Even people who live with cats and have good reason to know better insist that cats are aloof and uninterested in relating to humans. Janet and Steven Alger contend that the anti-social cat is a myth; cats form close bonds with humans and with each other. In the potentially chaotic environment of a shelter that houses dozens of uncaged cats, they reveal a sense of self and build a culture—a shared set of rules, roles, and expectations that organizes their world and assimilates newcomers.As volunteers in a local cat shelter for eleven years, the Algers came to realize that despite the frequency of new arrivals and adoptions, the social world of the shelter remained quite stable and pacific. They saw even feral cats adapt to interaction with humans and develop friendships with other cats. They saw established residents take roles as welcomers and rules enforcers. That is, they saw cats taking an active interest in maintaining a community in which they could live together and satisfy their individual needs. Cat Culture's intimate portrait of life in the shelter, its engaging stories, and its interpretations of behavior, will appeal to general readers as well as academics interested in human and animal interaction.
An irresistible and colorful celebration of Japan’s thriving cat culture. In Japan, cats rule. And the country’s feline love affair is now a worldwide phenomenon. From cat cafés and Hello Kitty to the familiar sight of a maneki neko (“beckoning cat”) waving its paw from a shop window, cat lovers all over the world are more immersed in Japan’s cat culture than they may realize. With charming storytelling, Catland will introduce you to cats practicing to become monks, a designer who makes cat costumes inspired by the fashions of 18th-century France, and skilled craftsmen who build pieces of fine furniture precisely scaled down to suit feline customers. Packed with photographs, works of art, pop culture and folklore, Catland is the perfect gift for the cat lover in your life.
She thought, brightly, This is the worst life decision I have ever made! And she marvelled at herself for a while, at the mystery of this person who’d just done this bizarre, inexplicable thing. Margot meets Robert. They exchange numbers. They text, flirt and eventually have sex – the type of sex you attempt to forget. How could one date go so wrong? Everything that takes place in Cat Person happens to countless people every day. But Cat Person is not an everyday story. In less than a week, Kristen Roupenian’s New Yorker debut became the most read and shared short story in their website’s history. This is the bad date that went viral. This is the conversation we’re all having. This gift edition contains photographs by celebrated photographer Elinor Carucci, who was commissioned by the New Yorker to capture the image that accompanied Kristen Roupenian’s Cat Person when it appeared in the magazine. You Know You Want This, Kristen Roupenian’s debut collection, will be published in February 2019.
Filled with beautiful color photographs of these furry friends, this book reveals virtually everything needed to appreciate this mysterious, lovable companion.Chapter One, "Evolutionary Cat," traces the domestic feline back to the Paleocene Era, then introduces its big cat relatives. Sidebars highlight the fascinating evolutionary differences between big cats and small cats, which clearly explain why the smaller kitties became household favorites. Cats have been both revered and scorned throughout history. Egyptian law protected sacred cats, and the beauty of Egyptian women was measured by their resemblance to the cat. But the cat's spiritual heyday came to a halt in the Middle Ages, when the Christian church crushed the worship of cat-gods. Yet, in the seventeenth century, cat popularity rose again as the French aristocracy welcomed the cat back into polite society.Chapter Two, "Cultured Cat," is a survey of artistic homage paid to the cat. From Aesop's fables to Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, cats have been featured as analogy, metaphor, and hero. From the Egyptians to Leonardo da Vinci and beyond, the cat has been featured in paintings and other media. Notable cat lovers include Winston Churchill, President Lincoln, and President Roosevelt, whose cat, Slippers, often attended White House dinners. Enemies of the cat include Hitler, Alexander the Great, and Napoleon.Chapter Three, "Physical Cat," is a guide to understanding and caring for your cat. First, each of the cat's senses and physical attributes are described, to reveal how they see the world. Important cat care issues are discussed, such as whether you should get your cat "fixed" (definitely!) and what ailments your cat is likely to suffer from. Also provided are tips for proper training, advice on when to vaccinate, and information about choosing and caring for kittens.Cat Life closes with a "Gallery of Breeds," a parade of fascinating cat types with descriptions of their unique personalities and special characteristics. Overflowing with endearing photographs and enlightening, entertaining text, Cat Life is sure to capture the fancy of ailurophiles everywhere.
"Though a cat may choose to share her affection with a human or two, she will always remain that quixotic mix of unpredictability and individuality that challenges the understanding of the most patient among us. It is as if they know that when they first stepped into the human ring of firelight, they forever altered our history, influencing our religions, our literature, our art--our very lives." -From the Introduction Cat Life is a wonderful book about the evolution, history, culture, and lore of the cat. Filled with more than 150 beautiful color photographs of these furry friends, this book reveals virtually everything needed to appreciate this mysterious, lovable companion. Chapter One, "Evolutionary Cat," traces the domestic feline back to the Paleocene Era, then introduces its big cat relatives. Sidebars highlight the fascinating evolutionary differences between big cats and small cats, which clearly explain why the smaller kitties became household favorites. Cats have been both revered and scorned throughout history. Egyptian law protected sacred cats, and the beauty of Egyptian women was measured by their resemblance to the cat. But the cat's spiritual heyday came to a halt in the Middle Ages, when the Christian church crushed the worship of cat-gods. Yet, in the seventeenth century, cat popularity rose again as the French aristocracy welcomed the cat back into polite society. Chapter Two, "Cultured Cat," is a survey of artistic homage paid to the cat. From Aesop's fables to Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, cats have been featured as analogy, metaphor, and hero. From the Egyptians to Leonardo da Vinci and beyond, the cat has been featured in paintings and other media. Notable cat lovers include Winston Churchill, President Lincoln, and President Roosevelt, whose cat, Slippers, often attended White House dinners. Enemies of the cat include Hitler, Alexander the Great, and Napoleon. Chapter Three, "Physical Cat," is a guide to understanding and caring for your cat. First, each of the cat's senses and physical attributes is described, to reveal how they see the world. Important cat care issues are discussed, such as whether you should get your cat "fixed" (definitely ) and what ailments your cat is likely to suffer from. Also provided are tips for proper training, advice on when to vaccinate, and information about choosing and caring for kittens. Cat Life closes with a "Gallery of Breeds," a parade of fascinating cat types with descriptions of their unique personalities and special characteristics. Overflowing with endearing photographs and enlightening, entertaining text, Cat Life is sure to capture the fancy of ailurophiles everywhere. Award-winning author Amy Shojai (Shojai.com) is one of America's foremost pet journalists, and the author of more than 30 dog and cat care nonfiction titles, and the pet-centric September & Shadow Thrillers.
A comprehensive, richly illustrated introduction to the behavior and qualities of the cat Of all the domesticated species, cats have enjoyed the most complex relationship with people—one that still leads to arguments about whether you can truly call the cat asleep by your fire "tame." The Cat is a comprehensive, richly illustrated exploration of the natural and cultural history of this much-loved pet. Chapters on Evolution & Development, Anatomy & Biology, Society & Behavior, and Cats & Humans take different angles on matters feline, offering rich information and insights about kitten development, the hierarchy of cats, how cats think, communication between cats and people, historic and extinct breeds, the challenges facing cats today and how we can help, and much, much more. The book also features a visually stunning photographic directory of more than forty popular breeds, with essential information about each. Filled with surprising facts, The Cat will enchant anyone with an interest in, or a love for, these animals. Provides a comprehensive, richly illustrated introduction to the natural and cultural history of the cat Offers an in-depth discussion of behavior, including social organization, communication, courtship, and learning Covers anatomy and physiology, including mobility, predation skills, and the genetics of coat colors Features clear and accessible text plus infographics, diagrams, and some 250 stunning color photographs Includes a beautiful photographic directory to more than forty breeds
Using testimonies written between the middle of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the twenty-first, nourished by ethology and the human and social sciences, Feline Cultures extends the unique track of animal studies that Éric Baratay pursues from book to book. As with his Animal Biographies: Toward a History of Individuals, Baratay breaks the model of human exceptionalism to create innovative accounts of these animals’ lives in a way that challenges the reader’s thinking about animals. Baratay is not interested in seeing how humans think about or treat these animals. Instead, he chooses to observe the animal’s perspective to document how individual cats have carried out their lives. He writes from the point of view of these animals to understand what they felt and experienced and how they reacted. Whether they be street cats, farm cats, pet cats, companion cats, or "catdogs,” cats show a great plasticity of behavior. This book establishes that cats have their own cultures and adaptations and, therefore, their own history. Through tight portraits, the dynamic construction of what we can call cultures is revealed. Here we are far from the eternal portrait of the cat—independent, unpredictable, and mysterious—that has become commonplace. For each of the domestic cats whose existence can be reconstructed from his sources, Baratay pays attention to their perceptions of the world, their sensations and their emotions, their sensitivity and character, their bodily expressiveness, and their interactions with the environment, other animals, and humans. Ethology becomes, under the alert pen of Éric Baratay, an ethnology.
This book examines the social world of the cat fancy, or the leisure activity of breeding and exhibiting pedigree cats. Based on multispecies ethnographic fieldwork and interviews in the United Kingdom, it explores the process and performance of exhibiting cats at shows, the breeding practices and discourses integral to the creation of pedigree breeds, and the relations that these practices generate between human guardians, the pedigree cat population, and non-pedigree cats. Through observation with cat fanciers and their interactions with their cats, the author investigates the social dynamics and relationships that form within the fancy, considering the interconnections between biopower and eugenics in pedigree breeding, the practices of pet keeping and the complexities of more-than-human care, and the implications of involvement for the cats themselves. As such, Cat People: Human–Cat Interrelatedness in the Cat Fancy will appeal to scholars from across the social sciences and humanities interested in human–animal interactions, multispecies leisure, anthrozoology, and more-than-human care.
From the majestic Bengal tiger to the domesticated Siamese comes a meditation on cats from the bestselling author of The Hidden Life of Dogs and The Social Lives of Dogs From as far back in time as the disappearance of the dinosaurs, cats have occupied an important place in our evolutionary, social, and cultural history. The family of the cat is as diverse as it is widespread, ranging from the lions, tigers, and pumas of the African and Asian wilds to the domesticated cats of our homes, zoos, and circuses. When she witnesses her housecat, Rajah, effortlessly scare off two fully-grown deer, acclaimed anthropologist Elizabeth Marshall Thomas starts studying the links that bind the feline family together. Immersing herself in the subtle differences of their social orders, feeding behaviors, and means of communication, Thomas explores the nature of the cat, both wild and domestic, and the resilient streak that has ensured its survival over thousands of years.
