Review of The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Your Cat
-
Deanna MORETTI
- Minimum Wage Millionaire Reader
- Posts: 10
- Joined: 06 Feb 2025, 06:15
- Currently Reading: Negative Shape - The Defining Attribute
- Bookshelf Size: 5
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-deanna-moretti.html
- Latest Review: Deceptive Calm by Patricia Skipper
Review of The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Your Cat
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Your Cat" by Jia Mau.]
The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Your Cat is a comprehensive guide that Jia Mau decided to write, since she has always had cats. So many people were asking for advice on understanding and educating them. The cat is a mysterious animal. From the introduction, Jia Mau describes nicely what it means to live with cats: Jia claims it is like having a house haunted by ghosts. That with cats, one is never bored. Jia also claims that having at least one cat is stress-relieving and beneficial to our health.
In Chapter 1, Jia introduces us to the knowledge of the feline world, talking about the cat in history, why cats became pets, and their use in ancient times. When man decided to stop being nomadic and settle down by creating villages, the cat began to approach, attracted by food, with the basic antiparasitic role. In Egypt, they were considered on the same level as deities, given the protective, mysterious, and independent nature of cats. One interesting thing I discovered that made me think was that when in the period of the Inquisition, cats were juxtaposed with the devil and thus burned along with women accused of witchcraft, it caused rats to proliferate and thus increased diseases such as the plague.
As we continue reading the book, we discover the behavioral characteristics of the cat. Each cat has its temperament, although all cats are predators. Often, a cat's temperament depends on where it came from, whether it was adopted at an early age or not, whether it was taken from the streets, how it is raised, and, most importantly, whether the cat understands that it can be trusted. Jia also divides a cat's life into 3 periods, resulting in differences in behavior: kitten, mature adult, and senior. So are people. In Infancy, maturity is seniority, with related peculiarities. Jia also teaches us how to translate the various behaviors of our cats. Without spoilers, she teaches us what purring, meowing, chirping, kneading, belly exposure, tail wagging, and rubbing mean. Jia teaches us some techniques for training the cat to sit, to be gentle, to approach.
In Chapter 3, she addresses a topic I never considered: taking care of our cats' "mental" needs. Cats can suffer from anxiety, boredom, attitudes derived from diabetes, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and others. Jia describes in detail the symptoms of each disorder and how they manifest. If I had had this book in my hands years ago, I would have avoided so many mistakes with some cats I had, whose behavior I did not understand. After that, Jia addresses the topic of everything dangerous to cats. Harmful foods, objects, and plants. And what signs should we pay attention to know that the cat needs a medical check-up? How important hygiene is and how to keep the cat clean. In chapter seven, Jia talks about older cats and how the accouterments are different from younger cats.
This book is most interesting and comprehensive. It is a guide to keep on hand at all times to care for our cats. I liked the structure of the book and how Jia led us to knowledge of the feline world. I liked Jia's writing and editing—they were competent and fluent. There is nothing I did not like, and there is nothing I would improve. For me, it is a great book, to which I give the highest rating, 5/5 stars.
******
The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Your Cat
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Your Cat is a comprehensive guide that Jia Mau decided to write, since she has always had cats. So many people were asking for advice on understanding and educating them. The cat is a mysterious animal. From the introduction, Jia Mau describes nicely what it means to live with cats: Jia claims it is like having a house haunted by ghosts. That with cats, one is never bored. Jia also claims that having at least one cat is stress-relieving and beneficial to our health.
In Chapter 1, Jia introduces us to the knowledge of the feline world, talking about the cat in history, why cats became pets, and their use in ancient times. When man decided to stop being nomadic and settle down by creating villages, the cat began to approach, attracted by food, with the basic antiparasitic role. In Egypt, they were considered on the same level as deities, given the protective, mysterious, and independent nature of cats. One interesting thing I discovered that made me think was that when in the period of the Inquisition, cats were juxtaposed with the devil and thus burned along with women accused of witchcraft, it caused rats to proliferate and thus increased diseases such as the plague.
As we continue reading the book, we discover the behavioral characteristics of the cat. Each cat has its temperament, although all cats are predators. Often, a cat's temperament depends on where it came from, whether it was adopted at an early age or not, whether it was taken from the streets, how it is raised, and, most importantly, whether the cat understands that it can be trusted. Jia also divides a cat's life into 3 periods, resulting in differences in behavior: kitten, mature adult, and senior. So are people. In Infancy, maturity is seniority, with related peculiarities. Jia also teaches us how to translate the various behaviors of our cats. Without spoilers, she teaches us what purring, meowing, chirping, kneading, belly exposure, tail wagging, and rubbing mean. Jia teaches us some techniques for training the cat to sit, to be gentle, to approach.
In Chapter 3, she addresses a topic I never considered: taking care of our cats' "mental" needs. Cats can suffer from anxiety, boredom, attitudes derived from diabetes, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and others. Jia describes in detail the symptoms of each disorder and how they manifest. If I had had this book in my hands years ago, I would have avoided so many mistakes with some cats I had, whose behavior I did not understand. After that, Jia addresses the topic of everything dangerous to cats. Harmful foods, objects, and plants. And what signs should we pay attention to know that the cat needs a medical check-up? How important hygiene is and how to keep the cat clean. In chapter seven, Jia talks about older cats and how the accouterments are different from younger cats.
This book is most interesting and comprehensive. It is a guide to keep on hand at all times to care for our cats. I liked the structure of the book and how Jia led us to knowledge of the feline world. I liked Jia's writing and editing—they were competent and fluent. There is nothing I did not like, and there is nothing I would improve. For me, it is a great book, to which I give the highest rating, 5/5 stars.
******
The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Your Cat
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Deceptive Calm by Patricia Skipper
