Seven Cats I Have Loved

by Anat Levit, Yardenne Greenspan (Translator)

Anat Levit never considered herself a cat lover, but when her life was thrown into upheaval, she found herself adopting one cat at the suggestion of her daughters, and then six more in quick succession. She recounts how each cat came into her life, their distinct demeanours and curiosities and their ability to live fully in each moment.

Anat falls in love with the furry creatures, whose escapades and tribulations lead her into deep friendships, difficult decisions, and unexpected insight into her relationships. The cats love her in the way she wishes she could love others: intensely yet independently, without renouncing their unique personalities. By caring for these cats, Anat comes to a deeper understanding of her connections with former lovers, her daughters and her own body. In Seven Cats I Have Loved, she delves into the feline mind with sensitivity, gentleness, and compassion, while also revealing a moving human story.

Genres: Nonfiction, Cats, Animals, Memoir

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2021

About the author

Anat Levit is an Israeli poet and author. She has published eleven books and received prestigious awards for her works including the Wertheim Prize for Poetry, the Bernstein Prize for Literary Criticism, and the Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works.

Reviews

[Fliss · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was awful. From overfeeding her cats, refusing medical treatment to her cats and not tending to their fur to the point that their fur would get deeply matted? This didn't show me that this author actually loved any of these cats. One of the cats they state to love lived in a box outside and clearly wanted to live inside but was refused. Each chapter was like 'this cat loved me and this is how it died'. Not a literary masterpiece and I honestly feel anybody could have written this. It makes me so annoyed that you can put a cat on a cover of a book and sell it and people will buy it-even if it is nothing special. Nah.

[Kim Jones · Rating 1 out of 5]

Should be titled “Seven Cats I Have Neglected”. This was honestly really hard to read. The author sounds like a horrible woman. She spends one chapter describing how much more she loves her cats compared to her daughters (I love my cats and don’t have human children, but her poor kids!). She feeds her cats awful food to the point they are morbidly obese, neglects to either get veterinary attention or just flat out ignores or refuses treatment and then blames the vets, continually lets her cats on to the roof of her apartment block despite them falling off multiple times resulting in fractures, doesn’t bother to groom them despite choosing pedigree long haired cats such as Persians and then is angry when her vet shaves the matts off without permission. Towards the end of the book we read how one vet has to plead with her to take her gasping cat to hospital for treatment or euthanasia to which the author refuses. Oh and let’s not forget that the author is such a big cat lover but describes stray cats as street urchins and describes them with disgust. And let’s see, what else… having one cat spayed and then lamenting at how she deprived her of motherhood and it’s so cruel and she’ll never neutered her cats again. Maybe stop anthropomorphising your cats and do some research on cat behaviour and health. Awful book, don’t bother. 1.5 stars because visually it is a nice looking book. Shame about the content

[Jess McCarthy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was never not going to love a book about cats, but I frequently found myself irritated or even angered by the actions of the author. I put this down to cultural, or possibly personal, differences in cat ownership. I would find myself particularly annoyed when veterinary advice was ignored, for example, when told one of the cats was overweight, the author still chose to provide a buffet of cat food, unwilling to deny the overweight cat something they enjoy. I frequently found myself reeling at some of the situations, and left frustrated that they weren't caring for their cats properly.
I also think in some instances the author is guilty of anthropomorphising her cats too much. For example, in the first chapter she mentions how she felt guilty for denying her cat a chance at motherhood by having her spayed. I can't imagine cats ever really consider the concept of "motherhood", and that the author is instead projecting some guilt onto her cat.
However, Levit clearly loved her cats, and did what she thought best for them. As a cat owner, I can relate and empathise with that.

[Stefan Garland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple, yet very endearing, touching, and in my case, very, very relatable.

[Chai · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked this book, but I couldn't get past some of the choices the author made that were distressing to read. The main one was regarding poor sweet Mishely.

Mishely was a stray who was hit by a car, and the author and neighbours rescued. She took Mishely in to recover, but one of the other cats, Cleo, didn't got on with her and bothered Mishley. So instead of actually speaking a vet or reseaching HOW to introduce a new cat into the home properly, she made Mishely, who was vulnerable, leave and live outside her apartment in a cardboard box.

When Mishely became ill, she knew the rain and cold was making her VERY sick and killing her, the cat losing her fur, she still left he outside even though the cat wanted nothing more than to see her and be loved. SHE KNEW Mishely's greatest desire was to live with her in the warmth of her apartment and to be loved... but no she left Mishely out still because of Cleo, and didn't bother to let her in because of her 'enemy' even when Mishely was dying. She literally let the poor cat in for a a few minutes in her bed with another cat she loved to snuggle one time, and locked Cleo in another room, getting the poor sick Mishely's hopes up, then KICKED HER OUT AGAIN IN THE RAIN.

On her last hour of being alive she finally finally granted Mishely's greatest desire of being a permanent resident in her home, and writes " I hope Mishely knew I granted her greatest wish in her last hour alive". It was so distressing and broke my heart because I really don't think this cat needed to die, or at least not die neglected in the cold and lonely, because this woman couldn't be assed to try a bit harder to intergrate a new cat and actually put some work in. Everytime I think about poor Mishely I want to cry.

Another part that upset me: one of her cat's lungs stopped working and SHE DECIDED TO IGNORE THE VETS BEGGING HER TO TAKE IT TO A HOSPITAL TO HEAL IT AND FIND THE CAUSE AND DEMANDED STEROIDS INSTEAD. she left her cat struggling to breathe and in pain because it wouldnt like going to the hopsital. This cat could have possibly been saved, been healed of the pain and potentially had a longer life. Very distressing to read some bits of this book.

[Hannah stressedreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow this took me by surprise 😮. An emotional, poignant, beautiful and moving story about Anat and her life with her cats. From learning their different personalities to discovering how each of them said goodbye to this world 🌎😢💔. Anat tells us about the different lessons each cat taught her and how they added to her life. 👪 The writing is wonderful and the translator done an excellent job in ensuring the book made sense but didn't take anything away from Anat's wonderfully descriptive writing.

I read most of this book in one sitting and its definitely one i won't forget in a hurry. The book itself is absolutely gorgeous 😍 one of my favourite book covers ever 😍❤️.
A wonderful short read i am so pleased i agreed to read this 🥰

Definitely recommend this to everyone who loves cats 🐈😻

[Beth]

Warning: this book is almost entirely a description of how each of her cats died, with some anecdotes about their personalities thrown in to break up the retellings of each cat’s death.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

(2.5) “Most of the cats I come across must be able to sense right away that I am nothing but a cat in human clothes.” This short memoir is translated from the Hebrew. Poet Anat Levit didn’t start off as a cat lady, yet in the year following her divorce she adopted five kittens. The first, Shelly, was a present for her small daughters, Daphna and Shlomit, and then another four fluffballs tempted her at the pet store: Afro, Lady, Mocha and Jesse. Add on Cleo, a beautiful Siamese she bought on impulse from a neighbour, and Mishely, a local stray she started to look after, and there you have it: the seven cats who took over her life.

This is a loose narrative filled with little observations on the differences in her cats’ appetites, mannerisms, and relationships to each other and to the author. As much as she loves them, Levit seems to find the animals a heavy emotional burden: she constantly wonders if she’s doing her best for them, treating them all the same (better than her children?), and so on.

Unfortunately, I felt the most attention is paid to the cats’ various illnesses and vet visits, and especially the periods of decline leading to each one’s death. Pets only live a fraction as long as humans, so books about loving them often incorporate death, and some might argue that it’s an essential part of the story: that your care for an animal companion encompasses their whole life and includes the duty to ease their death. Fair enough. But it can be a downer to read about. So, cat lovers, think carefully about whether you can handle the content; if you’re after sweet anecdotes and antics, this is not that book. Something about either the writing or the translation meant that I found the tone either too matter-of-fact (recounting the physical facts of deterioration) or melodramatic, e.g.,

That evening, it dawned on me that I had to hurry up and release Cleo from the relics of existence that survived in his body. Sometimes, death dawdles for no reason. On the threshold of my cats’ demise, it prescribed the kind of suffering that seemed to have erased the sweetness of all their previous years at once.

– and not often finding a balance. Still, there are some sweet moments that pet owners will appreciate. (A similar read from last year: The Writer’s Cats by Muriel Barbery.)

Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.

[Marisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

She did not love those poor cats

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Started crying almost right away. Absolutely gorgeous, heartbreaking and lovely

[JayBlnk6 · Rating 1 out of 5]

The star is purely for the presentation. This person should never again own a cat.

[Lau Riva Palacio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lloré dos veces con solo 130 páginas.

Es de cómo empezó y cómo terminó la vida de sus gatitos. Y pues corazón roto por leer cómo acabo cada vida después de que te cuenta cómo era cada uno.

Muy lindo pero triste y más si te gustan los gatitos.

[Ella · Rating 2 out of 5]

spends a whole chapter explaining all the ways she cares about her cats more than her children...

[Isabel]

collecting all the cat books like they are pokémon

[Emily]

Listen, I love cats. I love reading about cats. I love reading about everyone's cats. But I should have known that a book with the past tense HAVE loved, and not do love, currently love, will always love, there was bound to be a cat death. What I wasn't expecting was every freaking chapter to be a cat death. I had to stop after Afro. I'm sure this is a great story about one persons love of their cats, but after the second cat death, knowing there were a potential for 5 more??? I dipped out. Sorry Anat.

[Franky · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's amazing to read about the profound love someone experienced towards their feline children. I find that I relate to the author in that sense.
But oh boy, do I not approve of some of the medical choices or even choices in general as a pet owner.

[Olia Braguța · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some heartfelt stories about love towards your pets.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely little book with delicate and emotive writing. I don’t know what happened, but I decided from the start I didn’t like the protagonist/writer and that soured the story a bit for me.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of course I loved this book

[Rachel Stansfield · Rating 2 out of 5]

well that was depressing

[Debumere · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in one sitting - a beautifully written, and equally poignant, book. I requested this book because I love cats too, and I could relate to so much of what the Author was saying - treating the cats as royalty and of the different personalities each cat has. Anyone who has had or has cats will love this book. It is sad in parts when the cats pass but the love between the Anat and her cats was beautiful. #netgalley #sevencatsIhaveloved

[Sarah Hayden · Rating 2 out of 5]

This author "loves" her cats the way that narcissistic parents "love" their children…

[Alyssa Robertson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book at a secondhand bookstore on sale for 75 cents. At the time I thought it was such a steal but now I fully understand why. As a cat lover, I wanted nothing more than to adore this book, and
in rare moments i did resonate with the author’s
difficult relationship with balancing the love & grief of owning cats. However, the sheer number of distressing stories of animal neglect made the remainder of the book difficult to consume. Overall, I felt like there was little substance to the book, I strongly disapproved of her actions and her repeated compromises to her animal’s welfare. Each chapter was less and less anecdotal and rarely revisited positive memories of her animal ownership, but instead was more of a collection of retellings of the often preventable and painful deaths of her cats.
Some casual depictions of animal neglect or poor animal ownership:
- overfeeding her cats to the point of morbid obesity. when warned about the medical repercussions, the owner failed to change her feeding habits.
- purchasing a puppy at the beginning of the book, only to return it and impulsively get a kitten instead.
- anthropomorphizing a cat that the owner had spayed, feeling as though she had deprived the cat of motherhood.
- allowing her cats to become matted and expressing a distaste for the veterinarian shaving them down.
- letting her cats onto her roof, despite them frequently falling and sustaining fractures???
- failing to provide medical care to her cats on multiple occasions, specifically when one cat was in respiratory distress. that cat had been experiencing respiratory symptoms for an extensive period of time that the author had written off. the author also writes how her veterinarian pleaded with her to get treatment for the cat, but the author refused and instead demanded steroidal treatment because it had “worked” on a previous cat, of which she had also neglected to hospitalize when necessary.
- assuming responsibility for a stray cat, only to watch it grow weaker and sicker due to cold and rainy weather, refusing to allow it inside due to having an improper introduction to her existing cats. also refusing to search for another home for the cat, sentencing the cat she “loved” and claimed responsibility towards to a life of unnecessary suffering.
- purchasing five Persian cats within the same year to the point where the pet store had to tell her to stop?? hello?

[Lydia]

WARNING - I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS BOOK

This book, which purports to chronicle the loving care of seven cats, reveals something far more troubling: a pattern of neglect, cruelty, and selfishness. The author describes her cats suffering from severe health issues—many of which appear to be exacerbated, if not caused, by her own neglect. The decision to overfeed the cats, despite repeated veterinary advice, is alarming, as is the author’s failure to recognize and address their obvious pain.

Several cats endured prolonged suffering. Cleo, described as “hideously obese,” struggled with mobility and endured a painful internal blockage for 24 hours before any action was taken. Meanwhile, another cat Jesse had such severely matted fur that the vet had to shave it off, which irritated the owner more than the distress of the cat. The author’s self-centered reaction to the situation shows a disturbing lack of empathy.

Most shocking are the descriptions of the cats in the final stages of life. Two of them were so incapacitated they dragged themselves around on two legs, yet the owner still failed to end their suffering. The author continually blames veterinarians for failing to visit in times of need, yet it is clear that the responsibility lies squarely with her for failing to recognize and act on the pain her pets were in.

This is not a book about love or devotion to pets. Instead, it is a testament to how denial and selfishness can lead to avoidable suffering.
It’s very difficult to understand why anyone would want to memorialize such a troubling account of neglect. Rather than a heartfelt tribute, this book serves as a disturbing reminder of what happens when the well-being of animals is ignored.

[willowfan · Rating 1 out of 5]

this is the worst book ive ever read, the anthropomorphising is unbelievably wild, bordering on abusive. the author doesnt love her cats like she thinks she does, or else she wouldn’t have neglected their health so much and let her cats become morbidly obese from feeding them food unhealthy for cats such as ice cream and tinned olives, and then refusing to put them on a diet because “there was no point in extending cleo’s life if he wouldn’t be able to indulge in the food he loved so much”. or, she wouldn’t have refused to brush their coats and allow them to become matted.

she obviously just wanted to live vicariously through her cats, as stated early on in the book when she dreamed of being a cat owned by a person like her. author also called stray cats “street urchins”, clearly feeling some sort of moral superiority over her pedigree cats. the book did eventually improve after she began to love the stray cats, but still frustrating with the way she refused to let her cat be put to sleep despite having no quality of life. don’t even get me started on how the author believed she deprived her cat from motherhood; “without a thought to the cruelty involved in ignoring her own needs and desires, i sentenced her to a life of childlessness.“ WHAT.

this memoir is more a diary of neglect than anything else. only reason why i didnt dnf is because i paid good money on this stupid book, at the expense of my blood pressure. the front cover was cute so of course i was gonna buy. im a fool. what is this

[Zoa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just no.

The only reason I finished this book is because I don't want to put any book on my dnf this year. And oh boy was it hard to do.
At first I thought: "Oh what a cute short book about a woman who loves her seven cats! What could go wrong?" And then I started reading... The first chapter didn't captivate me, but I don't usually give up at the beginning of the book so I continued in the hopes of it becoming more interesting. What a fool I was. Every chapter could be read as a standalone, there is no continuous story. I mean, there are some things that are in the chronological order, of course, but nothing very important for the actual plot (because there was no plot).
After finishing the book, I read some reviews where people would complain about the flawed protagonist, i. e. the writer herself. Well, I can't say I agree with the premise that an unlikable main character necessarily makes a bad book. But did I dislike the writer and her writing style? Absolutely. Maybe it's the fact that English is not my mother tongue, maybe it's the translation from Hebrew, but there were so many times the writer used some words that were so unnecessary, it almost felt like she had to convince her audience she knows how to write a word soup instead of a convincing plot with quality characters... And don't get me started on her anthropomorphizing her cats. She was literally giving me "crazy cat lady" vibes. Maybe that was the point, who knows.

In conclusion, this book was unfortunately not for me, which is sad because I am a cat mum myself and really had high hopes for it.

[Rebecca D · Rating 2 out of 5]

Obviously Anat loves her cats (or is obsessed with them) and I am a cat person but….
This should have been called Seven Cats I Have Lost. The majority of the book is about them being ill and dying. Then there are parts where she ignores the advice of the vet and does her own thing - infact its a great example of how someone can lose their head over an animal so much so that they end up treating them in ways that are not in the animals best interest instead of listening to medical professionals.

This is the sentence that makes sense of it for me. She talks about her own ill health and says “I remained more faithful than ever to the needs of my soul, and to my ability to endure through discomfort. I was afraid that medical examinations would reveal health problems that would entail extensive treatments” - she then projects these fears onto the cats and doesn’t get them proper treatment.

Really tragic and sad. If you get any more cats Anat, I hope you start listening to the vet and I hope you are doing ok.

[V · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tuhle knížku jsem si koupila v knihkupectví na nádraží v Milanu, když jsme čekali na další spoj. Nebudu lhát, prostě se mi líbila obálka a říkala jsem si, že to bude perfektní čtení na výlet, během kterého se mi stýskalo po našich kotátkách. A neberte mě špatně - četlo se to hezky, je to krásně napsané a velmi procítěné. Ale spíš mi to přišlo jako taková forma autorčiny terapie, aby se vyrovnala se smrtí svých sedmi koček. Tak 80 % obsahu knihy totiž tvoří vzpomínky na poslední dny, poslední momenty jejích koček. A ne že by to k té lásce k nim nepatřilo, ale vlastně jsem si o těch kočkách ani neudělala pořádný obrázek, dokud nezačala psát o tom, jak si nemohly dojít na záchod. Navíc jsem asi nesdílela úplně stejný druh lásky a přístupu ke kočkám v domácnosti jako autorka. Přesto se mi ale knížka líbila, včetně myšlenky, že kočky nás učí bezpodmínečné lásce bez očekávání jejího opětování, a taky jisté (zdravé) sebestřednosti a uspokojování vlastních potřeb na úkor obětování života druhým.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

Never has a book confounded my expectations more than this one. Far from being a heartwarming read of life spent in feline companionship, Levit chooses to focus almost entirely on her cats' ill-health and deaths, frequently caused by her own neglect, willful ignoring of veterinary advice, and lack of attention to clear signs of their distress.

Anthropomorphising pets is a natural human inclination, which can, I think, enrich the lives of both pet and owner, but Levit appears to project herself so fully onto her cats that they serve as proxies to her own needs, and at times of crisis in their lives she seems unable to distinguish her self-interest from their care needs.

I feel rather upset after reading this book, and undoubtedly my review reflects this.

[ProfessionalBookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

10# The Seven Cats I Have Loved by Anat Levit, translated by Yardenne Greenspan

What started as cute swiftly became sentimental and nostalgic. I was mid-way before I realized that this was the memoir of a life lived with cats by the celebrated Israeli author Anat Levit.

Levit pages through the personalities and lives of each of her feline friends until the bitter end of their days. She deftly paints the picture of having to decide when to assist in their passing on with unfiltered honesty.

It's a story of grief and love. It's an ode to the bond between cats and their owners. I'd highly recommend it to cat lovers, as well as those dealing with the loss of a pet.

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