How to Talk to Your Cat

by Patricia Moyes

Entertaining and informative guide for the cat-lover packed with charming anecdotes and home-spun advice, cat-calls and a vocabulary of gestures. B&W drawings throughout. 128 pages.

Genres: Animals, Cats, Nonfiction, Humor

128 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1979

About the author

Moyes was born in Dublin on 19 January 1923 and was educated at Overstone girls' school in Northampton. She joined the WAAF in 1939. In 1946 Peter Ustinov hired her as technical assistant on his film School for Secrets. She became his personal assistant for the next eight years. In 1960 she wrote the screenplay for the film School for Scoundrels starring Ian Carmichael, Terry-Thomas, and Alastair Sim. She married photographer John Moyes in 1951; they divorced in 1959. She later married James Haszard, a linguist at the International Monetary Fund in The Hague. She died at her home on the island of Virgin Gorda (British Virgin Islands) on 2 August 2000.

Her mystery novels feature C.I.D. Inspector Henry Tibbett. One of them, Who Saw Her Die (Many Deadly Returns in the US) was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1971. She also wrote several juveniles and short stories.

Series:
* Inspector Henry Tibbett Mystery

Reviews

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funn little guide for cat owners. Nothung really new or groundbreaking but cute.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a thinly veiled paean to the author's own two Siamese cats and the "advice" in it is mostly observations she has made regarding them. It is charming that she clearly enjoys them so much and has painstakingly recorded their feats of intelligence as well as their endearing foibles.
However, there is very little information for use in broader applications. for instance, she only mentions about 7 or 8 different breeds of cats and nearly all of them are of Eastern Asian origin! The American Short Hair is by far the most popular cat in, ahem, America, and probably in many other places as well. As for various breeds, there are at least 100, and as far as I can tell from the casual, but interested, reading I have done, they all have their own quirks, traits and personalities, many of which are definitely breed-driven.
The author presents many of her findings as sweeping generalities. One particularly glaring error is her assertion that if a cat ever scratches you, it is ONLY as a defensive measure taken against human "assault!" Any owner of a feisty Bengal is going to offended by that accusation and have the scars to prove otherwise! My Bengal/Maine Coon mix thinks she is showing affection by both biting and scratching when the mood takes her and my daughter even wears protective gloves when they have "playtime!" (and before anyone asks, yes, she has been socialized with loving humans since the day she was born!) My point is just that there are indeed many cat breeds as well as differing cat behaviors across the cat world. Even her central assertion of communicating with cats is based on her limited experience. Many cats do not vocalize or express any of the emotions she ascribes to them in this book, yet I agree that they DO communicate, but oftentimes in unique and creative ways! (Also, we've come a long way in our understanding of cat psychology since 1978!)

[QuakerMaid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not-so-cute read that gives far to much power to the cat. Long-term cat owner of many cats, half of these schemes of cats I dispute.

[Mona · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was fun reading this book while the cat in my life was purring on my lap and insisting that I keep rubbing her tummy every time I turned a page. Bottom line of the book: talk to your cat and it will talk back to you. It didn't answer all if my communication questions, but did affirm I'm doing some things well. My Georgianna certainly exhibits some of the traits that show we communicate well together. I need to gather up some of the other tucked-away cat books. Goodreads has energized my bookshelf hunting.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and interesting book. Yes, cats do have a language all their own and ways of communicating with us. I did question some of her ideas that her cats are representative of all cats in a few2 areas though because she has two Siamese. They are known to be far more talkative than other breeds or mixed breed cats. She is right about one thing. Cats do pick their human in a household that they will talk to more than any other humans in the house.

[Katie Van Sloten · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the more involved cat owner - a must:)

[Elizabeth]

I can't believe I actually read a book with this title, but it's very insightful!

[Daniel Free · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dålig. Titel speglar inte innehåller, läste bara början.

[Cameron Gillard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want this book badly

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little goofy, but I have to admit that I like it. And it does have some useful information, too.