Customer Reviews

A Cat is Watching: A Look at the Way Cats See Us

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great book for anyone who has or had or doesn't have a cat. If you want to know anything about a cat get this book. It tells you why they act the way they act and explains the mystery of the cat. It is full of interesting stories you will love. I can't put the book down

This is a great follow up to Roger Caras' A CELEBRATION OF CATS which I have also reviewed. In the first book, he gives an overview of the history, geneology, and psychology of the cat and of the cat's relationship with humans. In this book, he zeroes in on understanding of the cat and on seeking the cat's perspective.

The first few chapters deal with the biological makeup of the cat and with the cat's basic five senses. Much of this we already must realize. Some senses including that of smell and that of hearing are superior to our own, and much of the cat's behavior can be understood by realizing how their senses present our world to them. From that foundation, Caras' goes into cat psychology and discusses a number of issues such as how cats tell time, how many know how to get home if lost, and much more. Such topics as how cats respond to music, their thinking abilities, and even their emotions such as love and hate are examined. For those who have read A CELEBRATION OF CATS, there is little repetition, just what is necessary for those who haven't read it as a basis for the thrust of this volume.

Not all questions that are discussed are answered. Caras presents possibilities and leaves it to us to decide.

Also, Caras tends to demystify many of the "mysteries" surrounding cats, but this demystification tends to heighten one's respect for the cat's uncanny abilities. Certain aspects, such as whether or not cats have ESP, are left for the reader to decide.

The book is profusely illustrated with drawings, reproductions of artwork, and photographs, and as in the previous book, there is humor. Caras draws on many authorities and on personal experience in presenting us with an entertaining, educational, and thought provoking work.

As much as I enjoyed the previous book, A CELEBRATION OF CATS, I found this to be even better. Any person with one or more cats in her or his life should gain a lot from this, and I quite recommend your reading it.

Cats and I share several traits, not the least of which is curiosity. Always fascinated by these mysterious yet loveable creatures, I picked up Roger Caras' little book out of curiosity and learned a tremendous about of information about how cats tick - how they sense, perceive, process information, think, and make decisions. Anyone who has lived in close proximity to animals senses that they can perceive things that humans never notice. A Cat is Watching, written in a pleasant conversational style, has helped me to better understand my own little brood, Trudy, Tooncis, and Fuzzball. Great fun!

If you love cats, you'll love this book! Caras really gets to the heart of the mysterious and curious nature of cats without professing to have all the answers to our many human questions. Indeed he has watched and been watched by cats! Caras also offers much information and insight into the scientific and behavioral studies of cats. A truly enjoyable read that brought me many laugh-out-loud moments and fond memories of my own relationships with cats.

I grew to like this book as I read it. At first I was put off by his writing style, which is, let's face it, kind of prissy. But living with 3 cats made me press on. I just wanted to know SOMETHING. And he does tell us SOMETHING. And I got used to his writing style. So, if you are hungry for some insight into these lovely little beasts, this book will provide that. It's not the most gracefully written book I've ever read, but the author clearly loves the creatures, in fact it appears he loves all creatures. And who can fault that?

Caras is so into animals. He has studied and researched them, but more importantly, he has lived with and loved them. Here he pours forth on what one must consider one of his favorites, cats. He's had much personal experience, and has investigated the subject thoroughly, and thus has much to offer.

One can learn much about cats from this read. For example, I never knew that kittens were atricocious at birth, their eyes and ears are shut. Also, Caras' theory about cats and dogs finding their way home by sensing magnetic fields is utterly fascinating, and could be true.

Curiosity and the cat is intriguing. Sensing the info a cat must accumulate and act upon instantly for safety and survival seems relevant. Caras shares the size ratio issue as basis for this. Made me think about the first time our 8 lb. cat saw our 120 lb. Great Pyrenees. Ran and hid for days, only later to become the dog's best and trusted friend. The ratio here is 15 times greater for the dog. Consider how the cat then sees me; 22 times bigger, similar to my viewing a creature that was 22 times heavier than me, or around two tons! What a creature to watch and observe, to know when to scramble for my life so the thing wouldn't crush me, and know its moods thoroughly.

A great read for cat lovers.

This is, in my opinion as a life long cat lover/ owner, one of the best ever books out there about the cat. How does he see, think, hear, react to stress or fear....? Roger Caras spent a lifetime as an animal lover and one of the earlier advocates for them, both domestic and wild. LONG before PETA and other such organization, Caras had a large site of many acres devoted to animals, most of which could run free there. He spent many hours observing them, and this book, as well as his equally good dog book: A Dog Is Listening: The Way Some of Our Closest Friends View Us are classics. He also wrote many others: The Forest; Roger Caras' Treasury of Great Dog Stories;Cats Of Thistle Hill: A Mostly Peaceable Kingdom (about his sanctuary and the cats who lived there); Forest: A Dramatic Portrait of Life in the American Wild and others.

Caras wrote for the interst of the everyday person and cat lover. He made shrewd and insightful observations himself, but went to scientists and veterenarians for more information about the cats' nervous system, their miraculous eyes and hearing, the role the whiskers play, and the amazing collapsing collar bones which allow cats to get into (and get stuck in!) tiny holes, literally anything their whiskers can pass through they'll try to get into.....and not always get out of without help from us, the clumsy, smelly, loud creatures who live with them!

Its an excellent book for cat lovers, for someone getting a cat or kitten for the first time, or just for someone wanting to learn more about cats.
I cannot recommend it enough!

The author has just bought a new, large farm and I get the feeling he needed to write this book to pay down some of the mortgage. Every paragraph is chock full of "probably" "might" " perhaps" "someday the scientists will figure it out" etc. ad nauseum. The anecdotes of his own pets are cute and their stories well-told, but when he tries to link it all up to current research he can barely make a certain statement. He does give a lot of facts, but they are straws blowing in the wind. He admits he can't be sure of what his cats are watching. Go to any jungle at night and you'll see hundreds of eyes staring out of the wilds, not just the housecat or one of its larger cat relatives. For me, a frustrating read that didn't help me understand my own cats' thoughts.