Cat Culture: The Social World of a Cat Shelter (Animals, Culture, and Society) [Hardcover]

Janet M. Alger (Author), Steven F. Alger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2003 | Series: Animals, Culture, and Society

Even people who live with cats and have good reason to know better insist that cats are aloof and uninterested in relating to humans. Janet and Steven Alger contend that the anti-social cat is a myth; cats form close bonds with humans and with each other. In the potentially chaotic environment of a shelter that houses dozens of uncaged cats, they reveal a sense of self and build a culture a shared set of rules, roles, and expectations that organizes their world and assimilates newcomers. As volunteers in a local cat shelter for eleven years, the Algers came to realize that despite the frequency of new arrivals and adoptions, the social world of the shelter remained quite stable and pacific. They saw even feral cats adapt to interaction with humans and develop friendships with other cats. They saw established residents take roles as welcomers and rules enforcers. That is, they saw cats taking an active interest in maintaining a community in which they could live together and satisfy their individual needs. "Cat Culture's" intimate portrait of life in the shelter, its engaging stories, and its interpretations of behavior, will appeal to general readers as well as academics interested in human and animal interaction. Author note: Janet M. Alger is Professor of Sociology at Siena College. Steven F. Alger is Associate Professor of Sociology at the College of St. Rose.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

At first glance, this appears to be yet another feel-good book of stories about animals. It is, however, an academic study of the interactions between cats and their human caregivers at a no-kill shelter. The authors, both professors of sociology, based the book on four years of observations conducted while they volunteered at the shelter. They watched the cats form relationships, surveyed the socialization of previously feral cats, and both observed and interviewed the shelter volunteers. The Algers, animal rights activists and owners of multiple cats themselves, follow a model of participant observation, which allows researchers to develop close relationships with their subjects. The result is an interesting mix of academic protocol and illustrative stories. Within a scholarly framework, the Algers discuss such subjects as cat friendships, how the resident cats deal with new arrivals, or how the cats "train" the volunteers, fleshing out their points with excerpts from their field notes. Copious chapter notes and a lengthy bibliography offer further research for interested readers. This highly readable work will appeal to all cat owners. Nancy Bent
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"This book, by two sociologists, demonstrates that cats are complex creatures, who reason, think, and above all, feel. They have friends, they show affection, and they accommodate other cats and people into their lives in ways that we consider 'almost human.' The authors have convinced me that humans need to be 'almost cat.'" --Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, author of The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats: A Journey into the Feline Heart "Cat Culture is a marvelous book. As a sociologist, which I am, I found it to be an insightful, interesting, and sophisticated application of social psychology to the behavior of cats and of humans and cats. As a cat lover, which I also am, I found it to be amusing, instructive, and a very good read." --Richard H. Hall, Distinguished Service Professor of Sociology, University at Albany, SUNY and author of Organizations: Structures, Processes and Outcomes (8th Edition) "Turn two feline-loving sociologists loose in an animal shelter and you get a book that's part ethnography, part plea for interspecies understanding. The Algers' longterm study of the Whiskers Shelter in Albany, N.Y., demonstrated the "extraordinary social capacity of domestic cats as revealed in their everyday activities and relationships with the shelter volunteers and with one another" and how the cats--Bandit, Mr. Kitty and colleagues--actively helped create 'the social world of the shelter.'" --washingtonpost.com, 6 April 2003 "At first glance, this appears to be yet another feel-good book of stories about animals. It is, however, an academic study of the interactions between cats and their human caregivers at a no-kill shelter. The authors, both professors of sociology, based the book on four years of observations conducted while they volunteered at the shelter. They watched the cats form relationships, surveyed the socialization of previously feral cats, and both observed and interviewed the shelter volunteers. The Algers, animal rights activists and owners of multiple cats themselves, follow a model of participant observation, which allows researchers to develop close relationships with their subjects. The result is an interesting mix of academic protocol and illustrative stories. Within a scholarly framework the Algers discuss such subjects as cat friendships, how the resident cats deal with new arrivals, or how the cats "train" the volunteers, fleshing out their points with excerpts from their field notes. Copious chapter notes and a lengthy bibliography offer further research for interested readers. This highly readable work will appeal to all cat owners." -- Booklist "Janet and Steve Alger's book is quite useful, of benefit to academic as well as nonacademic audiences. I heartily recommend it." --Qualitative Sociology "[P]rovides an insightful and entertaining account of the complex social world of a cat shelter...[it] is an important contribution to the field of human-animal interactions, but also to animal behavior." --Anthrozoos

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 264 pages
• Publisher: Temple Univ Pr (February 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566399971
• ISBN-13: 978-1566399975
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,020,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is a MUST read, August 2, 2003

By 

A mindful reader (Delmar, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cat Culture: The Social World of a Cat Shelter (Animals, Culture, and Society) (Paperback)

This book is a wonderful combination of intelligent information and a loving tribute toward our warm, furry companions and intimate friends. The entire book is the sign of personal, cognitive, and emotional experience that leads to the raising questions about cats' existence as sentient beings. The book clearly establishes the fact that our furry friends are capable of emotional expression and their sensitivity is not a matter of mere affect but an aspect of growing awareness. The wonderful point this book makes is that to be appropriately sensitive to other beings' way is to experience them as real, breathing, and living entities. This book ultimately gives a direction by showing that the wonderful bridge of connectedness of human and other beings is possible through direct and deep experience. It is wonderful to realize that compassion is the way to learn and love.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dog Lovers Should Also Read This One, October 12, 2011

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Sara McGaughy "Sara McGaughy, Author of Matil... (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cat Culture: The Social World of a Cat Shelter (Animals, Culture, and Society) (Paperback)

While I love both cats and dogs, I do lean towards being more of a dog lover. I've volunteered with dogs, but never cats, so this book was a really interesting read about what makes cats and their caregivers tick. The author helps us dog lovers develop a greater appreciation for our feline friends and those who work with them.

Matilda Mae: The Dog Who Needed a Name

2 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Cat culture, January 3, 2007

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Judith G. Bronsonstem Svcs "Judith Gunn Brons... (Bandera, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cat Culture: The Social World of a Cat Shelter (Animals, Culture, and Society) (Paperback)

As noted in the title, this book deals with a single shelter; it is not clear whether the findings can be generalized to other sites. The author was sometimes intrusive.