The Cat Purrsonality Test: What Our Feline Friends Are Really Thinking

by Alison Davies, Alissa Levy (Illustrator)

Become a moggy mastermind with nine fun and easy-to-score personality tests. From cat speak to curious quirks, discover your feline’s true nature to better nurture your bond.

It begins with a simple question: what are your cat's classic behaviours?  Whether   they're testily knocking over your mug of piping hot tea or affectionately cuddling into your arms for a morning squeeze, each of these enigmatic actions and strange habits, pet peeves and preferences,  tells us something about who they are and what they're really thinking .   This hilarious book is kitty psychology 101. Begin your lifelong quest of demystifying your pet's mysterious mind by answering 81 multiple choice questions. Each code-breaking quiz represents a different area of a cat's life (all nine of them!) and links to the Feline Five (Neuroticism, Extroversion, Dominance, Impulsiveness, Agreeableness).  Moocher or Tearaway? Pragmatist or Intellectual? Screwball or Sheriff? Match your answers to one or more of the 36 colourful puss profiles, adorably illustrated by #caturday artist Alissa Levy (@levysfriends), to discover a little more about their tells and traits and what these can teach you about them.

Tests include:
Dedicated to cat lovers everywhere.

Genres: Nonfiction, Cats, Animals

128 pages, Hardcover

Published January 25, 2022

Reviews

[Sue Em · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun book for those of us who love taking magazine and online quizzes. Bases the psychology on actual theory of types of feline behavior. Questions and answers are well written and insightful. However out of 5 cats that call me their servant, not a one fit into any one category. Guess they're just like people with varying personality quirks. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

You know those fun little multiple-choice personality quizzes in magazines, the ones you used to put way too much store in as a teenager, and occasionally still take in adulthood when forced to kill time at the dentist office? This book consists of those, catered to your feline roommate—or "moggie", which is informal British for a cat, the first time I've ever come across that word in my life. The introduction paraphrases a famous Terry Pratchett quote (without giving him credit for it), and the illustrations are fantastic and absolutely adorable—perhaps the best thing about the book.

The whole slim volume is built around the "Feline Five"—a concept first put forward by Australian researchers in 2017. There are actual scientific papers written on it, even though this book doesn't give any sources, only a handful of "further reading" suggestions, and it's important to note that the author has absolutely no background in veterinary science or psychology—she just really loves cats.

The Feline Five Factors are neuroticism (how shy, anxious, or fearful is your cat?), extroversion (how curious, inventive, and fun-loving), dominance (how assertive and aggressive), impulsiveness (how restless and reckless), and agreeableness (how gentle and friendly), and the nine chapters with nine questions lead you to one of four "profiles", respectively. These quizzes are supposed to help you figure out your cat's personality in order to better understand and bond with it—I went through this book with my own two "moggies" in mind:



The nine quizzes each look at a different facet of your cat's life: How they interact with others, their daily habits, how they approach problem-solving, their general moods and energy-levels, sleep and play habits, strange quirks, how they communicate with you, and how they act when they are outside. There were questions where I would've needed an all or none of the above option, and while some profiles fit like a glove, sometimes there was an even split between two, and occasionally I had to wonder how in the world I got to that result.



This is Lilith. According to this book, she's Best Buddy, King of Chill, a Pragmatist, Bare-Faced Beauty, Poser, Maverick, Sheriff, Charmer, and Homebody. She scored highest on extroversion and agreeableness, with no point at all on the impulsiveness scale, and only one or two for neuroticism and dominance.



This is Lucien. According to his results, he's Best Buddy, a Cool Kitty, Genius, Fashionista, Poser, Maverick, Comedian, Charmer, and Moocher. He scored highest on extroversion, and had scores of 2-4 on the other factors.

My disagreement with the results comes from comparing my cats' scores: They are most certainly not equally dominant (Lucien is much more assertive, being male and perpetually hungry), and there's no way Lilith, who gets spooked by the sound of meat sizzling in a pan, is less neurotic than her brother from another mother. While I ultimately disagree with my cats' overall scores, it was still fun to take a closer look at our relationship with these, and I think that it would make for a cute gift for any cat parent, as long as they don't take it too seriously.

—————

Note: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Erika Sarutobi · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

I know that this isn’t a size fits all but not much of the questions and answers apply to my cats. I would say around 25% of the questions and only two personality types matched while the rest were unrelatable. My cats are very chill and most of these are very active personalities or have some extra details that eventually makes it inapplicable. Besides that, I think it would have been better if the author used “they” instead of making each question/personality a specific gender because I have both male and female cats.

Overall, the test is fun if you could answer most questions (I was having a hard time doing so because most options where almost all the same in spirit, just worded out differently). The art is amazing and the extra information for certain cat breeds and their common personality was fun to read.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy for an honest review.

[Juju Rodriguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Cat Purrsonality Test" is an adorable little book of quizzes to help you get to know your cat's personality more intimately.

This book was such a quick and fun read! Firstly, the art style was adorable and added to the overall quirkiness of the book. The book covers nine different aspects of a cat's life and has a quiz for you to take for each of them. It also covers that five traits of cats: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Dominance, Impulsiveness, and Agreeableness. At the end of the nine quizzes you tally up which traits you've ended up with the most and it will show you which traits are your cat's strongest personality traits. The back of the book also includes some further reading on cats as well as a list of common cat species and their personality traits.

I thought this book was so fun to read through and at the end I did feel like I knew more about my cat. There were some parts of the book that were distinctly British - I've never heard the term "Moggy" before in reference to a cat! But overall I did find the quizzes to be easy to understand and applicable. This is a great book to gift to anyone with a cat and it's perfect light reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion for this e-arc of "The Cat Purrsonality Test" in exchange for an honest review.

[janinereadsandreviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Cat Purrsonality Test by Alison Davies
I give this book 4 stars

This hilarious book is kitty psychology 101. Begin your lifelong quest of demystifying your pet's mysterious mind by answering 81 multiple choice questions. Each code-breaking quiz represents a different area of a cat's life (all nine of them!) and links to the Feline Five (Neuroticism, Extroversion, Dominance, Impulsiveness, Agreeableness).
Adorably illustrated by #caturday artist Alissa Levy (@levysfriends
Dedicated to cat lovers everywhere

When l saw this cover and title, l just had to read it!
A lighthearted way to find out what your cat is really like. I thoroughly enjoyed the quizzes and was impressed with how the results seemed to match up to my 2 cats.Absolutely loved the illustrations! lm sure a lot of cat owners will be able to relate……..fun and informative,it’s………..purrfect!!
With thanks to Netgalley,Alison Davies and Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion, for the chance to read and review this book

[Vivienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion for a temporary digital edition via NetGalley of ‘The Cat Purrsonality Test: What Our Feline Friends Are Really Thinking’ by Alison Davies in exchange for an honest review.

This charming illustrated little book is intended as a personality questionnaire for cats. Each of its nine sections offers nine questions about cat behaviour with answers A-D. The idea is to determine how many As, Bs etc describe your cat and then match to the results that follow.

The author points out in the Introduction that while the book is based on scientific research, it is not a scientific book but rather a light-hearted guide to assist in understanding our feline companions.

The book concludes with a guide to common breeds and suggestions for further reading.

The book is illustrated throughout by Alissa Levy and her images of cats at rest and play were delightful. I happily purchased its hardback edition for my library.

[Summer McFadden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m slightly embarrassed to say I read this but it was so cute actually 😂

[Cynthia Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun little book! I enjoyed taking the tests and seeing how my cats fit. I quite often will read articles that are on the topic to cat behavior and found this to be an engaging way to read about it. Many of the sections were spot on about my cats.

[Mehsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.


So just for starters, I don’t have a cat. I am very very allergic to them. But I do love a good book about cats and I do love tests. And I do have another fur baby in my house, my hamster Yuki. XD Yes, not a cat, but I was curious if the tests would kind of work for her.

The book is split up in 9 chapters and in each chapter we get a different aspect of cats and who they are. From social circles to how much they sleep to strange quirks and behaviours, everything comes by with information and quizzes! I had fun reading and I had fun doing most of the quizzes. Some just really didn’t fit my hamster, and while I didn’t participate in those I did read the answers and the test results because it was just interesting! And the quizzes I did.. well of course I had to adjust some stuff because cats and hamsters are way different, it did fit at times. Which made me laugh. Like when I got the King of Chill on one of the tests, which just fits in most perfectly including the purr. Yes, my hammie purrs when she is absolutely in bliss.

The quizzes are fun to do and I love the questions/answers. There is plenty to choose from.

The art was just the cutest (well, at times maybe a tad weird XD). I really enjoyed the pictures that accompanied every test result and loved how well they fitted with the text mentioned there.

All in all, recommended to all cat (and maybe other animal lovers) as well!

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute book. It is full of nine cat personality quizzes perfect for a cat lover. I enjoyed the idea, but the book was clearly written by someone who is okay with cats going outdoors and used British terminology. It made many of the question irrelevant to those who keep cats indoors. I know pet ownership and indoor/outdoor is different in other countries but it is mostly not done in the U.S. if it took out mention to outdoors, it would be more adaptable to a US audience.

[Haley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was looking forward to reading this book ever since my boyfriend got two new cats from the same litter and their personalities are so different. One is definitely a laidback extrovert while the other is a shy one who displays favoritism. It was interesting to do the quizzes and see these insights confirmed. And also to learn some new things about their personalities.

[Nathalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This cute little book lets you find out which personality (or purrsonality ^^ ) your cat(s) has through several quizzes. Lots of fun to do for people who love quizzes and cats. There are 5 types and the illustrations in the book are so very cute. I loved the art. Only pet peeve I had is that at one point they describe a coy cat and called it "he" while the illustration was a Calico cat and those are rarely male. But that's really just a personal thing and such a minor detail.

The descriptions of the different types of kitties were fun to read although it's obvious that as with most humans, cats also have overlapping traits depending on the situation. Little negative thing imo is that the "typical" male and female traits are very stereotypical. It would have been fun to read that a female cat is (also) adventurous and a male cat (also) loves all the attention.

In general a fun and quick read for people with or without cats who are intrigued by their behaviour. I also enjoyed the British slang a lot and it was a fun addition to just a book about cats as it made it more playful.

An ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Christopher Owens · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publish through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Every cat has a different personality. There are many different frameworks to help categorize the various aspects of those personalities to help their humans understand them better. This book includes a series of multiple-choice questions for humans to answer about their cat’s habits and behaviors to define their dominant personality traits.


While reading this book, I completed the quizzes with my own cat in mind. The results yielded somewhat accurate results, but the set of potential answers for each question did not always include an option that applied to my cat, so there was not always a clear personality group that was a match.

I gave The Cat Purrsonality Test four stars on Goodreads. It provided a couple of general personality groups for my cat for each set of questions, but the answer options were often not thorough enough to give a definitive personality assignment.

[Susan Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Princess Fuzzypants here: This is the fun kind of book that some of our hopelessly obtuse humans might require. I say this because we cats understand how limited humans can be and in their great desire, nay say need, to understand us, they will go to great lengths to try and pigeonhole us. We are cats and not pigeons so p[ease be aware, whatever conclusions you may think you have determined, we, of the feline purrsuasion, ultimately reserve the right to change our minds and do something completely different.

It does have some interesting questions in which the feeble human mind can attempt to explain what we do and why we do it. It is for you to decide if we are merely playing with you, for our own sport, or whether we truly do exhibit these personality traits.

Either way, it could lead to hours of endless fun. Probably more for us as we lead you on a merry chase than for you but why else are you here but for our amewsement. Five purrs and two paws up.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute book with beautiful illustrations.
It is intended for a British audience and uses obviously British slang terms such as "moggy" for "pet cat". I am fairly knowledgeable about British English but had never heard this expression. Spelling is also based on British convention. Americans could certainly enjoy this book. Cat lovers all over the world could definitely enjoy it.
The cat purrsonality test reminds me of a quiz from a women's magazine. The quiz itself is meant to be entertaining and fun, which it is. The author includes a discussion of each topic that is intelligently written and refers to known facts and/or research about animal behavior.
Cat lovers will really enjoy this one.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Kena · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Cat Purrsonality Test is a must-read for any cat owner! It would make a great stocking filler gift, or a gift at any other time of year for any cat lover.

The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous, really beautiful with a flash of humour to them. Alissa Levy is an incredibly talented illustrator.

I tried out the questionnaires on my two moggies. One of them was very easy to classify using the nine short questionnaires, but my other cat was a little harder to classify as there didn’t seem to the a suitable option in the list of answers. I’ve always felt she is a bit of enigma, and this only proved my theory! Notwithstanding, it’s a fun book for cat owners.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - White Lion/White Lion Publishing for the e-ARC copy.

[Vitória Fernandes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for the digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a delight. It is based on the scientific supposition that cat can have 5 main personality traits. It has 9 tests for you to find out which traits are stronger in you cat(s).

It is similar to those personality tests you can find in magazines and a great way to pass the time and have a little fun. Most of the time it won't perfectly fit your cat, but it can give an idea, and help you know your cat a little better.

It has gorgeous illustrations throughout the book. It is a beautiful and fun gift to give someone or yourself.

[joyce w. laudon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cat people, you will adore this book. Starting with the title’s spelling of purrsonality, the message is that this title will be entertaining. Chapter headings confirm this. Here are a few of them: Top Cat; Puss-in-Boots; Paws, Snooze, Repeat; Chat with the Cat and more.

What follows are a number of quizzes that will reveal your cat’s personality. The author notes that there are five types of cats. See which one yours is.

Cat lovers will have fun with this book. If you are not one, this could be a good gift for someone you know

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

[Sherri · Rating 4 out of 5]

***I received an ARC from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review

This is a fun quick read for anyone who loves multple-choice quizzes and loves cats.. I did find that the answers didn't always ring true (at least when it came to our 4 cats) but half of the fun in those quizzes is just in taking them, not in trying to get an accurate reading. At the end, it listed several of the major cat breeds and which personality traits they are associated with. This could be helpful for anyone looking to potentially adopt a cat and was unsure of what type would be the best fit for them and their family.

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A different taste of book for me, I personally don't have a cat however I do know a few moggies quite well having spent a lot of time with them and it was particularly interesting.

The art style is pretty cute and I found it to be super quirky to be honest and I really enjoyed learning about the five different traits cats have, obviously which ever one tots up to the most answers wise is the one your cat is mostly likely to be personality wise. It's such a unique read and really allows the reader to feel more connected with their animal which is really in and important these days.


With thanks to netgalley for this free arc in return for my review, a quick and easily enjoyable read!

[Lori Sinsel Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great little book that I read through and did the tests for my kitty in a few short hours. It also has some cute kitty art through out. The quizzes are really interesting and I think they are right on the money. I learned some very interesting details after answering the questions about my cat. The summaries at the end of each quiz matched so perfectly with how I see his personality to be. If you are a cat mom or dad, then you have to get this little book and take the tests to find out your kitty's purrfect purrsonality!

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun book!

Unfortunately, of all my cats (four in total), only one fit into a category. She’s a loving puss who likes to sit on my lap. Forever!

The others were a mixed bag.

This book was an interesting read, however, and I enjoyed myself. I thoroughly enjoyed the illustrations. They were simply delightful.

I want to thank NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - White Lion/White Lion Publishing for forwarding to me a copy of this delightful book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed here are solely my own.

[Kelly Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a quick and well illustrated read with useful insights into feline behaviour. Lovers of cats will learn something, even if their cat, like my two, are all over the place in the questionnaires. Perhaps mine are just too young yet (1 yr) to have developed set character traits.
Regardless, this is an interesting starting point for cat reference material. I had thought it would have more humour, but other than that it was a neat little book.
Thanks to #netgalley for the opportunity to read it!

[sinag · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 stars!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a very adorable book wherein we can loosely classify our cat's personality based on different situations. I liked the idea of this, but I find it hard to choose based on the choices because I feel like those are too limiting and not representative of my cats, thus, it took me lots of days to finish this one. This is fun, a personality test for cats, but take note that this isn't 100% accurate.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Egyptians believed cats were gods and treated them as such; a fact our felines have never forgotten…

Very charming and veddy English, including referring to cats as moggies, which I had never heard before. Comprised of nine quizzes (one for each life), which help you analyze and sort your kitty into one of four personality (catonality?) types. Fun way to understand and moreover, appreciate all your moggy’s (using it!) uniqueness. Nicely designed and illustrated, too. Great gift idea for the cat lovers in your life who wish to crack that kitty code.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting concept and totally not what I expected. The information contained here tries to help you understand your cat(s) better. My daughter’s cat had a bad accident about a year ago. She healed physically but was mentally a different cat. It certainly gets you thinking about what might be going on in their heads. But I seriously doubt that we garnered any more insight than what we had before. Perhaps this book along with others would give a more complete understanding of our cat.
I received a free copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book for cat owners of all ages. I’m a third grade teacher and have two kitties. I read through the book and was really entertained the whole time. Think of it like a book full of those personality quizzes, but for your kitty AND it’s research-based. You get to know your pet better while being entertained at the same time! It’s easy to read format makes it perfect for middle grades and up. Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review!

[benita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This really was a fun book to read and it was a quiz book as well! I loved reading about cats, since I have two myself. The quizzes were spot on, and it felt like reading about my dear cats. Also, interesting facts about cats, which is always a treat. If you are a cat lover and a lover of quizzes do pick this up!

5/5

I got this book for free from netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

[Nettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is perfect for people who love cats and taking magazine quizzes. I thought I loved both and yes I do love cats, but the range of answers in this book sort of irritated me. I know its just supposed to be fun and it did start out that way but meh. It would be perfect if you had to get a gift for someone and needed a little something extra to complete the gift.

[Rebeca F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable libro cortito sobre los gatos, que en realidad es un test que evalúa distintos aspectos para tratar de descubrir la personalidad de tu compañero felino. La edición es muy linda, con tiernas ilustraciones gatunas y bastante humor, pero funciona más como un juego entretenido que otra cosa y resulta demasiado breve y genérico para tomárselo demasiado en serio.
Igual es una lectura liviana y adorable pensada para los fans de los gatos.