What Your Cat Knows: Tap into Your Cat's Intelligence through the World of Feline Cognition

by Sally Morgan

Can cats really sense when someone is about to die, or when an earthquake is about to hit? In terms of senses, cats have the edge over humans: They can hear sounds at greater distances and wider frequencies; their noses are more sensitive; they have better peripheral vision; and their whiskers can pick up subtle changes in air pressure. It is no surprise then that your cat will often skip to the door long before you notice that someone is coming.

What Your Cat Knows explores the fascinating world of feline cognition. It examines the five basic senses and presents a cat's-eye view of the world, helping you to understand and communicate with your own kitty, and presents practical tests and activities that will help you gauge and even boost your cat's intelligence. It also considers a question familiar to owners of the most intelligent cats: Does your cat have a sixth sense?

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals

192 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2017

About the author

Sally Morgan is recognised as one of Australia's best known Aboriginal artists and writers. She is one of a number of successful urban Aboriginal artists.

Sally was born in Perth in 1951, the eldest of five children. As a child she found school difficult because of questions from other students about her appearance and family background. She understood from her mother that she and her family were from India. However, when Sally was fifteen she learnt that she and her sister were in fact of Aboriginal descent, from the Palku people of the Pilbara.

This experience of her hidden origins, and subsequent quest for identity, was the stimulus for her first book My Place published in 1987. It tells the story of her self discovery through reconnection with her Aboriginal culture and community. The book was an immediate success and has since sold over half a million copies in Australia. It has also been published in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Her second book Wanamurraganya was published in 1989. It is the biography of her grandfather, Jack McPhee. She has also written five books for children.

As well as writing, Sally Morgan has established an international reputation as an artist. She has works in numerous private and public collections in Australia and the United States, including the Australian National Gallery and the Dobell Foundation collection. Her work is particularly popular in the United States. Her work as an artist is excellently described and illustrated in the book Art of Sally Morgan.

She has received many awards, including from the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission. As a part of the celebration in 1993 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, her print Outback was selected by international art historians as one of 30 paintings and sculptures for reproduction on a stamp representing an article of the Declaration.

My Place remains her most influential work, not only because of its very wide popularity but also because it provided a new model for other writers, particularly those of indigenous background.

She is currently Director of the Centre for Indigenous History and Arts at The University of Western Australia.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Grace Tritchler · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short easy read with a few interesting tidbits, but research on cats in general is lacking and that can be seen in the book. Not as much substance as I would’ve liked.

[D V · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, it's a nice and short pleasant read that gave me a better understanding of my cat's physical perception of the world and also that slow blinking back to their slow blinks directed means we understand that we adore one another :) I'll try to carry out the experiments at the end of the book when I've got the time and people to help but everything else was rather informative. if you'd like to understand cats better, I'd recommend you read this book :)

[Donald Powell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and interesting. If you are a cat owner there is not a lot here that is new but it will confirm a lot of what you already know. It held my interest and had great pictures. If you are new to cats this will be a good primer.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice insight into cat behavior. I'm going to try some of the experiments at the end to see if my cats are really as dumb as they seem. (Ha! Okay, to see if Oscar is smarter than he acts or not.)

[Thomas Mengeling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some parts are fascinating like their senses. That stuff is neat to learn, they have sharp hearing yet eyesight is not too good, can’t see things close up. Clicker training sounds fun if you have a cat that is willing to go along with that stuff. I am cat lover, yet my calico cat is a non lap and tummy kneader. I guess what I am trying to say, the book might be fine for those who have time to train the most fussy feline. Good read though on the cats senses.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

En rätt enkel och lättläst inblick i kattens psyke. Jag hade nog önskat att författaren utlämnat den clairvoyanta vinkeln på jordbävningar och katastrofer, med tanke på att hon i nästa mening presenterade forskning från flera olika studier på varför djur kan känna av sådant i förväg (med sina högst naturliga sinnen).

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Came with a gift. Nothing earthshaking. If you have a cat, you have discerned a lot of the information yourself if you’re an engaged owner yourself. Otherwise, limited new facts or information about cat physiology or behavior.

[Laura]

Super interesting to learn how my cat thinks. I can now expertly analyse him (jk, he’s still a furry mystery).

*library book

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe 2 1/2 stars.

The rating is not really the fault of the book - I just am not that interested in the psychology or anatomy of my cat.

[Lizz Otero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, easy, read. Helped me remember some of the physical limitations of my cat, especially regarding their sense of sight.

[Mona]

Very interesting. Lots of pictures and illustrations. Many things I have always wanted to know about our cats in one book!

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super informative with lots of amazing rid bits and facts. Lacks a larger connective tissue.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a ton of substance here, and the author very clearly supported letting your cat outside unsupervised, but pretty good anyway. I liked learning the specifics about how my cats see the world. Recommend for people who love their cats but don’t know too much about their actual perceptions or senses.