How to be a Cat Detective: Solving the Mystery of Your Cat's Behavior

by Vicky Halls

A do-it-yourself guide to identifying and correcting feline behavior problems identifies the causes of most common problems while sharing a wealth of reassuring advice, in a reference that provides specific guidelines for monitoring and addressing a range of issues. Original.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Cats, Reference

304 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2005

Reviews

[Maxine (Booklover Catlady) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for any cat owner wanting to understand the behaviour and quirks of their little feline friends.

I have two Burmese male cats, both with their own quirks but my adopted cat Toddy came to me with a lot of bad habits. He used to scratch up the carpet, bite holes in the blinds and more! He's also highly intelligent! He can leap up and open doors and is a beautiful cat.

This book helped to recognise that anxiety and trauma sadly was behind a lot of his bad habits. He'd been left alone nearly all the time with his previous owner and locked behind closed doors (hence scratching up the carpet to get out and jumping on door handles to open doors).

By applying techniques from the book he's much better now! I just found the book very accurate and informative and will refer to it from time to time in the future. The author covers a lot of different topics and this is a must-have book for any cat owner!

I found it very interesting and informative and it timed in with me completing my Diploma to become a Feline Behaviour expert. I do regular cat sitting in the U.K. and overseas too and each cat is so unique so you can never stop learning.

Thanks so much for reading my review! I hope you enjoyed it, if you did I’d be delighted if you leave me a “like” and I love to read your comments. If you’d like to connect you can follow me or please send me a friend request.🐱.

If you are an Author and you’d like me to consider reading and reviewing your book please just message me.

[RedGhost · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good book. Through the stories it leads us through various cat behaviors and issues similar to the cat confidential, but with much more examples and it is more like a sequel. It's more focused on why than it goes in deep description of solutions - it's usually similar - give cat ways to satisfy curiosity and spend that energy. What is interesting is how many different problems can be relieved with simple and similar solutions. It definitely gives assurance that if you implement those few simple ideas you will avoid so many potential problems and ensure nice life for your furry friends.

Also, gives many warning thoughts about pitfalls of multicat household, and how what we perceive as 'they get along great' or 'just fine' can end being something completely different. As an owner of two adoptee, I was looking for information how to determine how are they getting along. This book gave me confidence that since we don't have any issues described, we probably have good situation, but they should always be monitored and not taken for granted, because some small situation can affect their relationship, and if you're not paying attention, and repair at the beginning, you can end with non-trivial issues which are harder to resolve.

One example - if cat is startled and has piloerected tail, do NOT touch her in attempt to comfort - you can risk transference of that fear to yourself. Better is to assure by voice and your behaviour that everything is fine (eg saying to one cat that this cat is their housemate when they are taken by surprise in the dark or smth), and maybe even use some positive distraction like some toy to help them calm down.

[Florence Buchholz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have often wondered what is going on in the minds of my six house cats. This book helped me figure it out. I am now observing the interactions between them to see who is an intimidator and who is a nervous victim. I probably already knew the answer, but I didn't realize the subtlety of the clues. There were several practical tips I can put to use. One is "hiding" food in containers around the house so the cat enjoys some natural stimulation in finding it. The idea is to substitute for that impulse to stalk prey that has been unnaturally suppressed in an indoor cat. The author contends that cats should be allowed to roam outdoors. I disagree. The cats themselves are safer and other small creatures such as birds are definitely safter when the cats don't go outdoors. I was somewhat comforted to learn that behavior problems are somewhat standard in multicat households like ours. At least we are not alone!

[Carrie Kellenberger · Rating 3 out of 5]

An informative read if you like cats and want to learn more about feline behavior. Someone gave this to me when they left Taiwan and I've been using it as a bathtub read all year. I finished it last night.

I learned a lot about why cats behave in certain ways. Vicky Halls has certainly done a lot of research and case studies on cats to make this book so full of good, solid information about felines and their role in our homes.

[Naomi Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's good, but I don't like how she sometimes goes into cases with the automatic mindset of the cats may have to be rehomed. It's kinda sad...but even though it's written for U.K. cats I think it applies to American cats too.

[Amberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started and finished date - 09.09.25 to 12.09.25.
My rating - Three Stars.
I found this book to okay read but I didn't love it, and I think people who like is cat sense by John Bradshaw or the hidden language of cats by Sarah Brown may like is book. The cover of book was fine but bit dull and the paced of book was okay. I found this book to be interest, and I leaned few things about cats, but I did find is book be little bit repetitive.

[Céline · Rating 3 out of 5]

De situatie schetsen geven een betere kijk op wat je katten kunnen missen in het huishouden. Ik heb alvast meer geleerd over bepaalde problematieken en de wat minder toffe oplossingen je moet overwegen.

[Elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review was originally posted on The Girl with the Bookish Candle

[Amys · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very interesting.
A real eye-opener that helps the reader to understand the cause of any behavioural problems that their cat may have and how to best deal with them.

A great read.

[Pfalky2k · Rating 5 out of 5]

cat owners must! read this book

[Rose East · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, if you're interested in cats.

[Cathy Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jonathan got me this - the ct looks like Harry! very interesting read

[LemontreeLime · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute. a couple of stories make you grateful you are only dealing with the lesser of the issues and not the cat she descibes...

[Katie Cogan]

very good, lots of insight into cat behavior.

[Marieke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Het grootste deel is meer een handleiding voor het inschakelen van een echte gedragstherapeut. De voorbeelden in het boek laten wel een paar goede tips zien.

[Jules · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have a cat, particularly a rescue with behavioural issues, or are thinking of getting one, this book is illuminating. Fascinating insight.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for diy problems with cats. Easy to read.