melissapalmer404's review against another edition
4.0
Book #55 Read in 2014
An Unlikely Cat Lady by Nina Malkin
This book details the author's journey from cat admirer to feral cat caregiver. Living in Brooklyn, it was a bit surprising for her to realize how many feral cats there were in her neighborhood. She connects with local rescue organizations and begins to trap/neuter/release her outside crew. Of course, along the way she falls for almost all of the ferals, naming them and recognizing their unique personalities. I enjoyed Malkin's writing style and her reference to musicians and writers. I enjoyed this book.
http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com
An Unlikely Cat Lady by Nina Malkin
This book details the author's journey from cat admirer to feral cat caregiver. Living in Brooklyn, it was a bit surprising for her to realize how many feral cats there were in her neighborhood. She connects with local rescue organizations and begins to trap/neuter/release her outside crew. Of course, along the way she falls for almost all of the ferals, naming them and recognizing their unique personalities. I enjoyed Malkin's writing style and her reference to musicians and writers. I enjoyed this book.
http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com
healingtothemax's review against another edition
5.0
I am so grateful to the gift this book brought after finding & reading it. An absolute must for furry caretakers (such as myself). Whether in your own backyard, in your own house, at a shelter or at a friend's kitty condo, this book speaks to the heart and soul of caretakers everywhere. I felt so much better for being a guardian of our furry backyard felines after finishing this funny, sassy, sweet, and honest memoir. Yay TNR, yay kibble queen, thank you Ms. Malkin for your perseverance and powerful pen.
redhickory's review against another edition
2.0
This is Nina’s story of caring for feral cats that set up home in her backyard. Of course, they probably wouldn’t have set up home there if she hadn’t fed them twice a day and befriended them.
Malkin has a way with metaphor and in part the book is mildly entertaining because of this, but it is overly long for the content. Malkin describes the process of befriending the cats, of feeding them and of trapping them, so she can have them neutered, thereby helping to decrease the feral cat problem. The strategy is called trap, neuter, release (TNR). Malkin talks of the importance of the TNR strategy and the problem of feral cats, which was all interesting and it is great to raise the profile of both the issue and the strategy but she failed to win me by showing the type of behaviour that is a big cause of the feral cat problem in the first place; a preference for kittens. She makes a huge effort to befriend a cat and its four kittens and has three of them neutered (one dies before she can do so), but another stray that ventures into her yard is sick and what she describes as ugly. Despite the fact that it is a tom and that it gets caught in the trap, she releases it. Not getting it neutered or seeking treatment for the illness. Obviously a sick tom can have a significant impact on the feral population and the very cats she was trying to care for. I found the double standard a disappointment and for me, it served to diminish her message.
Malkin has a way with metaphor and in part the book is mildly entertaining because of this, but it is overly long for the content. Malkin describes the process of befriending the cats, of feeding them and of trapping them, so she can have them neutered, thereby helping to decrease the feral cat problem. The strategy is called trap, neuter, release (TNR). Malkin talks of the importance of the TNR strategy and the problem of feral cats, which was all interesting and it is great to raise the profile of both the issue and the strategy but she failed to win me by showing the type of behaviour that is a big cause of the feral cat problem in the first place; a preference for kittens. She makes a huge effort to befriend a cat and its four kittens and has three of them neutered (one dies before she can do so), but another stray that ventures into her yard is sick and what she describes as ugly. Despite the fact that it is a tom and that it gets caught in the trap, she releases it. Not getting it neutered or seeking treatment for the illness. Obviously a sick tom can have a significant impact on the feral population and the very cats she was trying to care for. I found the double standard a disappointment and for me, it served to diminish her message.
octavia_cade's review against another edition
3.0
Easy to read, entertaining memoir about a woman living in Brooklyn who finds her back garden playing host to a colony of feral cats. This is not everyone's cup of tea, of course... unless, like the author (and, let's face it, like me) you love cats to an often unreasonable extent.
Look, feral cats are a problem. More so here in New Zealand than in New York, I would imagine, given the different ecologies, but still. These cats - and there are several of them, the colony number varying over time - are feral. They're not going to be turned into house pets. Their lives, sad to say, are likely to be nasty, brutish, and short. If they're female, those lives are also likely to be one of constant kitten-producing. Feral cats have a lot of kittens, which exacerbates the problem. The solution that Malkin plumps for, and that the book is lightly interested in promoting, is called TNR: trap, neuter, release. This not only limits the amount of kittens being born, but it's also healthier for the mother cats, who are often worn out and starving trying to provide for their litters. When you think of a topic for a funny memoir it probably isn't this, but Malkin's focus is as much - if not more - on the personalities living in her garden... personalities which are often vicious and spiteful, which almost makes her attempts to cuddle them even funnier. It also helps that she's so self-deprecating about it, and the often ludicrous attempts she'll go to to trap these moggies. The woman's a crazy cat lady and knows it.
I sympathise.
Look, feral cats are a problem. More so here in New Zealand than in New York, I would imagine, given the different ecologies, but still. These cats - and there are several of them, the colony number varying over time - are feral. They're not going to be turned into house pets. Their lives, sad to say, are likely to be nasty, brutish, and short. If they're female, those lives are also likely to be one of constant kitten-producing. Feral cats have a lot of kittens, which exacerbates the problem. The solution that Malkin plumps for, and that the book is lightly interested in promoting, is called TNR: trap, neuter, release. This not only limits the amount of kittens being born, but it's also healthier for the mother cats, who are often worn out and starving trying to provide for their litters. When you think of a topic for a funny memoir it probably isn't this, but Malkin's focus is as much - if not more - on the personalities living in her garden... personalities which are often vicious and spiteful, which almost makes her attempts to cuddle them even funnier. It also helps that she's so self-deprecating about it, and the often ludicrous attempts she'll go to to trap these moggies. The woman's a crazy cat lady and knows it.
I sympathise.
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