phrasing about maintaining the home for my cat. Certain pieces of advice like securing blind cords for your furry friend are words of wisdom I have desperately needed in the past. When it came to advice about training Mau offered plenty of options, and it never once felt like they were trying to sell something or offer a one size fits all method.
Overall I was very satisfied with the book and would give it a five out of five stars. It is a cornucopia of wisdom for any cat lover. I have bookmarked multiple pages of cat training techniques to try out later. On top of being full of sage cat wisdom, I couldn't find a single typo or grammatical error. This a title I would happily recommend to any fellow cat lover.
******
The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Your Cat
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon