Three Simple Steps to Healthy Pets by Lisa Newman, ND, PhD
Because passion and intelligence drive change, we expect Dr. Newman’s latest book, Three Simple Steps to Healthy Pets, to accelerate the pet health revolution.

Over the past 20 years, Dr. Newman has developed a system that heals pets rather than treats their symptoms. To heal pets, she addresses their underlying medical issues and develops treatments for these issues. By organizing her approach into three steps, Dr. Newman has found she can effectively address 90-95% of the medical and behavioral problems pets have. The steps include:

1. healthy diet and detoxification
2. vitamins, minerals, and garlic
3. homeopathic, herbal and nutritional remedies.

Step One:
The first step calls for a healthy diet and detoxification. This may be the largest step pet guardians make because it requires that we change our thinking about pet foods. There is so much misinformation regarding commercial pet foods that many of us have the wrong idea what a healthy diet is. As a naturopath and nutritionist, Dr. Newman explains which ingredients should be included in pet food and which should not. With this explanation, it is easier to understand why some pet foods with chemicals, preservatives, and dyes leave materials in our pets that cannot be metabolized. These materials, called toxins, contribute to disease unless they are removed from the body.

Dr. Newman believes that taking the first step remedies half the medical and behavioral problems pets have. If anything, she underestimates the importance of this step.

Step Two:
The second step involves the use of vitamins, minerals, and garlic. How impossibly difficult it is for most of us to understand all the information about vitamins and minerals. Indeed, there are so many products available that rational choice is nearly impossible. Fortunately, this is Dr. Newman’s life’s work, and she uses a problem-oriented approach to explain which vitamins and minerals help remedy pet diseases. In a later part of the book, information on vitamin and mineral products is organized so that we can look up each product individually to learn what it treats and what form it is in—tablet, capsule, gel cap, liquid.

Dr. Newman believes that pet guardians taking the first two steps remedy 80% of the medical and behavioral problems their pets have.

Step Three:
The third step involves the use of homeopathic, herbal, and nutritional remedies. To develop this third step requires a lifetime of study, and it’s clear that Dr. Newman has spent her years wisely. She does not use fad remedies, but combines the best of the old and the new. For example, Dr. Newman uses ancient Chinese herbs and western herbs to create effective treatments. Dr. Newman also understands the role emotions play in disease and identifies the herbs, flowers, and essential oils that remedy emotional issues. Another example of Dr. Newman’s wisdom is that she emphasizes the liver’s central importance to healing. Focusing on a healthy diet, detoxification, vitamins, minerals, and garlic, strengthens the liver. Specific liver problems are addressed with homeopathic, herbal, and nutritional remedies of Step 3.

Dr. Newman believes that pet guardians who take all three steps are able to remedy 90-95% of the medical and behavioral problems pets have.

Summary:
Although the book is named Three Simple Steps to Healthy Pet, it offers more than that. Three Simple Steps also includes a section describing how to be your veterinarian’s best friend and the behaviors a trustworthy veterinarian displays. There is a guideline for feeding finicky pets and a 10 point checklist covering signs of illness. Altogether, this is a thoroughly remarkable book, full of convincing arguments and the wisdom of doing things the proper way. Still, there are a few ideas that did not work for me. For example, the use of nosodes in place of vaccination and the idea of bathing pets only once or twice a month. Problems arise when advice is given by an author so passionate that we negate our natural inclinations in order to follow the author’s advice. Perhaps Dr. Newman should include a caveat: “Use this information in a way that is most helpful for your pet.”

Because of the vastness of Dr. Newman’s knowledge, pets with medical problems not easily addressed through regular veterinary care can find healing solutions. Without a doubt, I recommend this book, and the treatments Dr. Newman has developed.

The Complete Book of Dog Breeding by Dan Rice, DVM
The Complete Book of Dog Breeding uses simple, direct language to describe all aspects of dog breeding: the estrous cycle, breeding problems, the act of breeding, pregnancy, whelping, difficult delivery (dystocia), Cesarean section, lactation, post-whelping problems, neonatal puppy care, and weaning.

Written with a positive, proactive approach, The Complete Book of Dog Breeding helps prevent problems. For example, Dr Rice admonishes breeders to consult a veterinarian before breeding. Dr. Rice advises against self-vaccinating, being overly enthusiastic with artificial insemination, breeding more often than necessary because this encourages bacterial infection, interfering with normal whelping, and causing a commotion in the whelping area. Resuscitation and treatment of newborns is well described and well illustrated, including tips on applying iodine to the umbilical cord.

Rather than telling readers what not to do, Dr. Rice explains what to do and why. For example, the tendency to overheat whelping boxes is discouraged because it overheats the pups. A whelping box kept at 75 F is ideal, and if pups are chilled at this temperature, Rice recommends adding a hot water bottle rather than turning up the room temperature. There is a discussion of common canine infections that are easily prevented with vaccines and of common parasites, such as worms and fleas, which are easily prevented with dewormers and flea treatments.

Throughout the book, a natural approach is encouraged and interfering with the normal process is discouraged. For example, if the bitch wants to eat the placentas, let her. True, she may vomit, but vomiting is less of a problem than is interference.

The Complete Book of Dog Breeding not only makes the reader well prepared, it advises exactly when to seek immediate help. For example, readers are told to call the veterinarian if:

• more than 4 hours passes after labor starts and the first pup is not delivered,
• more than 1 hour passes and the second or subsequent pups are not delivered,
• more than 10 minutes passes with a head born and the pup is not delivered.

Written in the passive voice, but not stiff, The Complete Book of Dog Breeding was first published in 1996. There are 175 pages with references, glossary, index, and many colored pictures.

Veterinary Notes for Dog Breeders by Annette Carricato, VMD
Veterinary Notes for Dog Breeders is written to be a guide for serious breeders focused on improving the health of their dogs. It is arranged in three sections:

• Screening for Genetic Diseases,
• Understanding Canine Reproduction,
• Managing a Healthy Kennel.

There are charts, illustrations, and black and white photos to cover a normal estrus cycle, hormone changes with estrous cycle, a whelping calendar, puppy aptitude testing, parasites, normal blood, urine and chemistry values, and vaginal cytology smears.

In the section on Genetic Diseases, these topics are included:

• Orthopedic Genetic Diseases: hip and elbow dysplasia, bone abnormalities, X-rays, and information on the Orthopedic Federation of America (OFA);
• Ophthalmic Disease: Canine Eye Registration Foundation (CERF) codes, the eyelid, third eyelid, retina, cornea, and lens;
• Congenital Cardiovascular Disease: heart diseases, clotting disorders, subaortic stenosis, pulmonis stenosis, ventricular septal defect, patent ductus arteriosus, Tetralogy Of Fallot, persistent right aortic arch, and dilated cardiomyopathy;
• Inherited Neurological Diseases: cerebellar abiotrophy, deafness, hydrocephaly, epilepsy, intervertebral disc disease.
• Heritable Skin Disease: demodectic mange, hormonal diseases, nutritional skin disease, sex hormone imbalance, and allergic skin diseases.

In the section on Understanding Canine Reproduction, the following are included:

• Pre-breeding exam,
• Brucellosis testing,
• Estrous cycle with lab tests,
• Natural and artificial breeding,
• Mismating and drug therapy
• Pregnancy,
• Whelping,
• Post-partum care,
• Tube feeding, and
• Neonate problems.

In the section on Managing a Healthy Kennel, the following are included:

• Using the Puppy Personality Profile by Gail Tamases and Wendy Volhard,
• Sample sale contract,
• Return of a pup,
• Evaluation by OFA,
• Vaccinations,
• Fecal tests,
• Obedience classes,
• Membership in American Kennel Club (AKC),
• Infertility,
• Infectious disease,
• Vaccines,
• Internal and external parasites including heartworm,
• Recognizing common signs of disease, and
• The basics of lab tests
•  

Dr. Carricato does not give a list of breeds with diseases to which they are susceptible.

Throughout the book are useful illustrations and tables. For example, the illustration for tube feeding is helpful. There is good illustration of weight changes in the neonate that shows a pup will do one of three things within the first couple weeks:

• gain weight, which is healthy and ideal,
• lose a small amount of weight (less than 10% of its birth weight), which is typical of most newborns, or
• lose more than 10% of its birth weight, which indicates the pup needs immediate attention.

Although the illustrations are helpful and the range of topics, excellent, the book is not a pleasure to read. It is written in the passive voice, which in itself should not condemn a book to being stiff—Dan Rice’s Complete Book of Dog Breeding, is written in passive voice and is anything but stiff.

Carricato, who is a veterinarian and dog breeder, writes as though breeding and whelping are anxiety-producing events, and perhaps this is the nature of working with English Setters. For example, Carricato warns against allowing the bitch to consume placentas because dogs are nervous and they will mistakenly bite into the umbilicus, causing an umbilical hernia. Carricato warns against allowing the bitch to clean the pups. She recommends that the breeder, not the bitch, clean the pup and stimulate its first respiratory efforts. She recommends maintaining the temperature in the whelping room very high—between 85 and 90 degrees the first week.

In addition to having an underlying tone of anxiety, the book leaves the reader poorly prepared for some of the significant aspects of whelping. For example, puppy resuscitation is not described clearly enough that the reader has a good chance of being successful. There is no mention of treating the umbilical stump with iodine, and iodine is not listed in ingredients to prepare.

Although Veterinary Notes for Dog Breeders covers many topics of interest to serious breeders, it does not empower the reader. It does not convince the reader that breeding and whelping are natural or that they are going to enjoy this with their pet. One wonders if Carricato would have written a different book had she been a breeder of Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, or Border Collies.

Veterinary Notes for Dog Breeders was first published in 1992, has 230 pages, a bibliography, but no glossary and no index.

People Pooches & Problems by Job Michael Evans
Job Michael Evans is a former New Skete Brother and expert on raising German Shepherds. The information is transferable to most dogs and is especially useful for any of the large working dog breeds whose owners often mistakenly believe a rough hand is most effective.

Bonnie Bergin’s Guide To Bringing Out The Best In Your Dog by Bonnie Bergin
Bonnie Bergin’s thesis is that you’ll be happiest with a dog whose personality is most like your own. She describes personalities according to these primary characteristics: assertive, responsive, analytical, driver, amiable, and expressive.

The Right Dog For You by Daniel F. Tortora, PhD
The charts help readers choose a dog based on the characteristics they are looking for: hair length, shedding, size, personality, sociability, activity level, etc. Helps potential pet owners appreciate the aspects of owning a dog that may have skipped their notice.

Dog Daze book and music CD
What is 6 inches square with a red, pink, and purple cover and is all about relaxing? The Dog Daze book and music CD. The little book is full of crazy dog photos with the dog’s thoughts captured on the opposite page. The thoughts, which are distilled from proverbs and famous people’s sayings, are credited on page 96. Some dogs are given thoughts that are wise, some goofy, and some Zen enough that the book gentles the reader into smiling and slowing down.

On page 14 of The Dog Daze is a little fawn Chihuahua surrounded by a blue shimmering background thinking, “I love deadlines. I like the wooshing sound they make as they fly by.” This was from Douglas Adams. On page 11, a Vizsla standing fully extended with her upper paws against a thickly barked lime and yellow oak thinking, “I tried relaxing, but…I don’t know... I feel more comfortable tense.” This thought is not credited, but could have come from anyone familiar with this brilliant breed. The Parson Russell Terrier that graces the cover springs onto neon yellow and orange page 69 with: “Laugh and the world laughs with you; snore and you sleep alone.” Credit goes to Anthony Burgess, the English critic, novelist, script writer and symphony composer. The Burgess brilliance flares as a dog’s quip.

While the book was entertaining, the music CD was not. The CD lacks the charm of Canine Lullabies. There are 5 tracks and the music runs just over 40 minutes. The 5th track contains animal sounds embedded in keyboard and orchestrated music. While I couldn’t have slept through this track, the dogs did when the volume was low. When the volume was turned up, they woke at the sound of dogs barking on the last track—even though the barking was in perfect time to the music—the opposite of what one hopes to achieve with a relaxing CD. The music was composed and performed by Japanese musicians using a keyboard, cello, recorder, lute, and other instruments.

The Dog Daze book and music CD was published by Wise Publications in 2006. Truly an international effort, the musicians are Japanese, the manufacturer Peruvian, the publisher British. The book is hardcover and the CD fits inside the back cover. The book is 96 pages.

Last Chance Dog And Other True Stories of Holistic Animal Healing by Donna Kelleher, DVM
Donna Kelleher weaves advice on treating pets with tales of her patients’ grace and heroism. Because Dr. Kelleher is trained in acupuncture, herbs, homeopathy and chiropractic veterinary medicine, she addresses every “hopeless” case with multiple solutions. There’s no time for despair when a well trained vet can pull so many tricks from her hat. To empower readers to be able to create similar changes in their pets, Dr. Kelleher provides an index of herb companies and other sources.

The title, Last Chance Dog, refers to Kade, an the enormous black and white dog with seizures—sometimes as many as 20 a day. Kade’s family had moved the furniture from the downstairs to prevent him from hitting his head on it when convulsing. During a psychotic episode probably accompanying a seizure, Kade attacked his family, biting and frightening them nearly to death. Still they chose to stick by him and seek treatment. And stick they did. They spent $7000 for veterinary care before they found Dr. Kelleher who took hold of this hopeless situation and transformed Kade into a healthy dog.

Kade’s treatments included gold beads implants, which is an acupuncture technique that gradually reduces seizures. Dr. Kelleher put Kade on herbs and a homemade diet. She instructed the family to stop smoking around him and to quit playing play loud rock music in his presence. The gold beads, herbs, and change in lifestyle paid off so that Kade no longer needs any drugs and is seizure free. Kade was transformed from the Hound of Baskerville who had once scared his family nearly to death to a normal, healthy pet. Isn’t this about as good a miracle as anyone could hope for.

Other “miracles” are described in the book, and with Kellerher’s approach, we learn that a combination of Western and Eastern veterinary medicine is in every animal’s best interest. Pick up this book and you’ll be find the pictures and stories of Kade, Cookie-Cutter Bailey, Sheldon T Turtle and others.

The book is 270+ pages long and was first published in 2003. The index makes it possible to look up problems and see how Dr Kelleher solved them.

Bad Dog is a Nasty Treat
Bad Dog by R.D. Rosen, Harry Prichett, and Rob Battles
What a lark! 278 “indecent and overdressed dogs.” This book is Lenny Bruce stand-up dog comedy. Couldn’t put it down. How many books can you say that about. It’s absolutely wicked.

This is a 4X6 inch glossy book with photos and quips. Among my favorites is the black Newfie, Zoe, with the pink wig who says, “Do you like it? I did it myself.” Zoe’s expression suggests she’s anything but happy with her hair, and those of us who color our own hair know how she feels.

With other pictures, not getting the joke is as much fun as getting it. There’s Penny, a chocolate Spaniel in a purple satin gown, earrings and a tiara who says, “Satan is my master now.

Bad Dog was published in 2005. Authors are R.D. Rosen, Harry Prichett, and Rob Battles. About 250 pages. My Cuban friend, Miguel, gave me this as a treat. Thank you, Miguel. I haven’t seen it since I brought it to the office.

50 Uses for Your Dog by Jay Grice, Francesca Peppiatt, Paul Seaburn
So many cutting edge dog photo-caption books have been printed that we’ve come to expect photos with a sharp edge and bittersweet comments that are truly funny. This book does not have the edge. Many of the comments are dull. For example, a Golden is licking a bowl and the caption is: To help out when the dishwasher breaks. The last photo is a baby sleeping on a dog with the caption: “To take the edge out of a hard day.” Published in 2005 as a 6X6-inch hardcover; 50 pages; good quality paper and printing.

Dogs Dressed Up and No Place To Go by Emily Thornton, Aki Pohn, Erika Cornstuble, and Paul Seaburn
Good combination of unusual photos and sharp quips. Page 50 has a sad-eyed soul wearing a plastic straw hat that looks like a Chinese party favor. The caption is: Of all the people who could have adopted me, I get a guy who still remembers vaudeville. There is a Golden in surgical scrubs, mask, and stethoscope with the caption: Good news: The bone has been successfully removed from the backyard. While the book is entertaining the first time through, it isn’t strong enough to merit many re-readings.
Published in 2005 as a 6X6-inch hardcover; 75 pages; good quality paper and printing.

Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin
Of the 50 books I’ve read over the past 6 months, Animals in Translation, Temple Grandin’s 2005 book about animal thought and emotion, is one of the best. The following was crystallized from Dr. Grandin’s book:

• One dog in 4 million kills a person.
• Dogs and cats are hard wired—that is, they are born with the ability—to chase prey, but they learn which prey to chase watching others. Thus, dogs brought up with cats are less inclined to chase them, and dogs brought up with children are less inclined to harm them.
• Aggression has a genetic component.
• Playing tog-of-war does not make a dog aggressive.
• All animals that live in groups naturally practice dominance hierarchy.
• Fenced yards decrease socialization and increase fighting.
• Pets experience social emotions: sexual attraction, separation distress, social attachment, and play.
• 3% of dogs are monogamous. Wolves, Carolina dog and dogs are monogamous.
• Monogamy is the result of emotional maturity and most modern dogs have been bred to be cute and baby-like. This goes with emotionally immaturity.
• The hormone oxytocin increases in humans and in dogs with petting.
• Oxytocin creates a feeling of love and mothering in pets and in people.
• Animals, and humans, that are anxious because they are separated from their families stop playing and exploring.
• Social attachment is a survival mechanism that evolved from the need to stay aware of where others in the group are.
• Animals like to be stroked, which is the equivalent of being licked, rather than being petted.
• Social touching raises endorphins.
• If the frontal cortex of the brain is damaged, animals play more. The frontal cortex is devoted to serious tasks, and when it is no longer in control, the natural instinct to play is more apparent.
• Stimulants increase frontal lobe activity, thus, stimulants decrease play.
• Locomotor play stimulates the cerebellum
• Locomotor play is learned at a specific period in a creature’s life.
• Cats learn locomotor play beginning at 4 weeks and ending at 12 weeks.
• Some humans think brains developed in order to move the limbs.
• Animals engage in role reversal with play fighting so that the dominant animal pretends to be submissive. They do this by self-handicapping, such as making themselves shorter.
• Animals win and lose their play fights.

There Are No Ordinary Cats by Rachel Hale
Rachel Hale is a photographer from New Zealand who has organized 30 cat photos—about half of which are kittens—into a pastel hardcover book. Unlike books that recognize the leonine nature of cats, Hale’s book emphasizes their softness. Even the backgrounds are out of focus so that the reality of cats floats in a fantasy world of cuteness. Beside each photo are a few words, such as “It is a great honour when cats allow us to love them,” attributed to Celia Peterson. Overall, the book’s effect is one of sweetness but not of inspiration.
There Are No Ordinary Cats is 5 inches by 5 inches and about 60 pages. It was published in 2005.

Caring For Your Pet: Kittens and Cats by Amanda Jane Sands
A how-to book that starts the young new cat owner off on the right foot. Sands covers all the basics of cat care in a little narrow book (4 inches by 8 inches) that’s 64 pages long. Among the most useful items are the daily, weekly, and monthly checklists. The last page, “About My Cat” has blanks for inserting information such as the name, breed, and birthday of your cat. There’s also a place to put veterinary contact information. Because the book is very small, it does not offer the depth of information a fanatic cat owner desires. For example, the advice on how to give a cat medication is not sufficient to allow most cat guardians to be successful. However, the material would be ideal for a young person with their first cat.

Caring For Your Pet: Kittens and Cats is published by Interpet Publishing in Britain. There is no copyright date. Contains colored photos and illustrations.

Cat Naps book and music CD
Cat Naps is a 6-inch square hardback book of 96 pages with a cat relaxation CD in the back cover. All breeds and postures of cats spill over the pages. Next to each cat is a “thought” meant to stimulate or charm. The thoughts, which are credited on the last page of the book, are proverbs or quotes from famous people.

On page 29 a yellow tabby paws enthusiastically in the air accompanied by Mark Twain’s “A cat is more intelligent than people believe, and can be taught any crime.” On page 55: A tabby with mesmerizing green eyes is accompanied by Nan Porter’s “If cats could talk, they wouldn’t.” A self-content fawn cat muses on page 82 accompanied by this anonymous wisdom: “To cats, people are just furniture that does tricks.”

Although Cat Naps has good photography and some stimulating material, it does not have the quality of photos or humor found in I Am The Cat, Don’t Forget That by Valerie Shaff and Roy Blount Jr. Nor is it as amusing as Bad Cat by Jim Edgar.

The Cat Naps CD has 5 tracks and 34 minutes of “New Age” music composed and performed by Japanese musicians. Among the instruments used are the keyboard, cello, recorder, lute, and percussion. My dogs did not like the CD and left the room immediately. The 5th track begins with a chimera of seagulls and meowing cats that is annoying,—and I normally like sounds made by both seagulls and cats. My pets had gotten up and left the room long before the fifth track.

Cat Naps book and music CD was published by Wise Publications in 2006. The publisher is British; the musicians, Japanese; the manufacturer, Peruvian. The book is hardcover and the CD fits inside the back cover. The book has 96 pages.

Totally Fun Things To Do With Your Cat by Maxine Rock
Totally Fun Things To Do With Your Cat is totally fun. Maxine Rock describes how to create toys from everyday objects, such as toilet paper and towels. Among my favorites was the suction cup swing. Ms. Rock describes games that cats love, such as “paper bag bounce.” She points out that cats are motivated by curiosity and that we can create interesting worlds for our cats by stimulating their curiosity.

Ms. Rock gives tips on judging a cat’s I.Q., reading a cat’s body language, and making the sounds that cats love. There are tips on teaching a cat to play pool and to roll over. You’ll learn how to test your cat’s color vision. Ms. Rock explains a cat’s ability to intuit events, which many credit to extrasensory perception—in part—as the ability to sense vibrations and hear sounds that we cannot perceive.

Among all the games and interesting ideas are real health and behavior gems, such as advice on how to introduce two cats to each other and why not to feed cats only tuna—they will not be receiving enough calcium.

Totally Fun Things To Do With Your Cat is an ideal book to read with children because it has delightful drawings by Ed Shems that children will appreciate. Children will also appreciate Ms. Rock’s advice—don’t sit down too close to a sleeping cat. The paperback is 7 inches by 9 inches, has about 120 pages, and was first published in 1998.

I Am The Cat, Don’t Forget That: Feline Expressions by Valerie Shaff and Roy Blount Jr.
Valerie Shaff photographed cats and got beyond cute. Unlike many pet photography books that are smarmy, I Am The Cat, Don’t Forget That has a depth that is equal to its charm. Ms. Shaff’s photographs capture animal essence.

The 50 or so black and white photos are enriched by Roy Blount Jr’s verse. Rather than seeing the behaviors and expressions of housecats in the photographs, Blount’s sees cougars, leopards, and the aging pumas. Without being vulgar, Blount is both hip and edgy. Uncommon and delightful skill in a modern humorist. Like the cat, Blount tweaks, startles, soothes, and smacks the observer.

I Am The Cat, Don’t Forget That: Feline Expressions is a hardcover book of about 100 pages, published in 2004.

Cat Owner’s Manual: Operating Instructions, Troubleshooting Tips, and Advice on Lifetime Maintenance by David Burnner and Sam Stall
The Cat Owner’s Manual is supposed to look like a blueprint for engineers, and it has all the grace of a book written by engineers. The prose vacillates between stiff and informal, with extra hyphens tossed in willy nilly creating nouns like “ear-washing.” The writing style is unfortunate because the information is useful. There is an appendix with help with help on behavioral issues called “Troubleshooting,” an index, and useful web addresses.

Unlike a blueprint that rests flat when opened, this paperback, which is small and thick, has an irritating design flaw because it does not lay open and flat under any circumstances. The Cat Owner’s Manual is a paperback, 5 inches by 7 inches, and over 200 pages.

All I Need To Know I Learned From My Cat by Suzy Becker
All I Need To Know I Learned From My Cat is a little book with pastel drawings that encourages us to enjoy life as cats do. Cats recycle by tipping over garbage. Cats jump right in—even if it is into laundry. Cats flaunt hair loss and don’t pluck their eyebrows. Cats play with food and eat only when hungry. Cats go barefoot and always invite themselves to dinner. Cats—God bless ‘em—get someone else to clean the bathroom.

All I Need To Know I Learned From My Cat is a little softcover pocket book that’s too cool to have page numbers. First published in 1990.

1001 Things You Always Wanted To Know About Cats by J. Stephen Lang
1001 Things You Always Wanted To Know About Cats is chock full of facts in no particular order so that each of the thousand and one entries appears novel. For example, Fact 250 covers glaucoma and 251, deafness; 252 discusses “drunkenness” the loss of balance caused by “feline idiopathic vestibular syndrome.”

Because entries have no intrinsic order, it is difficult to look up an entry. 1001 Things has an index, but it is not comprehensive. Thus, the reader can’t find “drunkenness,” “vestibular,” or “feline idiopathic vestibular syndrome” in the index in order to return to entry 252. With entries this interesting, it is helpful to be able to find each of them again easily.

Lang has an amazing breadth of knowledge so that 1001 Things includes proverbs, plays, poetry, health, breeds, behavior, and cultural idiosyncrasies that are delightful. A buff book, muscled full of facts and fun to read.

1001 Things You Always Wanted To Know About Cats is a paperback close to 500 pages long with an index. It was published in 2004.

From the Cat’s Point of View by Gwen Bohnenkamp
Too many books look great and deliver little, but From the Cat’s Point of View is just the opposite—it delivers in a big way but in a very simple style. From the Cat’s Point of View is 9 by 11 inch a paperback book with sweet line drawings reminiscent of Antoine Saint-Exupery’s Little Prince. There are 9 chapters and about 50 pages.

While the topics are similar to those covered in most cat behavior books, the style of writing is better than most. It is neither fawning nor stilted. Gwen Bohnenkamp knows why people have trouble with cats and how they can improve their lives and the lives of their pets.

Among the topics Bohnenkamp covers are:

• Reward rather than punish. Cats will dance to the litter box if they have a big reward, but they’ll never use the litter box if it is associated with punishment.
• Litter boxes should not resemble gas station restrooms. Keep litter boxes clean—a cat’s sense of smell is the first sense to develop and is easily offended.
• Clawing can’t be ignored. Deal with it like another cat would—hiss and withdraw.
• Don’t force. Cats prefer bribery. Force makes feline enemies.
• Most cat fights aren’t our business. Back off. Some cats live in harmony and have occasional spats and other cats should never live together, but generally peace does not arise from human intervention.
• Biting is unacceptable. Scratching is unacceptable. That’s why cats have prey toys.
• Trimming nails need not be a nightmare.
• Traveling in a kennel need not be a nightmare.
• Cats that chew plants should have their own gardens.

When a book is this well written, we’re eager for more. Here’s what Bohnenkamp might address that’s not covered in From the Cat’s Point of View:

• Scratching posts cats are most likely to use,
• Litter and litter boxes cats are most likely to use,
• Anti-anxiety products to help with litter box problems.
• How nutrition affects behavior and learning, and
• Separation anxiety.

From the Cat’s Point of View was first published in 1991. Gwen Bohnenkamp is an internationally recognized behaviorist who founded Perfect Paws Pet Training in the San Francisco area.

All My Children Wear Fur Coats: How To Leave A Legacy For Your Pet by Peggy Hoyt, J.D., M.B.A.
The author, Peggy Hoyt, is a lawyer and the daughter of John Hoyt who was President of the Humane Society of the United States for almost 30 years. While loving pets may be in Peggy Hoyt’s genes, it hasn’t helped her write a useable book. The premise of the book is that we understand legal issues well enough to provide for our pets after our deaths. By the second chapter, I knew this book would not help me leave my pets a legacy. Maybe the material makes sense to other lawyers, but why would they need the book?

The foreword was written by John Hoyt. There are 10 chapters. They begin covering the number of pets in the U.S. and their importance in our lives as family members. The seriousness of providing for pets after we die is underscored by the fact that between 4 and 5 million pets are euthanized every year in the US. Additional chapters discuss financial planning, action plans, difficulty with joint ownership, the difference between wills and living trusts, planning for the unexpected, perpetual care facilities, and IRA failure to recognize pet trusts. In the appendix are samples of wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and a glossary of legal terms.

While it is clear that Peggy Hoyt loves animals, it was not clear what her purpose was in writing the book. I suspect the purpose was also unclear to the author. By describing in depth her love of pets, Hoyt may have been attempting to provide a background on the importance of leaving a legacy, but we never get around to fully understanding how to leave a legacy. Legal issues were not presented sequentially, and it is unclear which issues should be addressed first, and which second, third…. If the intent was to show the reader how to leave a legacy for a pet without the need for a lawyer, it failed. It left me feeling as though I need a lawyer to do it correctly.

All My Children Wear Fur Coats was published privately by the author’s law practice and does not give a copyright date. It is 180 pages long, and has no drawings or illustrations.

Roger Tabor’s Cat Behavior: A Complete Guide to Understanding How Your Cat Works
Roger Tabor packed this cat behavior book with insight and fantastic photos. Rarely does a useful how-to book also have the gloss of a coffee table edition, but this book does. This is a “how to understand, appreciate and mold your cat’s behavior” book. Tabor begins with some of the differences between dogs and cats: dogs are held to a place by the pack, but cats are held by territory. Dogs hunt best in open areas and in packs, but most cats hunt best in dense areas and on their own.

Tabor characterizes a cat as “a solitary, semi-arboreal hunter with a partially nocturnal lifestyle” and uses these characteristics to explain cat physiology:

• Cats land on their feet because they evolved climbing trees.
• Cats’ claws are retractable crampons that allow them to climb up but cause difficulty descending—although there is a wild cat, the margay, with ankles that swivel so that it can descend easily.
• Cats’ pupils are large and round because they are partially nocturnal and see better in the dark with pupils widely dilated. Their pupils constrict into vertical slits because this allows better control of the amount of light reaching the retina than do round pupils. Cats see with 1/6th the light that humans need.

There are 38 species of cat, only one of which is domesticated—our house cat. All species of wild cat can hybridize with our domestic cats—isn’t that an exciting thought! There are 41 recognized cat breeds in the U.S., but pedigreed cats make up less than 10% of the housecat population. This pedigreed 10% receives 50% of the veterinary care. Tabor speculates that purebred cats are not as healthy as “moggie” cats (Moggies are the equivalent of the cat mutt with hybrid vigor) because a purebred cat’s genes were selected for appearance more than for health. Tabor also speculates that purebred cats may be raised in more crowded conditions, such as those found in catteries, and that this increases the transmission of disease.

The first hundred pages are full of facts:

• The average cat is 12 inches tall at the shoulders, 18 inches long, and has a 12-inch tail.
• Behavior is hereditary and slender Siamese cats are more vocal and active than squarely-built Himalayan breeds.
• There are 200 hairs per square mm of skin.
• Cats walk on their toes, which allows them to spring into action.
• Cats can leap several times their length either vertically or horizontally.
• Cats “scent mark” because their territory is too large to see.
• Glands for marking are on the head, chin, lips, back, and under the tail.
• Whiskers have 4 types of receptors and are embedded 3 times deeper than hairs into the skin.
• There are 20 muscles to move the ears, which can rotate backwards and forwards.
• The teeth are aligned to shear much like pinking shears or serrated scissors.

After all the facts, Tabor makes a delightful transgression into philosophy and discusses the ethics of confinement. Tabor suggests that confinement is the basis for many cat behavior problems, and he points out that modern cat litter has made confinement possible. Tabor supports his position on confinement by discussing how inter-cat aggression is uncommon in the wild where a cat can retreat from another cat’s territory. In the house, there is no retreat. In my opinion, Tabor is right, but many cat people will feel this position is wrong and will rush to defend the benefits of confinement. They may cite safety, decreased exposure to disease, and adequate nutrition. To my way of thinking, and perhaps to Tabor’s, these “benefits” are less essential to the nature of a cat than are having freedom and patrolling and marking territory.

The last portion of the book discusses behavior problems, and their solutions. Among the suggestions Tabor makes to alleviate cat anxiety and behavior problems are to enrich its environment and to allow it access to the bedroom.

Tabor’s depth of affection and knowledge is similar to that of Elizabeth Marshall Thomas who wrote The Tribe of Tiger in 1994. Both authors lived with and studied big cats. Their familiarity with jungle and savanna cats allows them to interpret housecats’ behaviors as the regal actions of lions and tigers, leopards and margays.

By adopting this same respect for the common housecat, we can use Tabor’s suggestions and successfully resolve the behavior problems our pets develop.

145 pages, short index, great photos. The book was published in 1997 by The Reader’s Digest Association.

Good Owners, Great Cats: A Guidebook for Humans and Their Feline Companions by Brian Kilcommons and Sarah Wilson
In Good Owners, Great Cats, Kilcommons and Wilson cajole, kid, and harangue to explain the unique feline perspective on life and how we should deal with cats to create a happy home. Because Kilcommons and Wilson understand cat behavior, their advice for a range of behavior problems—from finicky eating to litter box problems—is highly effective. They make it quite clear that some of these problems are our fault and we’d better shape up if we want our cats to change.

Good Owners, Great Cats covers feline communication, kittenhood, adulthood, and behavior problems. They describe the 4 zones a cat occupies: personal space, social space, home and yard, and neighborhood. They discuss the “look, blink, look away” behavior, which means “You’re acknowledged but not invited.” They point out that cats all speak the same language so that cats from Greece understand cats from Canada immediately. It’s people who don’t understand what cats are communicating.

Among the best sections of the book were chapters describing the first few days after a cat is adopted, selecting a veterinarian, and bathing. Their advice on not feeding your cat first thing in the morning was stellar. So many cats wake us up to get fed. Over time, cats get up earlier and earlier, and if they are not fed, they yowl so that we can’t go back to sleep. Kilcommons and Wilson suggest feeding cats when it’s time to leave the house rather than just after rising. What an effective solution. Much of what they advise is elegantly simple.

While this is a stellar book on the whole, in my opinion, some areas are not beneficial. For example, while the tips on bathing are very useful, tips on deskunking a cat are ineffective. Advice that we must provide a place to confine a cat is helpful, but the suggestion to confine cats in the bathroom is inappropriate. Chemicals of all kinds are kept in the bathroom, and because cats are closer to the floor where most items are stored, and cats are infinitely more sensitive to smell than we are, bathroom confinement is unhealthy. Bathrooms are unhealthy even when cats cannot open cupboard doors because fumes from hazardous substances pervade the space. I believe epilepsy and seizures in cats (and dogs) are increasing because many are kept in bathrooms, garages, and work rooms with inadequate ventilation.

Another area of poor advice is the vaccine section. Vaccines are both a danger and a blessing. Let’s look at the Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) vaccine for example. We now know that cats older than 4 months are not susceptible to Feline Leukemia except when they have poorly functioning immune systems or receive transfusions of infected blood. And we also know that the FeLV vaccine causes a fatal fibrosarcoma in some cats. If FeLV vaccine is used at all, it should be in kittens under 4 months with blood tests to confirm they have never been exposed to the virus. For vaccine advice, it’s better to defer to a holistic veterinarian. For behavior matters, though, Kilcommons and Wilson probably provide better advice than many veterinarians.

Among the behavior tips provided are the use of spray bottles, upside down mousetraps, shake cans, compressed-air horns, pressurized air, double-sided tape, contact paper and repellents. Kilcommons and Wilson are adamantly against spanking or harsh correction, which given their approach to cats, would never be necessary.

The last sentence in the introduction to Good Owners, Great Cats sums up how Kilcommons and Wilson managed to produce such an extraordinary book: “It’s all love.”

Good Owners, Great Cats was first published in 1995 and is about 225 pages.

Why Cats Do That: A Collection of Curious Kitty Quirks by Karen Anderson with illustrations by Wendy Christensen
Within seven square inches and less than 100 pages, you’ll find answers to many cat mysteries:

• Why cats torture their prey—They do not. They may be giving it one last fighting chance.
• Why they land on their feet—They need less than 2 seconds to right themselves in the air.
• Why they purr.—Lots of reasons, just go to page 47!

This is a delightful book that uses black and white line drawings, rather like woodcuts, to depict many unusual cat behaviors. For example, the funny face or “flehmen response” that cats make is drawn on page 40. There’s a cat stuck in a tree on page 54. While most of the information is amusing and helpful, the issue of why cats urinate outside the litter box is glossed over. Inappropriate urination is the number one behavior problem cat owners report, and Anderson suggests they are either sick or miffed. Perhaps this subject should have been left out of the book because this question isn’t easily answered. On the other hand, Anderson does a delightful job explaining why cats cover up their half-eaten food.

Clearly, Anderson enjoys and understands cats, and many cat owners will benefit from learning what she knows. This is a great book to have in your purse or briefcase, so when you’re waiting somewhere, you can enjoy the tidbits of information, as well as the pictures. You won’t be bored.

If Cats could Talk: The Meaning of Meow by Michael Fertig
If Cats Could Talk has 72 pages of black & white and color photos with English captions or Russian proverbs. A yellow tabby, head cocked to the right has the caption: You are getting sleepy. Your eyelids are getting heavy. You want to give mea big can of tuna. A most defiant stubborn Persian pokes its nose in the air with the caption: Don’t try to play cute with me, Mister. I saw you out with the dog. Two brown tabby kittens are looking into a bowl of water with the Russian proverb caption: There is no shame in not knowing…the shame lies in not finding out.
Published in 2004 as a 6-inch by 6-inch hardcover; good quality paper and printing. Unfortunately not engaging enough to reread.

50 Uses for Your Cat: Cat Skills Uncovered by Jay Groce, Francesca Peppiatt, and Paul Seaburn
Rather mundane captions accompany interesting photos. For example, a green-eyed grey cat rests atop papers with the caption: To be your paperweight.
Published in 2005 as a 6X6-inch hardcover; 50 pages; good quality paper and printing. Not enough fun to read twice.

Cat Speak by Bash Dibra
Mr Dibra created the website: www.pawsacrossamerica.com to promote responsible pet ownership, Cat Speak is Dibra’s guide to understanding and appreciating the uniqueness of cats. For example, Dibra details 7 instinctive behaviors (flight, chase, hunting & stalking, territorial, aggressive, social, and vocal) and 6 special abilities (coiling, pronating or rotating paws inward, retracting claws, seeing in dark, acute sense smell, and self-grooming).
Dibra discusses breeds, husbandry, homeopathy, massage, breed rescue organizations, and tricks—all aspects a new cat owner appreciates learning. In paperback, about 200 pages, a few line drawings, no photos.

Bad Cat by Jim Edgar
The book you read because you want to rather than because you think you ought to. Photos and quips are first rate. Rereading is as much fun as reading the first time, which is not usually the case with cat quip books. First quality photos and printing in a 4X6-inch paperback. About 250 pages. More of Edgar’s twisted pleasure at the website www.mycathatesyou.com.

What Your Cat Needs by Liz Palika
Subtitled “Hundreds of Ideas to Ensure Your Pet’s Happiness” this is 60 pages of basic info. Because of the brevity, this book is more gloss than useful information. For example, discussing Feline Leukemia vaccine, all that Palika says is: “This retrovirus is transmitted through bodily fluids.” So what? What you want to know is whether or not to vaccinate your cat for Feline Leukemia. What Palika could have said is that cats older than 16 weeks are no longer susceptible to leukemia unless they are immune suppressed; thus, most cats do not benefit from this vaccine as adults.

Information on the number of litter boxes is also unhelpful. Most cat behaviorists recommend one more litter box than you have cats—two cats, three litter boxes. This helps prevent inappropriate elimination, which is much easier to prevent than to treat. Palika recommends one per cat and steers the reader straight for trouble. Not recommended.

What Is My Cat Thinking? by Gwen Bailey
This glossy hardcover is 100 pages, with good photos and an attractive layout. Useful rather than glib. For example, Bailey says if you want a cat to approach you, to blink and look away from the cat. On the other hand, if you want the cat to go away, stare at it. Bailey covers territorial behavior, hunting, training, and getting stuck in trees. Unlike many pet books with photos tossed in to be cute, the photos reinforce the message. A pleasure to read.

Why Do Cats Do That? Real Answers to the Curious Things Cats Do by Kim Thorton
60 pages covering 20 topics including purring, sleeping, spraying, chattering, grooming and litter boxes. There’s a good chapter on why cats hate to get wet, and why they swish their tails. Simply written, Why Do Cats Do That? takes the mystery, but none of the majesty, out of cats. Quick & useful.

Totally Fun Things To Do With Your Cat by Maxine Rock
Perfect book for kids. Rock writes on buried treasure, building windowsill perches, walking with a leashed cat, tricks, and cat shows. She cautions us to check under the car and in the washing machine for hiding cats. There’s a chapter on body language that will help kids know when to pet a cat and when to avoid it. Unlike some cat owners who prefer cats stay off the counter, Rock describes how to get your cat up on the counter and drinking from the dripping kitchen faucet. Delightful book for children, and for parents who want to encourage responsible play with pets. About 110 pages. Paperback.

Know Your Cat’s Purr Points: The Art of Cat Massage by Margaret Woodhouse
This 6 by 6 inch book, which was printed in China. It might be about cat acupuncture, or it might be an acupuncture spoof, who knows. Massage points are named both with Numbers that almost but don’t coincide with true acupuncture points and with whimsical descriptions: Chin Lifter, Rumbler, La Petite, Interwhisker Side Step, and Transwhisker Cross Step.  

Instructions for massaging points might have been clearer if the book were written in Chinese as well as printed there. For example, Instructions for Double Doses: “Both hands must be made ready for a continuous knuckle application. Practitioner approaches subject from front. Hands must work simultaneously. Take care not to synchronize movements. The syncopation is what provides the thrill.” More arcane than necessary when in nature it seems so easy to pet a cat.

Cats Rule: The Rules, Wisdom, and Witticisms That Go Along With Being A Cat by Bob Lovka
Wacky and from a cat’s point of view. For example, Tiarra’s Universal Rule: Stretch everything but the truth.” and the 3 lies: “1. Come on, you’ll like the cat carrier! 2. I’m not going to bathe you, just brush you. 3. You will absolutely love this new food. “ Delightfully illustrated, but nothing de neuvo. About 130 pages.

How to Talk to Your Cat by Patricia Moyes
Moyes writes like a southern cat, charmingly and slowly, including none of the fractiousness of the spatting modern cat book. This makes sense given that Moyes wrote How to Talk to Your Cat in 1978, so long ago that authors were not sensitive to the use “he” to include both male and female.

Ten chapters include acquiring a cat, communication, listening, body language, traveling, and minor crisis. While there is a section on travel that includes a nearly tragic story, it is pastel painted with fairyland reality: “I cannot overemphasize that the secret of traveling with a quiet, contented cat rather than a protesting screecher lies in explaining in advance to the cat just where you and he are going and what is happening…. Your intention of going on a journey will be clearly signaled to the cat by the appearance of suitcases and the bustle of packing. If he is accustomed to going with you, he will be highly delighted at the prospect.

About 110 pages, hardcover. Breathing slows while reading, in the same way it does when stroking a cat.

Women Who Love Cats Too Much by Allia Zobewl
Slick, little (5 inches by 5 inches) colorfully illustrated book full of glib descriptions of the psychotic relationships women form with cats. For example, "You talk to your boyfriend in the garage so your cat won't get jealous."

Another gem is: "You know your cat is lowering your self-esteem when. you blame yourself if your cat tries to bury her food."

This is a good stocking stuffer for the cat lover who has everything but sense. First published in 1995.

Splendid Little Book of All Things Cat by Bob Lovka
Light touch on topics from cat food and anorexic cats to cats sucking the air from babies. The book is 5X8-inches and colorfully illustrated. Insights are commonplace rather than enlightening. First published in 1998.

277 Secrets Your Cat Wants You to Know: A Cat-alog of Unusual and Useful Information by Paulette Cooper & Paul Nobel.
Almost 240 pages of fun stuff with a good index. For example, it answers the question of whether cats catch mice naturally or not-Cats naturally chase mice but need to be taught to eat them. There is practical information on helping your cat live to a ripe old age, how to find your cat when it's lost, preventing constipation, treating diarrhea, and enticing finicky cats to eat.

While the book is crammed with good information, it also has serious misinformation. For example, the authors slyly encourage the use of dog flea medications for cats in order to save money. This is always risky business. While the labels of some dog and cat medications list the same ingredients, the concentration of the ingredients is often different, or they are combined in different proportions. In fact, more accidental poisonings occur in the US every year from giving dog medications to cats than for any other reason.

Cooper and Nobel are also incorrect in stating the flea medications Program, Advantage and Frontline are similar. They're about as similar as pantyhose, a slip, and a bra. Simply impossible to exchange one for the other isn't it? The problem is that Program is an oral medication that doesn't kill adult fleas, but prevents biting adult fleas from laying eggs that survive. Frontline and Advantage are topical medications that begin working immediately to kill adult fleas outright. Program begins working immediately too, but it doesn't kill biting adult fleas so it gives the appearance of working slowly.

When Cooper and Nobel get basic information on flea medications incorrect, especially when they advise the use of dog medications in cats, the book becomes more potentially dangerous than helpful. Who needs a couple hundred great facts, when one piece of seriously wrong information can kill your cat.

The book was first published in 1997 and has an adorable white cat holding a pink rose on the cover.

The Body Language and Emotion of Cats by Myrna Milani, DVM
The writing in this book is stellar, but the paper and typeface of the paperback are cheap and irritating. Milani is insightful and writes clearly so that even the complexities of feline behavior seem understandable. In this book, as in her others, Milani uses real people and real pets to illustrate behavior principles. This approach allows us to feel enlightened rather than scolded or shocked.

For example, it's common to hear cat owners say their cats are destructively urinating in the house. Milani describes Toulouse, whose human companion, Hal, demanded that the cat be neutered for maliciously spraying in the living room. When Toulouse was examined, the vet found he had a chronic infection causing an overly sensitive bladder. Thus, a behavior easily interpreted as malicious was actually a medical problem that was easily remedied. Milani also explains how dangerous it is for caregivers to become complacent when outdoor cats don't return. She explains that some of these cats are suffering serious medical problems. Milani recommends that we look for all outdoor cats that don't return at night in order to prevent them from suffering and perhaps dying on their own.

Just as Milani dispels the myth of the happy wandering outdoor cat, she is also dispels myths regarding declawing and neutering--two hot potato topics. As if that weren't brave enough, Milani has the courage to discuss cat sex. She intimates that some humans are more upset when they observe cats having sex than when observing dogs having sex because cat sex is more like people sex-short foreplay and short, intense physical interaction. And you thought this would be a book about cats. Milani has a lot to say, and none of it is trite, simplistic, or boring.

The Body Language and Emotion of Cats is almost 300 pages, has a great index, and was published in 1987. The hardbound, if you can find it, is probably a nicer book to handle than the paperback.

How to Talk to Your Cat by Claire Bessant
This book was published in 1993 and feels outdated. The drawings, which resemble woodcuts, are reminiscent of an era when writing, like art, was rather tedious. For example: "As we have seen we keep cats for many reasons. However, how does the cat see us and does it have a range of requirements from us as we do from it?" strikes me as laborious and dense prose. Why not ask, What do cats need from us?