Cat Speak: How to Learn It, Speak It, and Use It to Have a Happy, Healthy, Well-Mannered Cat

by Bash Dibra, Elizabeth Randolph

Cats are intelligent and reasonable animals, capable of enormous affection and loyalty and willing to cooperate with their owners-if asked to do so in a polite manner. With dogs, one commands; with cats, one suggests. Knowing which "suggestions" to make, and how to make them, is the key.

In CatSpeak, Bash Dibra shows cat owners how to do the previously unthinkable: train their cats! Understanding feline body language, facial expressions, vocal signals, and the instinctive behaviors that make up CatSpeak, the unique language of cats, is vital to the endeavor. So are the three P's: patience, persistence, and praise. The author takes the reader step-by-step in forming a new, mutually satisfying human-feline relationship.

With easy-to-follow instructions and complete, up-to-the-minute information, CatSpeak provides everything you need to know to have a happy, healthy, well-mannered cat.

Author Biography: Bash Dibra is the internationally acclaimed animal behaviorist and trainer whose clients include Jennifer Lopez, Matthew Broderick, Sarah Jessica Parker, Martin Scorsese, Mariah Carey, Kim Basinger, Alec Baldwin, Calvin Klein, and Mia Farrow. He is a recipient of the New York State Humane Association Award and the New York City Veterinary Medical Association Unsung Hero Award.

Elizabeth Randolph is the author of more than a dozen books about pets and their care.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Cats

237 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2001

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cat Speak had all the worst qualities of a really bad self-help book, presenting advice that was either common sense dressed up in pseudo-science or which sounded good, but wasn't. The author begins by talking about how famous he is for his work with dogs, but he's really always loved cats too (honest!). The self-aggrandizement was pretty annoying and read more like an ad than a passage by a cat lover. Things only got worse from there, starting with some gimmicky lists such as "The Seven Instinctive Feline Behaviors" and the "Six Special Feline Abilities and Idiosyncrasies". The advice for understanding your cats mood was mostly of the obvious type - at least, no one in my family has ever had trouble telling when our cat is angry, sad, or hungry without someone to explain what different ear angles mean. If a cat wants you to understand how it's feeling, they're pretty good at letting you know. Where the book really went wrong was when it tried to give scientific explanations for cat behavior. One mistake they made is referring to cats as nocturnal, when they are actually crepuscular (awake at dawn and dusk). While this might seem nit-picky and unimportant, as someone about to adopt a cat it would be nice to know that they might (like my cat Maggie) be really wild as you're going to bed and want lots of attention in the morning - but not all night. In a lot of cases, I just felt like the author was trying to do too much in too little space. He went into just enough detail to get it wrong and not enough detail to explain cat behavior accurately.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I have had cats as pets my whole life, I did learn some things from this book and I would highly recommend it for any cat owners, especially if this is their first pet.

[Andy Martinichev · Rating 2 out of 5]

common sense stuff. I wanted to see if there was anything special or cool, but I just wasted time reinforcing my prior knowledge.

[Cybrak · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought for the most part this book was interesting. I particularly enjoyed the beginning sections that addressed cat physiology and senses. I'm a recent cat owner so I found it enjoyable material. That being said a lot of it was simply common sense. The body language is the same as most other pet animals that you would have, and the training is exactly the same process as with a dog, except perhaps shorter time periods. It's an easy book and worth the short read, but not a feline psychology bible by any means.

[Cathy Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book for cat lovers. How to have a happy, healthy, and well-mannered cat. The book looks at the seven instinctive feline behaviors that indicate your cat's special abilities and idiosyncrasies. And his clear description of cat facial expressions, body language, and vocalization. And how to respond to all that. Fun, fun, fun!!!

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

How you cat talks to you and you can talk to your cat. Good advice on training and good illustrations.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wish I'd read this book when I owned the cat from hell! Parts of it are gimmicky (teaching your cat to fetch?!), but it sure would have saved my belongings and body parts a lot of wear and tear!

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really helped me understand cat body language and sounds.

[Sue Kozlowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Non-fiction. Tells you all about cats. Even how to make them sit and stay!

[Barbara Ab · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un libro carino che tratta vari argomenti in modo semplice e “discorsivo”, ma troppo di “base” per chi è già gattaro e ha molta esperienza con questi piccolini felini. ;0)

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn't what I had hoped it would be. I had hoped it would teach me more about cat body language and behavior.