Cat Talk: What Your Cat Is Trying to Tell You

by Carole C. Wilbourn

Book describes and explains how cats communicate with people, how cats show their emotions, and how a person can solve behavior problems of a cat while nurturing a close relationship with a cat.

Genres: Cats, Nonfiction, Reference

168 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Cammie Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this book was written back in 1979 & republished in 1991 - I still found a lot of the information relevant.

I liked it that the author is a cat psychologist & her 2nd husband was a veterinarian. This seemed to give her some different insights from other authors. What I found the most interesting was Carole Wilbourn mentioned that often a "disorder" in a cat may be the result of what she calls "two stress targets". She gave the example of a cat peeing on a person's bed - where they found that the cat's bladder not only probably felt uncomfortable, but "his chest was the primary stress target - when he became anxious and overstressed, his breathing became rapid and triggered a bronchial spasm. This caused a chain reaction which affected his next vulnerable target - his bladder." The paragraph goes on to say more about this.

I also was entertained by all the different cat names in the book. Carole uses examples from her practice and some of the names had me cracking up.

I also found the book an "easy read" for the most part (and entertaining), but she used so many examples in such short succession that it was a little hard at times to keep all the names & the experiences separate.

I recommend this book because it gives such a different perspective to some cat issues that I've never thought of before.

[Michele Pfrogner · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I certainly agree with other reviewers that Wilbourn's book is outdated, _Cat Talk_ is still being sold. My copy is a 2018 Christmas present; my husband bought it through Publisher's Clearing House! Thank goodness, cat lovers don't use spray bottles for correction, or request tranquilizers as much (Thank you, "Cat Daddy" Jackson Galaxy!). Yet, I still learned a few things from this text: catnip toys continue to serve a purpose; other cats have had worse problems than my own; and the author's "Major Barbara" (p. 146) is in reference to an actual play. For the time period in which it was written, this book certainly broke some ground, and no doubt paved the way for future animal behaviorists. Our cats--domesticated and feral--are worth taking care of!

[Leah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is wildly outdated and suggests a lot of things that I'm thankful we don't do anymore, such as over-medicating cats with tranquilizers every time they seem upset.

While I learned one or two "fun facts", I found that the book was too outdated to be useful, especially for anyone who has experience of their own with cats.

I continued to read it because of the stories about all the cats she's encountered. While not a scientific or informative book (it reads more like stream of consciousness anecdotes), you could tell she *really* loves her pets and clients' pets.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely book about cats and how stressors of all sorts affect them. It is written with the layperson firmly in mind, is short on jargon and long on commonsense! It took me aback just a bit when she recommended a spray bottle as a distractor, but then I realized that this book was originally written in 1979, and that the author was the first cat therapist and behaviorist. She was learning as she went. At that point, I just overlooked that and went with the rest!

I'll be keeping this one next to the computer as a reference when I am on my cat site.

[Betsy Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

even though it was written in 1979 it still has some useful info on cat behaviors . Thank goodness that with todays knowledge and medicines we don't have to over medicate any animals . But its a great book to follow after reading about how to care for your cat . Felines roar :D

[Vic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun anecdotes on different cats. We just adopted, and Aggie has become the first cat in my life, so I was looking for more information that I got. There are some bits of information which were helpful, but for the most part it was just a fun read when I wanted more facts.

[Madison Gillen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book on my honeymoon and it was a lovely read. I loved all of the stories about various patients and their experiences. I love my own kitties and definitely strive to understand their wants, needs, and feelings.

[Teresa A. Corbitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting but some I disagreed with. I never used spray bottle on my six cats.

[Bright · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are many interesting stories that I enjoyed reading. She also had many new ideas about cats that I had never heard.
Definitely worth a look-see.

[Chris Shepard · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a bit wordy and based on personal experiences. When attempting to fact check it with my cat, she was unable to understand any of it.

[Andrea Norton · Rating 1 out of 5]

Alright. It's been a few months since I last picked this book up. I couldn't bring myself to read more.

From my updates, you can see I learned nothing. I stopped at spraying cat with a water bottle. The cardiological affects of this on a cat can be massive. Please don't ever do this.

I learned nothing from this book. Like other reviews before me, I agree that this reads like a personal memoir.

There are so many more cat behavior books out there. Choose one of those. I did not finish this and won't give it any stars.

[Trish · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book includes a lot of good information about cat behavior, and I learned a few new things. However, I did not enjoy the writing style. There were few transitions linking paragraphs and no headings or sections within chapters for organization, so the anecdotes ran into one another rather abruptly.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you have a cat....its a must read!

[Tina Bembry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not on board with all of what Carole says about cats in this book, but it's still fascinating to hear stories of the widely different cats she came in contact with.

[James Staiti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting book for cat-lovers.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

My cat thought I was a dog person. Who would have thought!

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping to learn more from this book than I did.