The cat: history, biology and behaviour

by Muriel Beadle

Although anyone who is fond of animals will find this book absorbing, cat owners in particular will value it for its comprehensiveness and clarity. Meticulously researched, it corrects many misapprehensions and offers much new information about cats/ biology and behavior.

Muriel Beadle has drawn upon an amazing variety of original sources - from seventeenth century naturalists to modern animal behaviorists, from memoirs of cat fanciers to scholarly reports by specialists in fields as diverse as ecology and genetics, veterinary science and neurophysiology.

But this is also a history of the cats long association with human beings with special emphasis on the origin and development of human attitudes toward the least domesticated of our domestic animals. There are contributions from literature (Herodotus to Kipling), the social sciences and the law.

Mrs Beadle has organized this great mass of material into a coherent and gracefully written narrative, as enjoyable as it is instructive. Some passages will make the reader chuckle. Others will induce a murmur of astonishment. This is both an old and a new look at the cat, and even those people who think they know everything about their companion felines will find some surprises here.

Genres: Cats, Nonfiction, Science, Animals

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

Reviews

[Whitney Luken · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a hoot! Seriously outdated, but a lot of the content still resonates. Fascinating to see how attitudes towards and understanding of cats have shifted throughout history, and especially interesting to see how drastically human society has evolved our philosophy towards pets generally and cats specifically in the 50 years since this book was published.

[Barb H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beadle has written an informative book with useful and interesting material. She has provided the reader with the evolution and classification of cats and a wealth of other subjects relevant to this animal. It offers insights into their behaviors and hints on their care. This book is a good addition to any cat owner's library. It is a fine way to become better acquainted with one's pet.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book many years ago. It is a great book for learning the things you didn't know about cats.
Some things that were explained about cats were things that I had noticed about my cat over the years. Now I knew the reasons for the behavior.
A friend of mine couldn't believe that I was reading this book for pleasure. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Joann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best cat book I've found. It goes way beyond the 'how to care for your cat' stuff that is out there in abundance. It's rather heavy on the scientific and genetic end with little emphasis on the cutesy aspect of your felix catus domesticus. I recommend it because if you have a cat(s) you will learn a lot about them and probably improve your relationships with these fascinating critters.