The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Cats: Cat Breeds & Cat Care

by Alan Edwards

Expert, comprehensive advice on how to care for your cat, with step-by-step photographic demonstrations.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Reference, Cats

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 2001

About the author

Alan Edwards majored in English at the University of Florida for approximately four weeks, until the endless daily grind of non-stop investigations into whether every single mention of a long straight object was nothing more than a phallic symbol made him quickly realize that he would never make it through to actually get a less-than-useful English degree. He determinedly became a drunkard and dropout afterwards.

Later, he learned the fine art of bookkeeping, decided he enjoyed it, and eventually went back to school, this time for an Accounting degree, which he was able to complete while working full-time and attending night classes for the simple reason that there was no discussion of phallic symbols.

Becoming a stalwart and valiant accountant, he set the world afire with the speed of his T-accounts, the precision of his reconciliations, and uncanny way of balancing debits and credits. By night, he dazzled and amazed all and sundry by reading, playing computer and console games as well as tabletop role-playing games, watching TV, and playing with his dogs.

Nearly all of his time is spent with his lovely wife and companion Lisa, whose patience and love quite seriously carries him through the tribulations of life.

The Curse of Troius is his first novel.

Reviews

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars.
Lovely book! it is not too deep, yet good enough for basic facts about cats, beautiful photographs!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good reference to have for any cat owner. It is fully colored and it has a brief overview of the major types of cat breeds out there. The guide itself guides the reader from choosing a cat to taking care of its basic needs to emergency situations. I think it's a handy guide to keep in your library.

[Henrietta Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book, it really helps to have this book on hand for life with cats, changes daily, the pictures and information are great, the injurys and ailments section is first class.
This book guides you through the whole life of your cat.

[Silverprince · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this as a child, about 8-11 years old and I loved it. It taught me, even as a kid, how to treat cats properly and how to respect them as living beings with their own feelings. Plus the photographs are too adorable to not look with awe.

[Brittany Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book, perfect for a first time cat owner I found it immensely informative and entertaining. I was blown away by the skillful photos and descriptions. Two thumbs way up.

[Luke Metcalf · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my opinion the book was great because it helps about everything about cats. The book was also goo because it told me a lot of information I didn't know about cats. In the book it tells about every cat breed from tabby cats to calico or bi-color cats. The book also tells about feeding equipment to the types of food you should use. One strength about the book is that it is written in sections and it is easy to find what you want to read about. One connection I have is text-to-self because I have two cats and this helped take better care of them. I would recommend this to anybody who would need or want to learn about cats.

[Joomi Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am only on page 26 of this coffee table book but have already learned that a responsible cat breeder will inoculate their kittens against chlamydia.

I am grateful to other reviewers who pointed out this is not the ultimate encyclopedia about cats as the title claims and that some of the cats they photographed are ugly. It is nice to know others have the same or similar standards that I do.

In the back of the book there is a very short section that describes the main differences between American, British, and European show scenes.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

My fiance and I are looking at getting a cat in the near future and I, being who I am, needed to do some research on what that would look like before getting one. I grew up with dogs, not cats, and I needed to learn the difference. This was an easy to follow guide of everything from food to litter boxes to injuries to breeds and temperaments. Not everything applied to me--there's a big emphasis in this book on breeding cats and showing cats at exhibitions--but everything else was pretty applicable. I learned a lot.

[Fadillah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is indeed the ultimate encyclopedia of cats. It is very informative from how to take care of cats to the details if you wanted your cat to enter the competition. I really enjoyed the second part of differentiating non pedigree and pedigree felines and how to identify them. From long hair, short hair to hairless cats, nothing is left out (i think), so you can read all about these purrfect creatures in this book.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated, quite comprehensive as an entry point into cat owning.

[Tyler]

In the bookcase

[Becky Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very nice book which has good information throughout. I also love the pictures chosen for the breeds in the breeds section.

[Janean · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unflinching account of the origins of every(?) cat breed out there. Most breeds were created by inbreeding from a mutated cat and some of them have serious health issues that go along with their mutations. It makes me glad to have moggies.

[Anwen Hayward · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS IS THE BEST BOOK EVER. I read it so much as a kid that I nearly broke it in half. I still have the admirable party trick of being able to name approximately three times as many cat breeds as anyone else in the room. God bless this book. God bless.

[Brian Cham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book lives up to its title. It is really the ultimate guide with a lot of comprehensive illustrations and descriptions about all types of cat breeds. A must-have for all cat owners and cat lovers.

[Fibrina Damayanthi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Panduan yang lengkap bagi pecinta dan pemilik kucing dalam memelihara dan merawatnya. Dilengkapi dengan foto berbagai jenis kucing yang ada diseluruh dunia

[Jamie Leeper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a cat lover! Buddy, Thomas and Angel are my 3 cats. This book was great. Tells about each breed of cat!

[Razan · Rating 4 out of 5]

as a cat owner i found this book REALLY HELPFUL

[Annette McIntyre · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting book about cats. A good starting point for those considering a purebred cat.

[Amanda McGill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read! Tons of information about how to take care of a cat and the different types of breeds of cats.

[Bekah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love cats!!!

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was useful, although the breeds were mediocre