Customer Reviews

The Welfare of Cats (Animal Welfare)

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The Welfare of Cats is a comprehensive manual of cat welfare issues from international feline practioners and researchers. Some of the nutritional information, while much more appropriate than previous nutritional assumptions for cats, has been outdated by recent developments in that area. The Disease & Welfare portion could have included more information about non-infectious chronic illnesses (such as diabetes and chronic renal disease), but does contain a wealth of information on the recognition and containment of several infectious diseases and stresses that ill or diseases cats can and are being treated very sucessfully, maintaining a good quality of life, for illnesses and diseases that have previously been considered terminal and/or fatal. This book has excellent information regarding appropriate environmental standards and enrichment opportunities for (indoor and outdoor) house cats, feral cats, and cats housed in shelters and sanctuaries. There are large sections illustrating cat behavior and common "behavioral problems", especially those encountered in a domesticated cat or multi-cat households.

I highly recommend this resource to any cat parent who wants to provide the best care and environment for their cat companions. In my opinion, this book should be mandatory reading material for all professional cat practitioners - be they veteranarians, breeders, boarders, researchers, rescuers, fosters, or sitters. Definitely a solid base in any cat library.

I found this book to be one of the few resources I have come across using a good combination of pleasant and well-written chapters with the scientific research to back them up. The author of each chapter provides an APA style reference list of the journal articles or books cited in that chapter. I'm truly compassionate about felines and issues concerning their welfare; but I am also a scientist and wish to pursue my goal to improve the welfare of felines grounded in peer-reviewed research rather than anthropomorphic ideals and folk wisdom. People enjoying this book may also like Turner & Bateson's "The Domestic Cat: The biology of its behaviour".

Found this to be a very useful book. We have five cats, and one with behavioral problems.