A review by redhickory
Unlikely Cat Lady: Feral Adventures in the Backyard Jungle by Nina Malkin
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.