The Body Language and Emotion of Cats [Paperback]

Myrna Milani (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 28, 1993

What does your cat really want when it rubs up against your leg?
Is it showing affection or aggression when it sucks a hole in your favorite sweater?
Why does it turn up its nose at the cat food you bought on sale, settling only for the most expensive meal?

Making use of the latest scientific evidence on animal consciousness, Dr. Milani shows how a thorough understanding of feline anatomy, physiology, and behavior can lead to a warm and lasting bond between cats and the people who love them. She also lets us know what our responses to feline behavior tell the cat about us and our emotions.

The Body Language and Emotion of Cats is a fascinating guide to understanding this enigmatic pet and provides a way to enrich and expand the bond between owner and cat.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Veterinarian Milani (The Body Language and Emotion of Dogs) is a behaviorist who ventures into the field of animal consciousness. Drawing upon recent scientific research, she demonstrates that animals, like humans, display individual variations in instinctual behavior, and that just as owners often think of pets as members of the family, pets bond with humans as if we were members of their species. Although overwritten, the work is replete with valuable insights and entertaining anecdotes that serve to demystify and, therefore, make more tolerable feline idiosyncrasies. For example, when a cat rubs its face against the edge of the open door or against your leg, it is leaving its scenta type of marking behavior. And when a cat suddenly attacks after being petted for a while, the cat is behaving as if it were terminating a mating encounterwhich ends with the female lashing out in pain and the male lashing out defensively.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Myrna M. Milani graduated from the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine and has taught and spoken widely on various aspects of the human-animal bond. She has also written The Body Language and Emotion of Cats (also available from Quill/William Morrow).

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; F Edition edition (October 28, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688128408
• ISBN-13: 978-0688128401
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #96,823 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #14 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Zoology > Animal Psychology
  • #28 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Zoology > Mammals

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

74 of 83 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars All the charm of an autopsy, January 28, 2000

By 

LA Pete (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Body Language and Emotion of Cats (Paperback)

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.

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing and delightful insight!, November 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Body Language and Emotion of Cats (Paperback)

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!

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, June 12, 2001

By 

[e-mail] (London) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Body Language and Emotion of Cats (Paperback)

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.