250 Vital Things Your Cat Wants You to Know: The Cat Guardian’s Bible

by Ingrid Newkirk

There are lots of things your cat would like you to know, and if we humans were better at translating meows, ear twitches, blinks, and tail flicks, we wouldn’t need a book like 250 Vital Things Your Cat Wants You to Know by PETA President Ingrid Newkirk, a renowned cat “auntie.” But the fact is that many of us are not nearly as good at translating “Catese” as cats are at understanding our language.

For example, did you know that cats “smile” by squinting their eyes? If they go a step further and close their eyes for more than a split second, they’re showing how much they trust you—a high compliment, indeed! And did you know that your cats’ “accidents” outside the litter box could be their way of telling you that they have a serious and potentially life-threatening illness? How about if one, heaven forbid, were to go missing? This book could help you get your cat back. Oh, and scratching your couch can be dealt with (and declawing is never, ever the solution).

With empathy, humor, and the humility that comes from being “supervised” by cats, Newkirk reveals just how much feline guardians can learn from the cat gods who deign to grant us permission to provide them with a lifetime of service despite our many faults.

Are two cats better than one? Can cats walk on a leash like a dog? Why do cats “make biscuits” on your lap? Newkirk answers those questions and addresses many more topics, including Yes, there are lots of things you desperately need to know about your cat, which is why 250 Vital Things Your Cat Wants You to Know (aka “the cat guardian’s Bible”) is required reading if you want to ensure that all nine of your cat’s lives are as happy and fulfilling as felinely possible. Order your copy today—or better yet, order several copies to share with your feline-fancying friends.

170 pages, Paperback

Published November 3, 2021

About the author

Ingrid E. Newkirk is a British animal rights activist and the president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the world's largest animal rights organization. She is the author of several books, including Making Kind Choices (2005) and The PETA Practical Guide to Animal Rights: Simple Acts of Kindness to Help Animals in Trouble (2009). Newkirk has worked for the animal-protection movement since 1972. Under her leadership in the 1970s as the District of Columbia's first female poundmaster, legislation was passed to create the first spay/neuter clinic in Washington, D.C., as well as an adoption program and the public funding of veterinary services, leading her to be among those chosen in 1980 as Washingtonians of the Year.

Newkirk founded PETA in March 1980 with fellow animal rights activist Alex Pacheco. They came to public attention in 1981, during what became known as the Silver Spring monkeys case, when Pacheco photographed 17 macaque monkeys being experimented on inside the Institute of Behavioral Research in Silver Spring, Maryland. The case led to the first police raid in the United States on an animal research laboratory and to an amendment in 1985 to the Animal Welfare Act. Since then, Newkirk has led campaigns to stop the use of animals in crash tests, convinced companies to stop testing cosmetics on animals, pressed for higher welfare standards from the meat industry, and organized undercover investigations that have led to government sanctions against companies, universities, and entertainers who use animals. She is known, in particular, for the media stunts that she organizes to draw attention to animal-protection issues. In her will, for example, she has asked that her skin be turned into wallets, her feet into umbrella stands, and her flesh into "Newkirk Nuggets", then grilled on a barbecue. "We are complete press sluts", she told The New Yorker in 2003: "It is our obligation. We would be worthless if we were just polite and didn't make any waves."

Although PETA takes a gradualist approach to improving animal welfare, Newkirk remains committed to ending animal use and the idea that, as PETA's slogan says, "animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, or use for entertainment". Some animal rights abolitionists, most notably Gary Francione, have criticized PETA, calling it and other groups "the new welfarists". Some members of the animal advocacy movement have responded that Francione's position is unnecessarily divisive. Newkirk has also been criticized for her support of actions carried out in the name of the Animal Liberation Front. Newkirk's position is that the animal rights movement is a revolutionary one and that "[t]hinkers may prepare revolutions, but bandits must carry them out". PETA itself, however, "maintains a creed of nonviolence and does not advocate actions in which anyone, human or nonhuman, is injured". Newkirk and PETA have also been criticized for euthanizing many of the animals taken into PETA's shelters, including healthy pets, and opposition to the whole notion of pets, and her position that "There's no rational basis for saying that a human being has special rights. A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy," as well as seemingly seeing eradication as a goal. PETA has responded to this line of criticism.

Reviews

[Lauren Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommended for cat parents -- current or future. The book is wide-ranging, simultaneously introductory and presenting novel or lesser-known approaches, tips, and knowledge. You'll feel like you've learned so much yet be compelled to explore the sizable resources section at the end.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel so privileged to have a copy with a personal message to me from the author. She is one of my idols.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resources in the book! Easy referrals to vets and other useful websites.