Cat Parenting Handbook: A New Book For The Total Cat Purr-Son
Book Review Score: 4.8 out of 5.0 Paws
People buy, rescue, and find pets like cats and dogs with little or no thought about how to raise them properly. Somehow, people think they instinctively know how to take care of pets so they are happy, healthy, and an integral part of the family.
Sadly, just like parents who have no clue how to raise children, pet parents suffer from a more pronounced overconfidence because they think the stakes are lower.
That’s why the Cat Parenting Handbook by the Ministry of Meow (AKA Luliu Popescu) is such a valuable tool for cat owners and prospective cat owners.
The book’s design — images, quotes, tone, and format — exudes cuteness and comfort food. Don’t let that fool you. The book is full of valuable information on taking care of your cat. Although the book is short, I found myself saying out loud numerous times, “I didn’t know that,” “I won’t do that anymore,” or “I have to start doing that.”
For most books, design and format are ancillary processes that can complement the book’s written content, but here, the design is an integral part of the book’s oeuvre. For example, the cover offers readers a close-up of a cat’s neck and face, with whiskers resplendent horizontally across the frame. Right away, readers are drawn into the majesty, mystery, and magnetism of cats. The author has clearly put a lot of design work into the e-book version of the book, which is difficult to accomplish. Design is often easier in the print version. The paperback version of this book is striking in its design excellence.
In each of the seven chapters, the author shows a photo of a cat inside a picture frame. There is a quote from a famous person, usually a writer, about cat. For example, in Chapter one, the photo of a human scratching a cat’s neck contains a quote below from Charles Dickens: “What greater gift than the love of a cat.” Great quote, and this must have been after he finished the last chapter of A Christmas Carol, otherwise Dickens might have said, “Bah, humbug, cats.”
In a later chapter, the book even has a quote from Sigmund Freud — coupled with a framed photo of a young boy hugging a cat — that says: “Time spent with cats is never wasted.”
The content in the book is information dense. For example, I’ve seen people use string, rubber bands, and yarn as cat toys. Yet here, readers are warned that such loose items can be choking hazards. While I think i’ts well-known that poinsettias can be toxic to dogs and cats, I didn’t know that essential oils, which are popular today, are toxic to cats.
In chapter one, the author discussed establishing a base camp for your new cat. “Cats acclimate best when kept to a single room after adoption.” Boy, did I learn that lesson the hard way. We rescued a kitten, brought her home, let her out of the cat carrier and then tried to entice out from under the spare room bed for two days.
For a litter box, the book recommends “1.5 times the length of your cat with high sides for privacy.”
Chapter two on cat nutrition was eye-opening. “Cats’ ancestral diets in the wild are — 70% rodents, birds, and insects. Today’s cats still need this carnivorous ratio metabolically.”
The book warns that many commercial cat foods contain high amount of plant ingredients and carbohydrates from these fillers can cause obesity and diabetes since cats lack the ability to efficiently digest plant matter.
The book is explicit on a cat’s diet and daily caloric intake, and even recommends intermittent fasting for your feline. Now my cats, Moogie and Tinker Bell, can enjoy my struggle with such fasting. We can do it as a family.
Chapter three on cat behavior is a must-read for any cat owner. Unlike dogs, whose barks seem to better communicate their wants, cat noises are mysterious and even a little creepy. The author breaks down these cat vocalizations and becomes a “cat whisperer” for the reader.
I won’t go through every chapter, but suffice it to say that every chapter is full of valuable information. I would be safe in saying that every chapter offers information about cats that owners did not know. The author even spends several pages on bathing best practices for your cat. In the past, any attempt at bathing my cats has been met with fierce resistance that borders on outright revolution.
I did try the steps recommended, and it did help make the process less stressful for the cats and less dangerous for my skin.
At the end, the author says, “Cats make remarkably, intuitive, sensitive companions when provided stable environments meeting their preferences. While independent in spirit, they adopt human families as trusted extensions of their prides worthy of guarding and affection.”
For those who complete the book, the author offers readers a free copy of “New Cat Owner’s Crash Course” e-book, which sells for $12.
You can find the Cat Parenting Handbook on Amazon. If you’re a cat owner or thinking about a cat owner, this book can be an invaluable resource, and it’s a fun read.
If you are a cat person, I also recommend the Six Degrees Of Cats podcast by Captain Kitty (AKA Amanda B.) It is a fascinating, educational, and silly podcast that discusses cat-themed culture, cats in human history, and science with a diversity of guest experts from across the globe.
Love this, checking out the book now! Thank you 😻