Customer Reviews

The Cornell Book of Cats: The Comprehensive and Authoritative Medical Reference for Every Cat and Kitten

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Cornell Book of Cats is the definitive feline health text for cat owners, cat breeders and wise vets. Its depth and range of practical advice and its clear, non-jargon-laden symptom description and treatment options are, in my opinion, without peer. It covers every aspect of feline life and demystifies the latest research and advances. Its descriptions and temperament assessments of the various breeds are accurate. One especially good feature uses simple YES/NO question 'trees' to identify symptoms and their possible causes and treatment choices. It also includes at-home remedies and, most importantly, when NOT to use these remedies. These two features alone, I've found, have 'armed' me with specifics to which a vet can more quickly respond. And, four times now, this book has pinpointed a problem that escaped a vet's initial diagnosis. You may find, as I did, that you will need no other cat health and care books.

I thought I wasted money on this book. I just couldn't tell online which "complete cat guide" was really complete, and I went by the reputation of the Cornell Feline health care center (which I still think is excellent). However, I was disappointed because the book comprises of independent chapters authored by different experts. As a result, the chapters repeated themselves slightly (because the authors wrote independent of each other)and within each chapter, the authors did not delve deep enough into each subject. The tone was not sympathetic to a layman pet owner, but curiously neither was it technical enough for a practising veterinarian -- I think the editors just didn't do a good job. The coverage is broad and basic -- good for a first time cat owner, but certainly you need another book to supplement it. I am still shopping for a more comprehensive detailed book for domestic cat care.

Written by faculty and staff of the Cornell Feline Health Center, Cornell University, THE CORNELL BOOK OF CATS is an inexhaustible font of current medical information that is clear yet does not sacrifice clinical accuracy or detail. It outlines the feline anatomy. It discusses behavior and misbehavior and how to understand, identify and correct a cat's behavior problems. The book gives readers guidelines on how to select a cat or kitten, whether a typical house cat or a valuable pedigree. It also provides descriptions of various national associations. Further, it explains feline nutrition and how to properly feed a kitten, and adult cat, an obese cat, a sick cat and an older cat.

This is an excellent reference if you're a cat owner who wants to know more than the vet tells you. If you're like me, I ask a lot of questions, but busy vets don't always have the time to answer all of my questions. This book covers a lot of information, and is especially helpful if you want to know "why" or "how" a disease or condition occurs. I've gained a much better understanding of feline vaccines, parasites, viruses, etc. However, there's not much information on the medications used to treat the diseases in the book, and I'm still looking for a book with this kind of information in it. This book is fairly technical, so I would not recommend it for the average consumer. But that's why I like it!

I just purchased this book and was disappointed. It is really more for a reference book that a vet might have or if your cat has already been diagnosed, you could look up the diseases to get a bit more of an understanding. If you are looking for a book on how to treat and understand your sick cat, this is not the book for you.

For instance, there is one reference if you try to look up HAIRBALL, and it tells you nothing...no information you could actually use. Basically, it's a dictionary and nothing more.

I do not recommend this book.

"A cat is only technically an animal, being divine." - Robert Lynd.

"The twenty-first century may be the century of the cat," says Franklin M. Loew, former Dean of Cornell University's renowned College of Veterinary Medicine in this book's preface, citing statistics according to which even at the end of the 20th century, the number of cats in the United States alone already equaled that of the entire human population of Europe (and with sinking birth rates among humans, it is not hard to guess where that particular trend is headed in the near and midterm future).

Authored by the staff of Cornell's Feline Health Center, "The Cornell Book of Cats" is an indispensable reference guide for every cat owner who cares about his or her feline companion(s). The book provides detailed coverage on every aspect of feline life, from the cats' origin and breeds to cat (mis-)behavior, nutrition, anatomy, reproduction and all major instances of disease and infirmity. Particular attention is given to kittens, aging cats, skin and sensory disorders, internal disorders and medical emergencies. While the explanations do rely on a number of medical/veterinary terms, they are generally clear, comprehensive and easy to understand; in addition, most of the veterinary terminology is defined in a 22-page glossary at the end of the book. Numerous figures, tables, sketches, statistics and photos further illustrate the text; and treatment suggestions are provided for all diseases and disorders described. As the authors point out, this book is *not* intended to make a visit to the vet unnecessary in each and every instance (and sometimes, the remedies suggested here are only the beginning of the path to complete treatment) - but the book does help a cat owner determine when the often not inconsiderable expense of a visit to the vet is truly warranted. Moreover, it is a tremendous supplementary resource to even the best vet's recommendations, and it provides a wealth of background information on our four-pawed friends. Highly recommended.

"A house without a cat, and a well-fed, well-petted and properly revered cat, may be perfect house, perhaps, but how can it prove its title?" - Mark Twain.

Also recommended:
Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook, Fully Revised and Updated (Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook)
Think Like a Cat: How to Raise a Well-Adjusted Cat--Not a Sour Puss
The New Encyclopedia of the Cat

This book came highly recommended by several authors I respect, but I wasn't thrilled with the quality. Several sections seem to gloss over the topics they cover, and even the supposedly revised version has some outdated information. There's a lot of useful information in this book, but I have a feeling there's a smaller, better written book inside struggling to get out.

I disagree with readers who say that the book is too general or out-of-date. It's a BOOK, not an article in a scientific journal.

That said, I also disagree with readers who say that it's too complicated. I believe that it's an important book for any responsible cat owner to have on the shelf. If you're worried but aren't sure whether something is an emergency or not, you can check here before making a midnight call to the vet or racing to the emergency clinic. If your vet tells you that a condition is suspected or diagnosed, it's a great reference to start to learn more about it, or to help you formulate questions for your vet. No, it's not a replacement for a visit to a vet, but it's a help.

Remember how every new parent read Dr. Spock's book 40 years ago? Well, I see this in the same light. A MUST for cat owners that provides information, helps allay fears, and guides you. If you have a serious question, it gives you the right technical terms to do more research. If you don't remember all of the details that you heard at the vet's, you can use it as a refresher.

My vet highly recommended this book, but I also found it to not have details for me when I looked up ailments my cat has. Also not very helful for owners to look up symptoms. It is comprehensive on the anatomy and diseases of the cat, but it reads like an intro text book and not an owner's guide. I would choose another book with more detail on the conditions and general care.

Very detailed information. But a bit difficult to use for the average cat lovers. Symptom flow charts would be a great addition to the book