Review of The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Your Cat

[Natalie MT]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Your Cat" by Jia Mau.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Your Cat: A How-To for Cat Lovers Looking to Understand Their Cat’s Behavior and Weird Habits is an accessible handbook all about cats. It explains why cats behave the way they do, how cat owners can understand cat behavior and motivations, and how they can attempt to train and modify those behaviors to keep their kitties safe and happy.

This book was so cute (thank you, Jia Mau, for the added photos) and informative. I liked the information it presented and how the author tried to cite their sources. The book also wasn’t just useless, non-contextualized information. The author included specific steps cat owners can take to bond with their cats and keep them safe. There were bulleted lists of things to do with a cat and things to avoid, and there were references to vets and cat behaviorists who could help more if there were more specific problems.

I think the familiar tone the author used when writing this book is both a strength and a weakness: it helps make it more accessible to the general public, but I fear it detracts from the credibility of the information. Many folks are perfectly happy to receive information like this by ear or from friends, but readers looking for a more qualified opinion on their cats might find the tone off-putting.

Regardless, I find that complaint (if it can be called that) to be entirely subjective. I don’t think it detracts from the information presented, and it certainly doesn’t devalue the author’s clear passion for the subject matter. They frequently use anecdotes about their own kitties to help illustrate the information and tips that they share in the book.

I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars. I so rarely give books perfect ratings, and I am a self-identified book snob, but I couldn’t find anything substantial that I didn’t like about this book. I left several bookmarks so I can return and reference the book as I try to make my cat’s lives better and more interesting.

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The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Your Cat
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