Cat Sense

Cats have been popular household pets for thousands of years, and their numbers only continue to rise. Today there are three cats for every dog on the planet, and yet cats remain more mysterious, even to their most adoring owners. Unlike dogs, cats evolved as solitary hunters, and, while many have learned to live alongside humans and even feel affection for us, they still don’t quite “get us” the way dogs do, and perhaps they never will. But cats have rich emotional lives that we need to respect and understand if they are to thrive in our company.

In Cat Sense, renowned anthrozoologist John Bradshaw takes us further into the mind of the domestic cat than ever before, using cutting-edge scientific research to dispel the myths and explain the true nature of our feline friends. Tracing the cat’s evolution from lone predator to domesticated companion, Bradshaw shows that although cats and humans have been living together for at least eight thousand years, cats remain independent, predatory, and wary of contact with their own kind, qualities that often clash with our modern lifestyles. Cats still have three out of four paws firmly planted in the wild, and within only a few generations can easily revert back to the independent way of life that was the exclusive preserve of their predecessors some 10,000 years ago. Cats are astonishingly flexible, and given the right environment they can adapt to a life of domesticity with their owners—but to continue do so, they will increasingly need our help. If we’re to live in harmony with our cats, Bradshaw explains, we first need to understand their inherited quirks: understanding their body language, keeping their environments—however small—sufficiently interesting, and becoming more proactive in managing both their natural hunting instincts and their relationships with other cats.

A must-read for any cat lover, Cat Sense offers humane, penetrating insights about the domestic cat that challenge our most basic assumptions and promise to dramatically improve our pets’ lives—and ours.

“John Bradshaw knows cats. Cat Sense brims with impossibly many details sure to engage owners and animal lovers alike—and possibly even felines.”

—Alexandra Horowitz, author of Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know and On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes

“Based on rock solid science, Cat Sense is a beautifully written whirlwind tour of all things feline—from the influence of ancient Egyptian funeral rites on the behavior of modern cats to practical tips on how to keep an indoor cat happy. I am so glad I read this book… and so is my cat Tilly!”

—Hal Herzog, author of Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It’s So Hard To Think Straight About Animals

“This fascinating book is one of the finest ever written about cats. There was hardly a page where I did not learn something new, and John Bradshaw’s many practical suggestions are truly excellent. Any cat lover is bound to discover in it much that is useful, interesting, and entertaining.”

—Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, author of When Elephants Weep and The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats

“Cat Sense makes sense of cats for us from an entirely fresh perspective, using a combination of history, science, logic, and a heartfelt compassion, certainly inspired by his own lovely kitty, Splodge. John Bradshaw has given us all the gift of being able to truly comprehend our pussycats and offer them the unselfish and satisfying life we have never quite known how to do until this book opened our eyes.”

—Tracie Hotchner, author of The Cat Bible and host/producer of Dog Talk (and Kitties, Too!) on NPR and Cat Crazy and Cat Chat & Dog Talk on the Radio Pet Lady Network