Cat Sense: How the New Feline Science Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet

337 Pages·2013·3.03 MB·English

by  John Bradshaw

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C AT S E N S E
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C A T S E N S E
Y
How the New Feline Science
Can Make You a Better
Friend to Your Pet
J o h n B ra d s h aw
A MEMBEROFTHEPERSEUSBOOKSGROUP
New York
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Copyright © 2013 by John Bradshaw
Published by Basic Books,
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be
reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of
brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, please address
Basic Books, 250 West 57th Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10107.
Books published by Basic Books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in
the United States by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more
information, please address the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group,
2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, or call [phone], ext.
5000, or email [email protected].
Designed by Trish Wilkinson
Set in 11.5 point Goudy Old Style
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bradshaw, John, 1950–
Cat sense : how the new feline science can make you a better friend to your pet /
John Bradshaw.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-465-03101-6 (hardcover) — ISBN 978-0-465-04095-7 (e-book)
1. Cats—Behavior. 2. Cats—Psychology. 3. Human-animal relationships. 4. Cat
owners. I. Title.
SF446.5.B725 2013
636.8—dc23 2013020749
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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To Splodge
(1988–2004)
A Real Cat
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Contents
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction xix
CHAPTER 1 The Cat at the Threshold 1
CHAPTER 2 The Cat Steps Out of the Wild 25
CHAPTER 3 One Step Back, Two Steps Forward 50
CHAPTER 4 Every Cat Has to Learn to Be Domestic 76
CHAPTER 5 The World According to Cat 102
CHAPTER 6 Thoughts and Feelings 123
CHAPTER 7 Cats Together 157
CHAPTER 8 Cats and Their People 188
CHAPTER 9 Cats as Individuals 219
CHAPTER 10 Cats and Wildlife 241
CHAPTER 11 Cats of the Future 257
Further Reading 279
Notes 281
Index 299
vii
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Dogs look up to us: cats look down on us.
—WINSTON CHURCHILL
When a man loves cats, I am his friend and comrade,
without further introduction.
—MARK TWAIN