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Call of the Cats: What I Learned about Life and Love from a Feral Colony
When aspiring screenwriter Andrew Bloomfield moved into a bungalow in Southern California he soon discovered that he shared the property with a large colony of feral cats — untamed, uninterested in human touch, not purring pets in waiting. But after a midnight attack by predators that decimated yet another litter of kittens, Bloomfield decided to intervene. He began to name and nurse, feed and house, rescue and neuter. Drawing on his time living in Asia among spiritual teachers, he takes us on the contemplative, humorous, and poignant journey of saving these cats, only to find it was they who saved him by revealing a world of meaning beyond his unrealized Hollywood dreams.
237 pages, Paperback
First published October 10, 2016
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April 19, 2019
if i learned one thing from this book, it is that i do not have what it takes to care for a feral cat colony, certainly not for the twenty years this guy did. i mean, i absolutely lack the financial resources to feed and handle medical care for a bunch of stranger-danger cats, since vet bills are insane, even when you are only caring for one little cat with one little cancer like i am,
but even more than that - i do not have the emotional fortitude to deal with the short lifespans of very cute things in the wild. reading about all the kittens disemboweled by coyotes or raccoons (and i never thought i would say this, but FUCK RACCOONS! FUCK THEIR WICKED LITTLE HANDS AND CAT-GOBBLING FACES! now i know what evie is always going on about), or cats who are shitty and neglectful mothers leaving their kittens to die, it’s enough to break your heart just reading about it, let alone becoming emotionally attached to a population so damn vulnerable. giving them names is just hubris.
if there’s TWO things i learned from this book, it is the difference between feral and stray cats, which are terms i’d always used interchangeably. strays are domesticated cats, abandoned to the streets like my maggie was so many years ago. when you move, it's hard to fit this much cute in your u-haul:
worked out just fine for me!
ferals are straight-up wild beasties, “untamed and, for the most part, untamable” (although bloomfield had some luck in that area) who don’t do cute things like purr, approach for petting, or enjoy human company. i’d been calling the cats who wander all over my town ‘feral,’ but that’s totally not true. ours are friendly and approachable. not that i pet them anymore because - again - cancer cat who doesn’t need extra diseases compromising her immune system. i leave the occasional bowl of food out for them - i have been buying fancy expensive healthy cancer-curing food for maggie and she's been on-and-off with it, so rather than letting it go to waste, i give it to the under-the-LIRR-cats, but they’re never around when i leave the food, so we have no relationship, which is for the best. i am like cat santa.
i lost any idea of ever being more than cat santa when i came to this sentence early on in the book: After watching, helpless, as a delicate white cat choked to death on a bone she had scavenged from a neighbor’s trash…, and i was like NOPE, I’M OUT! no falling in love with outside cats, ever!
we have quite a large stray cat population here in my neighborhood, little pockets of them scattered in various places, and there are plenty of cat-people who feed and care for them. several of these cats have marked off the grounds of the mormon church as their territory, and i see them every day, saying hello as i pass by on my way to the subway. a couple of weeks back i saw one of them - a large stripey cat - under a bush, face smooshed into the ground and clearly no longer alive, and it broke me a little bit. it broke me more when i called 311 to have someone come take it away so no one else had to get broken inside, and it was handled with an understandably businesslike and emotionless efficiency on their end that pissed me off, even as i acknowledged that my anger was irrational.
but so yeah - i commend this andrew bloomfield for doing what i never could, and taking on the thankless task of caring for these animals, through all the heartache of entire litters of kittens being devoured, of special favorites dying young or vanishing, fates unknown. for someone who wasn’t even a cat person before getting involved, whose own life was precarious, who went from living in his car to moving in with an ex-girlfriend and her sister, to the three of them becoming the benefactors of generations of wild cats living in their backyard, it’s even more laudable.
despite what i’ve mentioned above, this book isn’t a total downer - there are so many stories that are uplifting - sympathetic bill-slashing vets, kittens on the verge of death rallying under his care, cats believed to be dead returning to the colony years later, and despite their wild animal status, so many instances that demonstrate an understanding - a communication between human and cat that is downright spooky:
At least a dozen times…whenever a cat we cared for escaped or was missing from the colony, we would ask the others for help. Usually within hours, they would bring us the missing cat, though sometimes it took as long as a day.
and the incident that made him commit to the colony beyond simply leaving food for them - i mean, this is like a friggin’ disney movie:
there’s a heavily spiritual slant throughout this book - quotes and passages from texts and values culled from a number of religions - buddhism, hinduism, kabbalah, etc and some assorted, unaffiliated new agey stuff, none of which overlaps in the venn diagram of me and my personal beliefs or interests, but this is as much his story as it is the story of “his” cats, and it doesn’t seem out of place alongside all of the non-cat stories about his life. maybe a little distractingly off-topic sometimes, because i’m just here for the cats, but it’s such a big part of who he is, and you kind of need to be zen to deal with all the kitten death, so it didn’t bother me too much. plus, some of it is surprisingly fierce:
One spiritual teacher I met described desire as hunger - chewing on the bone of life, pursuing everything we think will give us satisfaction. But actually the meat from the bone is long gone, and what we're really tasting is our own blood from the shards of bone as they cut into our gums.
apart from that, and his overuse and imprecise application of the word “decimate,” it’s a really enjoyable book. all of the cat stories are excellent, even the heartbreaking ones, and it was nice to see how even a non-cat person can fall under their spell and become their slaves like the rest of us.
***************************************
quick review for now, more to come.
everything about this author's experiences with "his" cats = 5 stars
everything that falls into the category of "learning facts about cats and the relationship between people and cats through history" = 4 stars, but only because i'd already been spoiled by the excellent The Lion in the Living Room: How House Cats Tamed Us and Took Over the World.
everything else - the astrology, religion & spirituality, hollywood, etc etc = three stars. "just the cats, man," sez me.
and the photography = two stars, with one of those stars being just for the fact that they are cats. i totally understand that it is cost-prohibitive to include color photos, especially if you're supporting a million feral cats, but even black and white photos can be pleasing to the eye. just not these particular ones. the resolution is so... weird:
it makes the cats look cartoony.
and i don't even know what's going on here, with those white-cutout negative space patches:
what is this even?
but it's overall a great book, and i will blab about how great it is soon.
come to my blog!
but even more than that - i do not have the emotional fortitude to deal with the short lifespans of very cute things in the wild. reading about all the kittens disemboweled by coyotes or raccoons (and i never thought i would say this, but FUCK RACCOONS! FUCK THEIR WICKED LITTLE HANDS AND CAT-GOBBLING FACES! now i know what evie is always going on about), or cats who are shitty and neglectful mothers leaving their kittens to die, it’s enough to break your heart just reading about it, let alone becoming emotionally attached to a population so damn vulnerable. giving them names is just hubris.
if there’s TWO things i learned from this book, it is the difference between feral and stray cats, which are terms i’d always used interchangeably. strays are domesticated cats, abandoned to the streets like my maggie was so many years ago. when you move, it's hard to fit this much cute in your u-haul:
worked out just fine for me!
ferals are straight-up wild beasties, “untamed and, for the most part, untamable” (although bloomfield had some luck in that area) who don’t do cute things like purr, approach for petting, or enjoy human company. i’d been calling the cats who wander all over my town ‘feral,’ but that’s totally not true. ours are friendly and approachable. not that i pet them anymore because - again - cancer cat who doesn’t need extra diseases compromising her immune system. i leave the occasional bowl of food out for them - i have been buying fancy expensive healthy cancer-curing food for maggie and she's been on-and-off with it, so rather than letting it go to waste, i give it to the under-the-LIRR-cats, but they’re never around when i leave the food, so we have no relationship, which is for the best. i am like cat santa.
i lost any idea of ever being more than cat santa when i came to this sentence early on in the book: After watching, helpless, as a delicate white cat choked to death on a bone she had scavenged from a neighbor’s trash…, and i was like NOPE, I’M OUT! no falling in love with outside cats, ever!
we have quite a large stray cat population here in my neighborhood, little pockets of them scattered in various places, and there are plenty of cat-people who feed and care for them. several of these cats have marked off the grounds of the mormon church as their territory, and i see them every day, saying hello as i pass by on my way to the subway. a couple of weeks back i saw one of them - a large stripey cat - under a bush, face smooshed into the ground and clearly no longer alive, and it broke me a little bit. it broke me more when i called 311 to have someone come take it away so no one else had to get broken inside, and it was handled with an understandably businesslike and emotionless efficiency on their end that pissed me off, even as i acknowledged that my anger was irrational.
but so yeah - i commend this andrew bloomfield for doing what i never could, and taking on the thankless task of caring for these animals, through all the heartache of entire litters of kittens being devoured, of special favorites dying young or vanishing, fates unknown. for someone who wasn’t even a cat person before getting involved, whose own life was precarious, who went from living in his car to moving in with an ex-girlfriend and her sister, to the three of them becoming the benefactors of generations of wild cats living in their backyard, it’s even more laudable.
despite what i’ve mentioned above, this book isn’t a total downer - there are so many stories that are uplifting - sympathetic bill-slashing vets, kittens on the verge of death rallying under his care, cats believed to be dead returning to the colony years later, and despite their wild animal status, so many instances that demonstrate an understanding - a communication between human and cat that is downright spooky:
At least a dozen times…whenever a cat we cared for escaped or was missing from the colony, we would ask the others for help. Usually within hours, they would bring us the missing cat, though sometimes it took as long as a day.
and the incident that made him commit to the colony beyond simply leaving food for them - i mean, this is like a friggin’ disney movie:
The dead kitten at my feet was a stunning mix of tortoiseshell and tabby markings, patches of chocolate and cinnamon melded with royal-orange stripes down her legs that would’ve made her lion ancestors proud. Just the day before, I’d observed this little sprite dancing with joy in the backyard, spinning and leaping in air, the enthusiasm of life surging through her tiny body. As my gaze lifted from the lifeless creature, I saw eight feral cats looking up at me. They sat on their haunches in a perfect semicircle, each so quiet and perfectly positioned it seemed as if someone had hand-placed them.
I recognized these cats: there was Caliby, Snow White, Crazy Calico, Shadow, Beige, Juniorette, Baby Gray, and Marble. Two males and the rest females, ranging in color and appearance from pitch black to Siamese. I was stunned that they were out in the open and not fleeing from my presence. More significantly, each cat stared me dead in the eye. As I turned my head to look at each animal, it would fiercely hold my gaze. This feral cats did not do.
there’s a heavily spiritual slant throughout this book - quotes and passages from texts and values culled from a number of religions - buddhism, hinduism, kabbalah, etc and some assorted, unaffiliated new agey stuff, none of which overlaps in the venn diagram of me and my personal beliefs or interests, but this is as much his story as it is the story of “his” cats, and it doesn’t seem out of place alongside all of the non-cat stories about his life. maybe a little distractingly off-topic sometimes, because i’m just here for the cats, but it’s such a big part of who he is, and you kind of need to be zen to deal with all the kitten death, so it didn’t bother me too much. plus, some of it is surprisingly fierce:
One spiritual teacher I met described desire as hunger - chewing on the bone of life, pursuing everything we think will give us satisfaction. But actually the meat from the bone is long gone, and what we're really tasting is our own blood from the shards of bone as they cut into our gums.
apart from that, and his overuse and imprecise application of the word “decimate,” it’s a really enjoyable book. all of the cat stories are excellent, even the heartbreaking ones, and it was nice to see how even a non-cat person can fall under their spell and become their slaves like the rest of us.
***************************************
quick review for now, more to come.
everything about this author's experiences with "his" cats = 5 stars
everything that falls into the category of "learning facts about cats and the relationship between people and cats through history" = 4 stars, but only because i'd already been spoiled by the excellent The Lion in the Living Room: How House Cats Tamed Us and Took Over the World.
everything else - the astrology, religion & spirituality, hollywood, etc etc = three stars. "just the cats, man," sez me.
and the photography = two stars, with one of those stars being just for the fact that they are cats. i totally understand that it is cost-prohibitive to include color photos, especially if you're supporting a million feral cats, but even black and white photos can be pleasing to the eye. just not these particular ones. the resolution is so... weird:
it makes the cats look cartoony.
and i don't even know what's going on here, with those white-cutout negative space patches:
what is this even?
but it's overall a great book, and i will blab about how great it is soon.
come to my blog!
August 29, 2017
Barely 2 stars. I was given this book by a friend who enjoys buying me cat books. I find it hard to believe that the author cared for feral cats for years, recounting many lost lives before it occurred to him to even consider spaying and neutering the cats. Really? In fact, it took until page 128, with many heartbreaking deaths along the way, and countless kittens. Ugh. Perhaps rather than hiding in the bushes at night to protect the kittens, he should have prevented them from continuing to procreate! And then he only relates the capture and spaying of the females...not sure if the males were not neutered or he just didn't mention it.
July 15, 2024
Having a heart means helping in an emergency. Assist a small animal who is unguarded, even just bring infant kittens or birds indoors overnight. Some adults choose to live in the wild but LOOK at them! An ear-tattooed (never mind if you can read it), neutered, or tame cat means they have a family. Our baby will be home when someone does that!
I know involvement is decided by comfort level and income. I was surprised by critical reviews of Andrew Bloomfield but soon agreed with them. I applaud the heart and help they gave but was shocked by how slowly he and his roommates acted in basic urgency. The girls did nothing, in the mini wilderness of their California yard, until Andrew arrived. They heard kittens snatched by coyotes and raccoons several times, before helping!
Then, his idea was to deter predators by sleeping outside. Goodness, whisk kittens inside or fashion a box covering! Renters could not cut cat doors (nor did they ask) but for Pete’s sake, build a little structure that predators can’t access. Another reviewer rightfully complained that they were astonishingly slow to contemplate a spay-neuter-release sponsor. Thereafter, fewer than 10 needed feeding and overseeing for their lifetimes. A few cats became pets. He gets an A+ for publishing awareness about dear little faces who need help.
The way Andrew wrote was also criticized, understandably. When the synopsis said he visited mystical countries, I anticipated tools like animal communication and healing. He was clueless of them. He discussed travelling and his desire to be a scriptwriter but not this book deal, which WOULD have been relevant. He philosophized but instead of sharing conclusions, always said he did not know. After demonstrating how clearly the cats asked for his help: he minimized the experience by wondering if he had imagined their sentience.
He is a poor a storyteller. No tangents gelled with “Call Of The Cats: What I Learned About Life And Love From A Feral Colony”. My consistent reaction was: “What was the point of that”? Three stars honour the awareness that this 2016 book generates.
I know involvement is decided by comfort level and income. I was surprised by critical reviews of Andrew Bloomfield but soon agreed with them. I applaud the heart and help they gave but was shocked by how slowly he and his roommates acted in basic urgency. The girls did nothing, in the mini wilderness of their California yard, until Andrew arrived. They heard kittens snatched by coyotes and raccoons several times, before helping!
Then, his idea was to deter predators by sleeping outside. Goodness, whisk kittens inside or fashion a box covering! Renters could not cut cat doors (nor did they ask) but for Pete’s sake, build a little structure that predators can’t access. Another reviewer rightfully complained that they were astonishingly slow to contemplate a spay-neuter-release sponsor. Thereafter, fewer than 10 needed feeding and overseeing for their lifetimes. A few cats became pets. He gets an A+ for publishing awareness about dear little faces who need help.
The way Andrew wrote was also criticized, understandably. When the synopsis said he visited mystical countries, I anticipated tools like animal communication and healing. He was clueless of them. He discussed travelling and his desire to be a scriptwriter but not this book deal, which WOULD have been relevant. He philosophized but instead of sharing conclusions, always said he did not know. After demonstrating how clearly the cats asked for his help: he minimized the experience by wondering if he had imagined their sentience.
He is a poor a storyteller. No tangents gelled with “Call Of The Cats: What I Learned About Life And Love From A Feral Colony”. My consistent reaction was: “What was the point of that”? Three stars honour the awareness that this 2016 book generates.
June 27, 2017
A heartwarming story about how the author came to care for a feral cat colony. All the heartbreaking moments of losing cats, the triumphs of helping them be well and healthy, and the importance of trap/neuter/release as a cat colony management system are in here. Great book for cat lovers.
December 25, 2017
Meh. While the parts about the cats were fairly interesting, I wasn’t at all interested in the author’s travels and his pick ‘n’ mix spirituality. I also didn’t find it particularly well-written.
April 25, 2017
This is an enjoyable read that's well written about (principally) a man (the author) and his two female housemates who discover a colony of cats living in the yard and neighbouring yards of their rental home in Los Angeles. Andrew Bloomfield's account is engaging as he introduces the cats and learns how to manage a colony of feral and semi-feral cats, including trapping, neutering and returning (TNR). He's not afraid to hide the failures along the way. He explains how he learns how to navigate the challenges and what felt like, frankly, many losses of cats' and kittens' lives, mostly due to coyotes and other predators. He also draws from his foreign travels and other interests, including spiritual practices, to deepen the way in which he describes the relationship he has with the cats. He's not afraid to share with how deep he feels emotionally about them. And there's many a touching moment, which I felt empathy for, when he recalls how he became a sobbing wreck when he takes the cats to be TNRed or for care at the vets. This is a book to read for everyone who cares about community cats as there's much to relate to and share experiences with. The TNR community appears to be mostly women--and there's nothing wrong with that--and I therefore think that the men who are involved will particularly enjoy Andrew Bloomfield's Call of the Cats.
September 29, 2017
This guy is crazy, and I don't mean that in a bad way. The amount of effort and money and emotion that he puts into this feral cat colony is inspiring and heartbreaking at the same time: Bloomfield is astonishing and definitely not sane by the standards of normal North American conduct.
The story of his time watching over the colony is interspersed with the history of cat/human relations and wisdom from all over the world about life and spirituality and wonder. He shares the sparkling, wacky, mistrustful, wild personalities of the cats he cares for, speculating on the nature of cat-people, non-cat-people, and anyone who has any relationship with any kind of animal.
Definitely recommended for anyone who loves animals or who has ever tried to grapple with the sanctity and fragility of life.
The story of his time watching over the colony is interspersed with the history of cat/human relations and wisdom from all over the world about life and spirituality and wonder. He shares the sparkling, wacky, mistrustful, wild personalities of the cats he cares for, speculating on the nature of cat-people, non-cat-people, and anyone who has any relationship with any kind of animal.
Definitely recommended for anyone who loves animals or who has ever tried to grapple with the sanctity and fragility of life.
May 2, 2017
Another great story about rescuing cats! The author doesn't just talk about my favorite creature in the universe, he also includes anecdotes on his life before cats, traveling to distant countries, studying with great metaphysical minds, and somehow ties his past into his present. He doesn't shy away from admitting his mistakes, which makes this book all the more readable; people need to know that we aren't alone in our errors.
April 29, 2019
Endorsements:
“With humor and wit, Call of the Cats illustrates the perils and rewards of rescuing animals that live at the margins of human society. If you have ever cared for an animal, this book will resonate with you.”
— Marty Becker, DVM, America’s Veterinarian and author of Your Cat: The Owner's Manual: Hundreds of Secrets, Surprises, and Solutions for Raising a Happy, Healthy Cat
“Andrew Bloomfield’s heartfelt memoir is not just about his unconditional love for the feral-cat colony that he came to know and adopt. It’s also a much larger portrait of how we can live with, and gently support, animals, who are all at our mercy.”
— Patrick McDonnell, creator of MUTTS and illustrator of Guardians of Being
“Great writing is great storytelling, and Andrew Bloomfield is a great storyteller. This book is, in a word, stunning!...Buy it for every cat lover you know, as well as every ‘not yet’ cat lover. If this book doesn’t win them over, I don’t know what will.”
— Amelia Kinkade, author of Straight from the Horse's Mouth: How to Talk to Animals and Get Answers and Whispers from the Wild: Listening to Voices from the Animal Kingdom
“Call of the Cats is like Born Free in an urban backyard, full of remarkable detail about the wild life around us and the extraordinary emotional attachments that can exist between human beings and the untamed animals that occasionally share our lives.”
— Bruce Joel Rubin, Academy Award–winning screenwriter of Ghost
“While claiming not to be a ‘cat person,’ Bloomfield nevertheless is a deeply compassionate man in his interventions on behalf of the feral felines....This isn’t a superficial work, and the author provides many pages of references, as well as resource websites for organizations that deal with feral animals. All in all, a very engaging and highly recommended book.”
— Library Journal
“With humor and wit, Call of the Cats illustrates the perils and rewards of rescuing animals that live at the margins of human society. If you have ever cared for an animal, this book will resonate with you.”
— Marty Becker, DVM, America’s Veterinarian and author of Your Cat: The Owner's Manual: Hundreds of Secrets, Surprises, and Solutions for Raising a Happy, Healthy Cat
“Andrew Bloomfield’s heartfelt memoir is not just about his unconditional love for the feral-cat colony that he came to know and adopt. It’s also a much larger portrait of how we can live with, and gently support, animals, who are all at our mercy.”
— Patrick McDonnell, creator of MUTTS and illustrator of Guardians of Being
“Great writing is great storytelling, and Andrew Bloomfield is a great storyteller. This book is, in a word, stunning!...Buy it for every cat lover you know, as well as every ‘not yet’ cat lover. If this book doesn’t win them over, I don’t know what will.”
— Amelia Kinkade, author of Straight from the Horse's Mouth: How to Talk to Animals and Get Answers and Whispers from the Wild: Listening to Voices from the Animal Kingdom
“Call of the Cats is like Born Free in an urban backyard, full of remarkable detail about the wild life around us and the extraordinary emotional attachments that can exist between human beings and the untamed animals that occasionally share our lives.”
— Bruce Joel Rubin, Academy Award–winning screenwriter of Ghost
“While claiming not to be a ‘cat person,’ Bloomfield nevertheless is a deeply compassionate man in his interventions on behalf of the feral felines....This isn’t a superficial work, and the author provides many pages of references, as well as resource websites for organizations that deal with feral animals. All in all, a very engaging and highly recommended book.”
— Library Journal
December 2, 2016
Andrew Bloomfield was not a cat lover, he had traveled all over the world and spent 2 years in Nepal. In an odd turn of events, he gave his mom a ride to a psychic and while there she was told her son would move to California and find his calling. He had no interest in California at the time and thought the woman was a phony, but somehow he did end up in California trying to be a writer. He did find his calling, but it was with feral cats.
Andrew Blomfield knew nothing about cats, especially ferals when he started sharing a home with 2 women who also knew nothing about them either. Once they started hearing awful sounds of these cats being attacked and then finding a poor kitten that had choked on a chicken bone, they decided to intervene. They started feeding the cats twice a day and soon these cats became their world-for 20 years.
During that time, he became especially attached to a kitten he rescued when her mother didn’t seem to know how to care for her. He saved Tiny’s life and lets her live inside, eventually having others move inside as well. He also spends a large portion of his time outside, observing and protecting this group.I am happy to say, they finally caught on about TNR.
I highly recommend this book to any cat lover especially those involved with helping feral cats.Books like this are what I wish I had read before I started helping with TNR.I will warn you that parts are upsetting and sad, but it is worth reading.
Andrew Blomfield knew nothing about cats, especially ferals when he started sharing a home with 2 women who also knew nothing about them either. Once they started hearing awful sounds of these cats being attacked and then finding a poor kitten that had choked on a chicken bone, they decided to intervene. They started feeding the cats twice a day and soon these cats became their world-for 20 years.
During that time, he became especially attached to a kitten he rescued when her mother didn’t seem to know how to care for her. He saved Tiny’s life and lets her live inside, eventually having others move inside as well. He also spends a large portion of his time outside, observing and protecting this group.I am happy to say, they finally caught on about TNR.
I highly recommend this book to any cat lover especially those involved with helping feral cats.Books like this are what I wish I had read before I started helping with TNR.I will warn you that parts are upsetting and sad, but it is worth reading.
June 5, 2018
Precious book. Any cat lover will want this on their bookshelf.
Down and out, Andrew Bloomfield, living in his car finds his way to the home of two sisters, Sophie & Heather. They take Andrew in and that relationship develops into a roommate arrangement for over twenty-years living in a house with a feral colony of cats camped in their back yard. No one is a cat lover.
Through skilled writing, humor and heart breaking stories of the kitties that came and were lost to predators, Andrew Bloomfield takes his reader through the twenty years he, Sophie & Heather tuned their hearts and emptied their bank accounts to help the cat colony survive.
He incorporates lots of information how to handle feral cats: do’s and don’ts and lists organizations devoted to their wellbeing and a history of cats from ignored to revered to despised to pets.
It is a book woven with cat stories and Andrew’s adventures with shaman on his journey toward enlightenment and how the two collide into this heart warming story.
Andrew, not married, writes, “I had always hoped I could completely surrender myself…to someone, and I have. I just never know it would be a cat. Because, I admit it, I’m a cat lover.”
Great gift for the cat lover in your life. Got one headed to my Sis as I write.
RECOMMENDED.
Down and out, Andrew Bloomfield, living in his car finds his way to the home of two sisters, Sophie & Heather. They take Andrew in and that relationship develops into a roommate arrangement for over twenty-years living in a house with a feral colony of cats camped in their back yard. No one is a cat lover.
Through skilled writing, humor and heart breaking stories of the kitties that came and were lost to predators, Andrew Bloomfield takes his reader through the twenty years he, Sophie & Heather tuned their hearts and emptied their bank accounts to help the cat colony survive.
He incorporates lots of information how to handle feral cats: do’s and don’ts and lists organizations devoted to their wellbeing and a history of cats from ignored to revered to despised to pets.
It is a book woven with cat stories and Andrew’s adventures with shaman on his journey toward enlightenment and how the two collide into this heart warming story.
Andrew, not married, writes, “I had always hoped I could completely surrender myself…to someone, and I have. I just never know it would be a cat. Because, I admit it, I’m a cat lover.”
Great gift for the cat lover in your life. Got one headed to my Sis as I write.
RECOMMENDED.
August 9, 2021
I really enjoyed Call of the Cats. I learned a lot about feral cats, but this book was much more than just a tale of cats, it was a love story. Andrew Bloomfield's heart is the all-in kind of heart, the best kind. He made a decision to love and then carried out that love, never pulling back when the challenges come along or asking why me or making excuses. He just loved that colony of cats with everything he had, never losing his sense of humor or humility, although obviously losing his fortune. The story is shot-through with palpable authenticity, and I really appreciated the philosophical asides. I'm a dog person, but reading this book gave me a new appreciation for cats and also for the challenges of rescuing them.
November 23, 2016
As a feral cat caretaker with two rescued street cats of my own, I can totally relate to the joy, the satisfaction, and the frustration/futility one feels when trying to manage and help these wonderful creatures.
This is an honest account of how a person can easily get in over their head, but it's also an honest account of the connection that can develop between humans and animals. That bond that drives some people to provide and protect another living thing in need. Full of laughs and tears and tidbits of history and philosophy, it's a memoir that any feral cat caretaker is sure to relate to.
This is an honest account of how a person can easily get in over their head, but it's also an honest account of the connection that can develop between humans and animals. That bond that drives some people to provide and protect another living thing in need. Full of laughs and tears and tidbits of history and philosophy, it's a memoir that any feral cat caretaker is sure to relate to.
April 9, 2017
I really enjoyed this book which is saying a lot because I don't normally like nonfiction. This is not a book for the fainthearted. The author does not disguise the horrors of felines living in the wild trying to survive what is wild. However, he adds in sections about his life in India and other countries where he studied before settling in California. He weaves those into the stories he tells about the cats. He and his housemates name all of the cats, and his descriptions of them help the reader picture all of the personalities. It gives the readers an accurate picture of the feral community.
October 25, 2017
I love his growing fondness for the cats he has chosen to care for. He writes lovingly about their relationships and interactions. He also includes quite interesting information about cats in history and religion. I was frustrated at times by his lack of common sense--taking a long time to figure out that spaying and neutering would save lives and realizing that feral kittens can be socialized and protected simply by bringing them inside.
December 27, 2016
I absolutely loved this book! The author relates his experiences as a feral cat colony caretaker, and how he was shaped as a person by said experiences. You can't help but fall in love with the furry cast of characters, and Bloomfield is an amazing person in his own right. This will forever be at my bedside!
January 17, 2017
Such a great book. Cat lovers of all kinds will appreciate this story and the authors new found dedication to a feral colony near his home. Intermixed through the story is the authors love of Eastern Philosophy. This is definitely one book I would reread, and I don't say that much.
March 24, 2018
As Mom to a small feral cat colony, this book resonated with me--to my core. Bloomfield put into words the grief, the heartache, the worry...and the immense joy that our barn kitties have brought us. I call it a must read for cat lovers. Thank you, Andrew, for sharing your story with us!
June 7, 2017
I found this book fascinating, like a soap opera of cats. The main character is the author, a quirky character who takes it upon himself to care for a cat colony in his backyard. He even sleeps outside with them to protect them from coyotes and racoons. However, not all the cats and kittens have happy endings. After using TNR (trap, neuter, return), the colony dwindled. That is the most humane way to deal with feral cat colonies.
November 8, 2018
I freely admit that I judged this book on the Books A Million shelf COMPLETELY by its cover. How could I say no to that adorable cat face?? I was very excited to read a book about "life and love", based on a man's experience caring for a feral cat colony. Feral cats are fascinating to me (well, all cats are fascinating to me), and the amount of dedication that humans often give to a colony is admirable and inspiring. This man's story sounded like it was going to be uplifting and purely happy - as many animal stories are. Well, that was PARTLY the case...
Even as I closed the book last night, I couldn't put my finger on what exactly this author was setting out to do. Many chapters of this short book were devoted to his cat stories (which I liked). He spent a decent amount of time explaining how he came upon these feral cats in the backyard of his new LA home, and the subsequent heartwarming and heartbreaking experiences that followed, as a result of new litters being born, predators attacking the colony, sicknesses, deaths, and sweet encounters.
HOWEVER, some of these chapters were (somewhat strangely) devoted to descriptions of the author's travels around Asia, and the spiritual enlightenment and life lessons he learned there. I'm not exactly sure how those stories fit into the overall theme of cats, so I didn't care for those chapters so much. At times, this author sounded like was sanctifying himself through through many of these sections, which grated on me a bit. In my opinion, if you're writing about cats, keep the focus on the cats! Plenty of life lessons can be learned by caring for a feral cat colony - stick to those.
He also delved a little into the history of cat domestication, which is always really interesting to me. BUT, that doesn't really fit in with the overall theme of the book either, so it made me scratch my head a bit. Suffice to say, this book was a little all over the place, but when he focused on the stories of his feral cat experiences, it was good.
All in all, a decent book - but not nearly as good as I expected. I thought I'd close the book feeling inspired (as I did with "Strays"), but instead, I was just a bit confused. Glad I read it, because that cute cover cat's face had been beckoning me for the last year or so... but there are far better cat books out there.
Even as I closed the book last night, I couldn't put my finger on what exactly this author was setting out to do. Many chapters of this short book were devoted to his cat stories (which I liked). He spent a decent amount of time explaining how he came upon these feral cats in the backyard of his new LA home, and the subsequent heartwarming and heartbreaking experiences that followed, as a result of new litters being born, predators attacking the colony, sicknesses, deaths, and sweet encounters.
HOWEVER, some of these chapters were (somewhat strangely) devoted to descriptions of the author's travels around Asia, and the spiritual enlightenment and life lessons he learned there. I'm not exactly sure how those stories fit into the overall theme of cats, so I didn't care for those chapters so much. At times, this author sounded like was sanctifying himself through through many of these sections, which grated on me a bit. In my opinion, if you're writing about cats, keep the focus on the cats! Plenty of life lessons can be learned by caring for a feral cat colony - stick to those.
He also delved a little into the history of cat domestication, which is always really interesting to me. BUT, that doesn't really fit in with the overall theme of the book either, so it made me scratch my head a bit. Suffice to say, this book was a little all over the place, but when he focused on the stories of his feral cat experiences, it was good.
All in all, a decent book - but not nearly as good as I expected. I thought I'd close the book feeling inspired (as I did with "Strays"), but instead, I was just a bit confused. Glad I read it, because that cute cover cat's face had been beckoning me for the last year or so... but there are far better cat books out there.
July 3, 2018
Caring for many rescue cats of my own, and also caring for many feral cats over the last two decades, I could completely relate to the author’s personal stories and experiences. I enjoyed reading the book very much, found it extremely well written, and felt gratitude and compassion for Bloomfield's level of commitment helping the homeless cats in his community, and appreciate the amount of work and energy it demands.
The author shared many of the feelings that I have felt over the past two decades rescuing, trapping, spaying and neutering, medically rehabilitating, fostering and keeping cats that were not adoptable. The heartbreak of not being able to save newborn and young kittens, the concern about addressing difficult and complex medical issues, the frustration with expensive medical bills and how to pay for emergencies and medical expenses, the stress you feel when your cat is sick, the concern you have over their safety and wellbeing, and loving them so much you cannot imagine the reality when you have to let them go – Bloomfield explained the world of cat rescue very well, and all the concerns, fears and joys that it encompasses for the people immersed in it. Knowing how many homeless and abandoned cats there in every community, the world needs more people like Andrew Bloomfield - compassionate and committed people, who care deeply about the well being of homeless, abandoned and feral cats that surround all of us and need our help. To no fault of their own, they are just trying to survive in a harsh world that they were either born into or thrown into - cast aside and deserted as a domestic cat. These cats truly need our care, support and compassion to alleviate their suffering, and give them a better life. Kudos to Andrew Bloomfield for having the heart, the will and commitment to do just that, every single day for 20 long years.
The author shared many of the feelings that I have felt over the past two decades rescuing, trapping, spaying and neutering, medically rehabilitating, fostering and keeping cats that were not adoptable. The heartbreak of not being able to save newborn and young kittens, the concern about addressing difficult and complex medical issues, the frustration with expensive medical bills and how to pay for emergencies and medical expenses, the stress you feel when your cat is sick, the concern you have over their safety and wellbeing, and loving them so much you cannot imagine the reality when you have to let them go – Bloomfield explained the world of cat rescue very well, and all the concerns, fears and joys that it encompasses for the people immersed in it. Knowing how many homeless and abandoned cats there in every community, the world needs more people like Andrew Bloomfield - compassionate and committed people, who care deeply about the well being of homeless, abandoned and feral cats that surround all of us and need our help. To no fault of their own, they are just trying to survive in a harsh world that they were either born into or thrown into - cast aside and deserted as a domestic cat. These cats truly need our care, support and compassion to alleviate their suffering, and give them a better life. Kudos to Andrew Bloomfield for having the heart, the will and commitment to do just that, every single day for 20 long years.
July 12, 2023
I don't need to tell you my story, you can guess it from my rating. But I do want to answer all the people who thought the author was an idiot for not catching on to TNR for so long.
When a feral colony established and started growing over my back fence, for the longest time I didn't know what to do. The city wouldn't do anything, and as the colony grew there were more fights, more dead cats, and fewer and fewer birds, of course. It took the longest time before I learned about TNR, and there was a strong network of groups and people who would help me with that. I remember the first neutering even I went to: I brought my two cages with trapped cats down to a big parking lot at 8 AM and there were already 100 people waiting patiently in front of me....
A year later, the feral colony was gone / dispersed and incidentally I had four new furry members of my household. One of them, now 15 years old, is currently rubbing my fingers while I'm trying to type this.
The author's journey was much more harrowing than mine. I salute him and am glad he shared his story.
When a feral colony established and started growing over my back fence, for the longest time I didn't know what to do. The city wouldn't do anything, and as the colony grew there were more fights, more dead cats, and fewer and fewer birds, of course. It took the longest time before I learned about TNR, and there was a strong network of groups and people who would help me with that. I remember the first neutering even I went to: I brought my two cages with trapped cats down to a big parking lot at 8 AM and there were already 100 people waiting patiently in front of me....
A year later, the feral colony was gone / dispersed and incidentally I had four new furry members of my household. One of them, now 15 years old, is currently rubbing my fingers while I'm trying to type this.
The author's journey was much more harrowing than mine. I salute him and am glad he shared his story.
February 1, 2020
This is a "Must Read" for anyone who loves cats, and especially those of us whose lives are entwined with those shadowy denizens of the cat world, ferals. Mr. Bloomfield very eloquently describes both the joys and the heartaches of loving these wild creatures. He deftly describes his relationship with a colony from the moment he realized that he had to get involved with them to the moment he had to leave the area. It is genuine, it is moving, it is, ultimately, life and love affirming.
On a personal note, I lost one of my own feral kittens while I was reading this book. Little Skitter had gone missing for several days (as ferals often are), and came "home" to die on my porch, far beyond medical help when she arrived. Mr. Bloomfield's words helped me through this heartbreak...I knew I was not alone. This is one of those books that will have a permanent home on my shelves.
On a personal note, I lost one of my own feral kittens while I was reading this book. Little Skitter had gone missing for several days (as ferals often are), and came "home" to die on my porch, far beyond medical help when she arrived. Mr. Bloomfield's words helped me through this heartbreak...I knew I was not alone. This is one of those books that will have a permanent home on my shelves.
September 30, 2020
Found this in a little free library and it feels like it was placed there just for me. I loved how the author wove the story of his feral cat colony with what he learned from monks through travels across India and Nepal. And he's an astrologer, too! He's a fascinating person and truly the best writer equipped to explain the beauty of feline friends and feral cats. I'll admit it was hard to forgive him for how long it took him to TNR the cats, but this takes place in the late 90s and 2000s, when TNR was not as widespread.
November 15, 2021
This book was very close to my heart. I also cared for feral colony in my hometown village. I knew initially that I wouldn't be staying there for more than a year, but I couldn't not care about them. Those cats came to me at the hardest period of my life. I had to move countries, and it broke my heart to leave them behind. There were litter of 3 kittens I took care that were the most precious to me. I can never forgive myself for abandoning them, even though my neighbor agreed to feed them, it is still heartbreaking.
Cats are so so special.
Cats are so so special.
November 16, 2017
Informative and Emotional
Cats have a way of teaching unconditional acceptance. You can love or hate them, starve or pamper them, bully or befriend them; and yet, they remain true to their kind. In Call of the Cats, they are feral, fierce, vulnerable. Even fragile. A deeply moving story of triumph and tragedy for a feral colony of cats and their human caregivers. Read it. It's worth the time.
Cats have a way of teaching unconditional acceptance. You can love or hate them, starve or pamper them, bully or befriend them; and yet, they remain true to their kind. In Call of the Cats, they are feral, fierce, vulnerable. Even fragile. A deeply moving story of triumph and tragedy for a feral colony of cats and their human caregivers. Read it. It's worth the time.
January 8, 2019
I absolutely LOVED this book. I am a cat lover and have been all my life. This book was very well written and I had a hard time putting it down. I love how beautifully the author described the relationship he developed with each feral cat. The lesson learned is that even the most feral cat can become a little tame. We need to realize that all creatures should not be given up on.
November 18, 2020
I was initially drawn to this book because of the gorgeous tabby on the cover and my own experience with looking after starving strays. I really enjoyed this book, it was heartbreaking and heartwarming. But I’m not sure I could look after a colony of ferals. Andrew is a real hero. Highly recommended.
December 10, 2017
Love this book... a little gem about a lost and big-hearted man saving a colony of feral cats in his backyard. Wise, witty and entertaining and way better than A Street Cat Named Bob, which was so repetitive, boring and incredibly badly written.
September 3, 2018
A Wonderful Read
Andrew tells an enlightening story about a feral cat family and conveys the story in an insightful and loving style. This gives a view for us city dwellers that would normally be out of reach in the hustle and bustle of daily American life!!
Highly Recommended!!
Andrew tells an enlightening story about a feral cat family and conveys the story in an insightful and loving style. This gives a view for us city dwellers that would normally be out of reach in the hustle and bustle of daily American life!!
Highly Recommended!!
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