Customer Reviews

Housecat: How to Keep Your Indoor Cat Sane and Sound

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was looking to this book to give me some tips for entertaining my indoor cat. I've "been owned by" several cats. This one was an indoor/outdoor cat who had been declawed (!) and eventually surrendered to a shelter. I was looking for an indoor cat as I live in the city in a high rise. Living indoors is giving him cabin fever! Plus he is not interested in most regular cat toys.

So boring personal stuff aside, I thought I'd get some ideas from this book and I did get a few. But mainly it talks about WHY you should keep your cat indoors, how to groom the cat including claw clipping, how to provide a challenging environment (good recommnendations on cat furniture) and so forth. One thing I particularly liked is the author dicusses declawing in a rational manner; she is clearly opposed to it and discourages it but leaves it to the owner to make his/her own decision. She gives plenty of info on training for the use of scratching posts/devices. Also liked the part on how to "break" your cat to a harness so it can be walked. Mine is making good progress!

This book is a fabulous gift book for cat lovers. It's not the type of book you read once and put away, it more than pays for itself in useful information that can be looked up again and again. If you even buy one cat book, this is the one to buy!

This book is great. It speaks to the reader, not above the reader, is easy to understand, is filled with great pictures and the best information available for indoor cat owners. I recommend this book if you are an indoor cat owner or even have a cat you want to learn to stay indoors.

Bringing a cat indoors after they have lived outside all their lives is a tough decision to make. Housecat is a great book in helping give the new indoor cat owner insight and advice about all aspects of indoor cat life, not only bringing an outdoor cat in, but getting a kitten, teaching an older cat and helping an existing cat adjust. I learned more from this book than a year's worth of cat magazines.

As the title suggests this books promotes indoor cats only. It does so to an extreme degree. So if you are on the fence about your decision this book could be helpful. This book is clearly written and is very easy to read.

The books suggests a wide variety of tips on taking care of your cat, feeding your cat, and entertainment for your cat. I found the areas on multiple cat owners to be very interesting and helpful. The book does also supply some information about the health and safety of your cat.

If you are looking for a guide in keeping your cat indoors this would be a good start for information.

Because I am an experienced foster feline home, I read every cat care book available.I am not a vet so I need precise,yet relatively short info on many cat care topics.This book is good for the new adopter or cat care-giver who don't read or have accesss to real, in-depth publications.The paragrahs are specific, interesting and easy to read.I love this book and found that my cat adopters feel this is the first and best book to have.It is in the center of my library.Sometimes it is hard to find but I encourage my new (and even experienced owners) to read.It says it all- and simply!

This book answered many questions I had (& ones I hadn't even thought of yet).

I am a first-time kitten owner, for lack of a better word. ("Owner" is not PC, I know.)

Having also purchased at least 5 other cat behavior/care books, I was happily surprised to find a different approach in Christine Church's HOUSECAT. She goes into detail on many subjects dealing with living with and nurturing your housecats, yet her style of writing is not dry. She writes in an easily understood, matter-of-fact manner that covered everything that I wondered and worried about, my being new to housecats. Just one example: she covers the different types of cat litter on the market, explaining what the merits & disadvantages are of each. Being new to all this, litter box filler can be confusing without some specific info and opinions about all the choices that exist, and she sufficiently covered it for me.

Her manner is that of an experienced cat person, having 11 herself (at the time she wrote the book), and this can be a refreshing contrast to that of a vet. (Books by vets are aboundingly helpful, but after purchasing more than a handful of them, I was interested in checking out a different perspective.) Also, having had as many cats as she has, she has diverse experience, such as living with blind and elderly cats.

Occasionally, you might not agree with an opinion or two of hers, as with anyone, but anyone with a cat (or cats) of their own can probably sort out the few ideas that don't work for them. This book is worth the sorting-out.

I found this book easy to read and informative. "Housecat" covers every aspect of life with indoor cats, as well as health issues faced at some time by everyone with cats in their daily lives. It gives you solutions for problems you never knew you had!! Now if only I could get my cats to read it!!!

An experienced and gifted writer shares her very thought out & comprehensive "Step by step" book on how to keep your feline happy in the house! This information is coming from someone who has delt with this situation. I've seen it "FIRST HAND" and know that this book is based on experience and truth!

I quite agree with the author - a cat should be kept inside. This is a MUST READ for any cat owner who TRULY loves their cat and puts feline welfare above their own. My own cat, Mrs. DiddyWampusnoodles of Pemblokington, a Registered Persian "vision" in light smoky gray, would NEVER be happy outdoors with those flea-invested rat-eating mongrel cats you find residing in the alleys and by-ways of lower class people who cannot even afford to clothe their pets in a proper manner.
The chapter on providing a stimulating cat-friendly environment is very good, although the author could have provided information on CUSTOM-made cat sofas and divans which are available from several fine craftsmen and well worth the $800 or $900. I replace DiddyWam's every other year when I redecorate her room, to ensure that her furniture "fits" the décor chosen by the Feline Interior Design Artist.
I myself would never attempt to trim DiddyWam's claws - I leave that to her personal hygienist, but I suppose if one were living in a remote area with no feline hygienists available, this would be useful information.

Overall this would be an excellent beginner's book for those who have just discovered the joys of existing with felines, and who wish to prevent their precious baby from mingling with inferior cats such as those found outside one's home.