Category: cats

Things you never knew about cats

Super Cats: True Stories of Felines That Made HistorySuper Cats: True Stories of Felines That Made History by Elizabeth MacLeod
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hey, my mother bread siamese when she was a girl. There were always cats in our house. At one point we had five of them. So, having said all that, I thought I knew everything there was to k now about cats, and though I would be reading the same old stuff that all cat books have.

I was quite wrong.

This is a fantastic, middle-grade reference books, which tells the story of cats, through antidotes, for each stage in their history. And it isn’t the stories you have heard before. One very sad story was of a cat that was accused of hunting the Stephen’s Wren into extinction.

And thrown in are a lot of cat facts, or cat observations.

Another story is of cats that have helped at sea, such as Simon, the only cat to be awarded the Dickin Medal, which is given to animals who have helped out in wartime.

I think this would be a great addition to any school, public or home library.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

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Do it yourself, for cat projects

Engineering for Cats: How to Build a Cat Cave, Bunk Beds, a Drawbridge, and Other Custom Projects for Your PetEngineering for Cats: How to Build a Cat Cave, Bunk Beds, a Drawbridge, and Other Custom Projects for Your Pet by Mac Delaney
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I may never build any of the things in this book, but at least I had fun reading about them.

The writing is very witty, and that is probably the best part of the book. Although my father was a carpenter, and built houses, as well as sets for the movies, he never passed the skill on to me, or bothered to teach me, because a) it was the 1960s, and b) I was a girl.

Still, I can appreciate all the plans in this book. Some are super simple, that even I could probably make them, such as a scratching post, although, those are cheap enough to purchase. The things that facinated me in this book were things such as the exercise wheel, which would be quite expensive if you were to find one for a cat.

The author explains the principle here:

There are at least several differences between hamsters and cats. I’m not claiming to be able to tell them apart every time—the majority of animal DNA is just cut and paste anyway, so that seems unrealistic—but my understanding is that there are some differences.
Fortunately, this project focuses on something that they have in common: the ability to expend energy running on a wheel.

And just in case you want to see what the finished product looks like, here it is:

I would recommend this book to people who have the skills, or want to learn the skills, to build things for their cat(s). Very detailed step by step directions, as well as a list of what tools you will need, plus how long it will take you to build each object.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

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