A review by queenerdloser
Cat Sense: How the New Feline Science Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet by John Bradshaw
4.0
While I was reading, I wondered in the back of my mind about the somewhat low rating for this book, which is a delightful and thought-provoking - if somewhat dry - reflection on cats' history, anthropology, behavior, and future. That said, as soon as I hit the sections reflecting on cats and wildlife and cat breeding, I immediately guessed why people would be rating this book low.
And lo and behold! I came over to read the reviews, curious, and found a bevy of angry reviewers who were appalled at the audacity of this book to be a) scientific in nature (once review complained there were not enough pictures?) b) dry in tone c) covering "too much" (????) and d) basically offering cat eugenics propaganda. Now, I agree the book reads somewhat dry - as most scientific-focused nonfiction books do, and considering the title has feline science in the title it seems pretty wild to complain so heavily about it - but the accusations of the author being a proponent of "cat eugenics" (itself a wild overreaction to what is essentially domestic breeding practices humanity have been using on animals and wildlife since the dawn of civilization) are, to be frank, hysterical.
The chapter involving the author's musings on the necessity of breeding cats for friendliness - once again, something humans have done with dogs to the point their friendliness is a matter of pride and a reason dogs are so beloved - is completely framed not just as a way to "solve" the problem of cats savaging wildlife and their continued existence as pets, but also as a way to make urban life less stressful for cats. Because, despite what your own personal experience tells you, cats have only become urban animals VERY recently, and the constraints humans put them in can be actively stressful for them. The author frames this well, in my opinion, by pointing out that breeding well-adjusted house cats - the most likely cats to be spayed/neutered early on - can help continue to breed sociability in pet cat. This helps ensure that future generations of cats can grow up more relaxed and predisposed to be friendly with other humans, other cats, and other animals: something that can only help cats feel more comfortable when they are increasingly expected to interact with a large variety of animals (humans included) in contained spaces. Nothing about the chapter read as "we must get rid of all unsociable cats and replace them all with friendly cats" which several reviewers suggested. And I have to say again, because the sheer outrage of that section continues to baffle me: humans have bred animals this way since we learned how to domesticate animals. The reason it works is because it is mutually beneficial for animals and humans to coexist - it's not "harming" cats to breed for friendlier cats, just as it didn't "harm" dogs to breed for friendlier dogs. (This can obviously be pushed to extremes, but almost always those extremes are of appearance and not personality - see the breeding of pugs, where personality-focused breeding has led to increased health problems.)
Anyway, the book itself is delightful in several ways and brought up a lot of interesting points on cat anthropology and behavior. Since feline science is in its infancy (as are many animal sciences, unfortunately) the author was refreshingly clear about how much we still don't know about cats - entirely appropriate, as the science and experimentation is still developing - and extrapolated potential causes based on simple logic and a solid understanding of wild feline behaviors. Some particular details I found fascinating - the blurred line between domestic and wild cats due to so much interbreeding, the fact that cat smell is actually their strongest sense (for some reason, I have always assumed cat eyesight was the strongest! There's the human bias, again), and how much of cat behavior, when viewed through the lense of their history as solitary predators makes so, so much more sense. Also loved the examination of cat cults and how cats were held in such high esteem, a breeding female could fetch the same price as a full-grown sheep in the Dark Ages!
Overall, this book is a pleasant overview of different categories of feline science and history. While dry, it had several moments of authorial humor that shone through and the subject matter itself is interesting. The reviews based on the shock and outrage over cat breeding and investigation of claims on the actual effect cats have on local wildlife are very silly - if you like cats and want to learn more about them, this is a good book and you should give it a shot.
And lo and behold! I came over to read the reviews, curious, and found a bevy of angry reviewers who were appalled at the audacity of this book to be a) scientific in nature (once review complained there were not enough pictures?) b) dry in tone c) covering "too much" (????) and d) basically offering cat eugenics propaganda. Now, I agree the book reads somewhat dry - as most scientific-focused nonfiction books do, and considering the title has feline science in the title it seems pretty wild to complain so heavily about it - but the accusations of the author being a proponent of "cat eugenics" (itself a wild overreaction to what is essentially domestic breeding practices humanity have been using on animals and wildlife since the dawn of civilization) are, to be frank, hysterical.
The chapter involving the author's musings on the necessity of breeding cats for friendliness - once again, something humans have done with dogs to the point their friendliness is a matter of pride and a reason dogs are so beloved - is completely framed not just as a way to "solve" the problem of cats savaging wildlife and their continued existence as pets, but also as a way to make urban life less stressful for cats. Because, despite what your own personal experience tells you, cats have only become urban animals VERY recently, and the constraints humans put them in can be actively stressful for them. The author frames this well, in my opinion, by pointing out that breeding well-adjusted house cats - the most likely cats to be spayed/neutered early on - can help continue to breed sociability in pet cat. This helps ensure that future generations of cats can grow up more relaxed and predisposed to be friendly with other humans, other cats, and other animals: something that can only help cats feel more comfortable when they are increasingly expected to interact with a large variety of animals (humans included) in contained spaces. Nothing about the chapter read as "we must get rid of all unsociable cats and replace them all with friendly cats" which several reviewers suggested. And I have to say again, because the sheer outrage of that section continues to baffle me: humans have bred animals this way since we learned how to domesticate animals. The reason it works is because it is mutually beneficial for animals and humans to coexist - it's not "harming" cats to breed for friendlier cats, just as it didn't "harm" dogs to breed for friendlier dogs. (This can obviously be pushed to extremes, but almost always those extremes are of appearance and not personality - see the breeding of pugs, where personality-focused breeding has led to increased health problems.)
Anyway, the book itself is delightful in several ways and brought up a lot of interesting points on cat anthropology and behavior. Since feline science is in its infancy (as are many animal sciences, unfortunately) the author was refreshingly clear about how much we still don't know about cats - entirely appropriate, as the science and experimentation is still developing - and extrapolated potential causes based on simple logic and a solid understanding of wild feline behaviors. Some particular details I found fascinating - the blurred line between domestic and wild cats due to so much interbreeding, the fact that cat smell is actually their strongest sense (for some reason, I have always assumed cat eyesight was the strongest! There's the human bias, again), and how much of cat behavior, when viewed through the lense of their history as solitary predators makes so, so much more sense. Also loved the examination of cat cults and how cats were held in such high esteem, a breeding female could fetch the same price as a full-grown sheep in the Dark Ages!
Overall, this book is a pleasant overview of different categories of feline science and history. While dry, it had several moments of authorial humor that shone through and the subject matter itself is interesting. The reviews based on the shock and outrage over cat breeding and investigation of claims on the actual effect cats have on local wildlife are very silly - if you like cats and want to learn more about them, this is a good book and you should give it a shot.