Catwatching: The Essential Guide To Cat Behaviour by Desmond Morris

Catwatching: The Essential Guide To Cat Behaviour Reviews

• 
  Barbara H

  As a cat lover and owner, I have several books in my library devoted to either the care of these enigmatic animals, to their history and distributions in the world. Desmond Morris is a noted anthropologist, who has penned this neat little book devoted to the life and behaviors of the domesticated cat. He has answered many questions which are common and some one may not have thought about.
  
  For example:Why does a cat trample on your lap with its front paws?
  Why does a cat wag its tail?
  Why does a cat roll over to lie on its back when greeting you?
  Why does a cat chatter its teeth when it sees a bird through a window?
  Why do we say "He let the cat out of the bag!"?
  And More...
  For the answers to these questions do read this book!
• 
  M.M. Strawberry Library & Reviews

  A pretty fun book for cat lovers. Read with Catlore by the same author.
• 
  Santiago

  Un rejunte de preguntas y respuestas como Por que ronronea mi gato? Como nacen los gatitos? Me sacó algunas dudas pero creo que podría haber estado más completo. Otra cosa a tener en cuenta es q éste libro salió en los 80s, de seguro se habrá avanzado en el estudio de los gatos.
• 
  Sarah Sammis

  It was a good introduction to cats but as a long time cat lover most of the facts in the book I already knew. I had hoped for something a little more academic or something that went into greater depth on the social interactions of those colonies of semi-feral cats. I know Morris has taken part in those studies but Catwatching doesn't touch on it (except briefly in the introduction). The illustrations though are wonderful.
• 
  Dustin Reade

  i am not joking when i tell you this was one of the most interesting, fun, and compulsively readable books i have ever purchased on a whim from Goodwill.
  packed with information, observations, and strange little asides, i completely devoured this book. no joke. dead serious. i know you probably think this is one of those fake reviews people do like where they go on Amazon and claim a gallon of milk saved their marriage, but no. i am totally serious. this book was weirdly awesome.
• 
  Bibliovoracious

  Hairless Sphynx cats are from CANADA? wtf?! What kind of maladapted accident is THAT?
• 
  Old Man Aries

  Il grandissimo etologo ci racconta i felini. Affascinante :)
• 
  Jack Oughton

  A short and surprisingly entertaining read.
  
  Though I do not have a cat, I now know things about cats that I never once knew that I would know :3
  
  
• 
  Dana

  Solides katzenbuch, süße Bilder, aber leider interessieren mich Rassekatzen einfach so null. Oder katzen Ausstellungen. Hätte mir mehr how to Katzen Tipps gewünscht!
• 
  Marimar González

  El contenido del libro puede resultar interensante si es tu primera aproximación al mundo del gato o no usas habitualmente internet. El libro fue escrito en los 80 y aunque su contenido sigue totalmente vigente la mayoria de esta información esta ampliamente difundida en blog, canales especializado y demás (muchos de los cuales no me extrañaría que hubiesen usado este libro a modo de guión). Eso me lleva a la conclusión de que, aunque me ha aportado dos o tres datos que no conocía, el 90% de lo contado en el libro ya lo conocía por otras fuentes que aunque posteriores en el tiempo, son más accesibles para parte de la población interesada por el gran mundo del gato 🐱.
• 
  Sergio

  Per chi, come me, ha un gatto in casa e si occupa quotidianamente del suo benessere e dell'intesa reciproca con tale animaletto, questo libro potrebbe sembrare imprescindibile per imparare tante cose che, nonostante tutto, possono essere sfuggite in questi anni di convivenza. In realtà questo manuale piacevole da leggere non mi ha chiarito le idee su molteplici domande che continuo a pormi sulla mia gattina per migliorare il nostro reciproco interagire e il voto di tre stellette mi sembra anche esagerato visto il pomposo sottotitolo "tutti i perché"!
• 
  HV

  Tengo cuatro gatitos y lo leí por ellos, sin embargo, no me gustó cómo esperaba, si bien aprendí un par de cosas respecto a ellos he descubierto que este tipo de lecturas, estilo manual, no son de mi total agrado.
• 
  Askou

  3,5⭐
  
  Einige interessante Fragen werden aufgegriffen, die besonders frischen Katzenliebhabern informativ begleiten werden.
  
  2 kleine Mängel meinerseits:
  Passende Bilder, gerade bei den Zuchtrassen, wäre praktisch gewesen um die Aussagen nochmal zu kräftigen. Weiterhin hatte mir der biologische Aspekt teilweise gefehlt. Gerade was die weißen Flecken betreffen usw.
• 
  Pınar Aydoğdu

  Kedilerinizin anlam veremediğiniz davranışlarını açıklığa kavuşturmak ve kedi aleminin mucizelerini öğrenmek için bu kitabı mutlaka okumalısınız.
• 
  Iván Ferreira

  Entretenido libro que resuelve muchas dudas que tenías y otras que no sabías que tenías sobre nuestros mininos favoritos. Recomendado para cualquier persona que posea un felino
• 
  Andriy Zinchuk

  THis short book finally brought some peace to my chaotic household. We had two young cats (brothers) who, while lovable and entertaining, were completely out of control and not responding to any of the behavior modification tips I usually used with cats. After being disappointed by at least 5 other cat behavior books, I was skeptical about this one.
  Catwatching helped me understand that cats respond to positive reinforcement, punishment will only make them neurotic. Catch them doing the right thing and praise, praise, praise! i.e.: anytime he uses the scratching post I say "Good kitty!" and use his name- they quickly learned that good things happen at the scratching post and use it more often. When they're climbing the curtains, distract them with a toy rather than punishing. You'll get farther. Don't' use a treat, that's rewarding bad behavior.
  I also learned cat body language that was very helpful, such as blowing a quick breath of air into the face of a cat who has gone crazy on your hand/feet/etc. Stops them immediately. Putting a few fingers not their forehead and pushing lightly says "enough of that".
  Following Morris' lead, I watched how they communicated with each other and followed suit. They were still hyperactive acrobats until they were for years old (and we had to cat-proof much of the house), but this book helped me immensely. Only one I found that has.
  I recommend it without reservation!
• 
  Street

  trying to get in these mother fuckers' heads YA HEARD?
• 
  IrgendwasmitFaber

  Ich hätte gerne die Vorzüge dieses Buches gelobt, die dank der Beobachtungsgabe und der empirischen Denkweise des Autors durchaus zu finden sind. Gerne hätte ich meine Kritik darauf beschränkt, das der Autor die notwendige Bekämpfung von Mythen und Aberglauben rund um Katzen in diesem Buch manchmal etwas zu dogmatisch nimmt, z.B. wenn Feuer mit Feuer bekämpft und einem Vorurteil eine (meines Empfindens nach) schwach-populärwissenschaftliche These entgegengestellt wird (z.B. "Kleine Katzenspezies X wurde 1971 in den USA entdeckt, weil dortige Teenager dazu neigten in kleine Appartmentwohnungen zu ziehen.").
  
  Manchmal liest es sich auch heraus, wie der Autor versucht, dem exklusiven Kreis der Katzenzüchter zu gefallen, z.B. wenn alle Katzenschauen vor einer bestimmten Show in London 1871 ohne Angabe weiterer Gründe als nebensächlich abgetan werden, bis erwähnt wird das ein bestimmter renommierter vom Autor offensichtlich respektierter Zuchtverband die Londoner Shows veranstaltet. Bis dahin dennoch ein sehr gutes Buch(5/5), manchmal etwas anstrengend aber nicht gefährlich - und von weiteren Kleinigkeiten, z.B. das die Maßeinheiten für die deutsche Ausgabe des Heyne Verlages nicht umgerechnet wurden (wtf sind 27 Pfund?!) (4/5) hätte sich die Lektüre lohnen können, wäre da nicht...
  
  mein krasser Kritikpunkt: Desmond Morris befürwortet die genetische Herstellung von "Designerkatzen" in New York, die in allen Merkmalen den Wünschen ihrer Kunden entsprechen und Preise von ca 1800$ erzielen. Desweiteren führt er alle Kritik an dieser Katzenproduktion dem Neid der Besitzlosen zu.
  
  Ich kontere das mit einer ähnlich zugespitzten Aussage:" Tiere auf diese Art in Labors zu produzieren ist eine Form von Faschismus, die jedes Recht dieser Lebewesen auf ein natürliches Leben mit Füßen tritt. Hätte man Animal Farm gelesen wüsste man sowas."
  
  Insofern ist das Buch eher was für gleichmütige Zuchtkatzenliebhaber als für aufgeklärte Katzenbesitzer. knappe (2/5)
• 
  Kate

  " 'The domestic cat is a contradiction. No animal has developed such an intimate relationship with mankind, while at the same time demanding and getting such independence of movement and action. The dog may be man's best friend, but it is rarely allowed out on its own to wander from garden to garden or street to street. The headstrong cat walks alone.' Thus begins Desmond Morris's fascinating examination of cat behavior and the way in which man and cats interact.
  
  "In this intriguing and engaging book Desmond Morris answers many of the questions he has been asked about cats -- and some that have never been asked. Every cat lover will be amazed and enlightened by this new book, which has already hit number one on British best-seller lists.
  
  "Early Egyptian records show that the cat was already fully domesticated 3,500 years ago. Yet even the most domesticated of cats leads a double life; the overgrown kitten that purrs in its owner's lap is just as likely to become a self-sufficient, wild creature wrapped up in catching its prey or defending its territory. It is clear that cats today carry with them an ancient inheritance of amazing sensory capacities, vocal utterances, body language, and territorial displays.
  
  "Desmond Morris developed the habit of catwatching as a boy growing up in the English countryside, where he remembers having spent many hours lying in the grass observing the farm cats as they stalked their prey. As a zoologist, he has had in his care most members of the cat family -- from great tigers, powerful leopards, and mighty jaguars to tiny tiger cats and little jaguarundi."
  ~~front & back flaps
  
  I'm a cat person, so I was looking forward to this book. But it just didn't capture my interest.
• 
  Pietro Giovani

  Un altro libro salvato dal bidone della carta. Purtroppo senza la sua sovraccoperta originale, ma mi va benissimo anche la copertina rigida col titolo dorato, visto che è tutto gratis!
  Desmond Morris è anche autore di "La scimmia nuda", ottimo e divertente saggio che ho letto tempo fa. Benché sia uno zoologo e non uno scrittore, il modo di dare le informazioni al lettore era alquanto informale e la lettura piacevolissima. Leggere senza riserve questo libro, quindi, è stato naturale per me.
  Il gatto (tutti i perché) è piuttosto diverso dall'altro volume che ho citato: è infatti suddiviso in brevissimi capitoli, ognuno dotato di titolo che illustra un dettaglio del gatto va a spiegare. Si parte con un po' di storia del gatto nella cultura umana, fin dalle ragioni per cui in antichità divenne un animale domestico fino alla caccia alle streghe e poi a oggi.
  Sicuramente molto interessante e, per uno come me che ha sempre provato disinteresse per l'animale, abituato ad avere cani, ricco di informazioni utilissime a comprendere molti comportamenti dei felini domestici. Cosa tutt'altro che scontata e che mi ha fatto comprendere quanto sbagliassi nel paragonare il cane col gatto. Per certi versi, siccome il cane è "il miglior amico dell'uomo", è anche molto più semplice comprenderlo anche istintivamente. Nel gatto la faccenda è un po' più complicata, eppure sono bastate poche pagine (è un libro molto breve, un centinaio di pagine) per darmi una prospettiva del tutto nuova.
  Lo consiglio quindi sia ai curiosi che agli scettici del gatto, una lettura molto utile, per nulla pomposa e alla portata di tutti.
• 
  Burak Emiralp

  Kedileri tanımaya yönelik keyifli bir kitap.
  
  İlginç bulduğum notlardan bir tanesini paylaşayım.
  
  - Kedinin bir çatışma ortamına girmesi durumunda, iki şeyi aynı anda yapmak istemekte olduğunu söyleyebiliriz. İki arzu birbirini engellemektedir.Kedi dışarı çıkma ister ama kapı açıldığında dışarda yağmur yağdığını görür. Bu bir çatışma yaratır ve karar verene kadar kuyruğunu sallar.Çelişki çözüldüğünde,karar verildiğinde kuyruk sallama durur.Bahçede avlanmaya çalışan kedi avına hareketsiz ve yere yatmış bir şekilde sokulmuşken kuyruğunu sallar ve av kaçabilir. Kedi hem ileri atılmak ve saldırmak istemekte hem de yere yatmış vaziyette kalma isteğiyle çatıştığından kuyruk sallanır. (Kuyruk sallama üzerine)
• 
  Brenda

  I am attempting to be more of a book reader and less of a book hoarder. Now I deleted all the books I had of Goodreads (it is actually easier because I am giving away a huge amount of books). I am now going through my diary and putting books back.
  
  April 17, 2018- Finish a book call Catwatching. The last chapter was how cat owners live longer. At 3:30 am all the cats were noisy.
  
  I thought that was funny.
• 
  Raimo Wirkkala

  After an interesting introduction and brief history of the domesticated cat, Morris presents an FAQ-book. The novice cat-person may learn some things through the course of all that but I found, as someone who has been around cats all his life, that, not only was much of it common knowledge, there are actually some assertions that I flat-out disagree with and others that I find highly questionable. The illustrations by Edward Coleridge are a nice complement to the text.
• 
  Kissu

  Es un libro interesante, pero es viejo, así que se establece como algo normal que los gatos domésticos salgan de casa y no se contempla la esterilización como una práctica necesaria (obligatoria) y de rutina. Además, es de Reino Unido y hay varias diferencias con la zona en la que habito. Pero aprendí algunas cosas y siempre es bueno leer sobre gatos, así que estuvo bien.
• 
  Claudio Valverde

  Coincido con maragota21 Es interesante, fácil de leer, pero quizas tenía más expecativas ya que Desmond Morris ha sido una eminencia en lo que se refiere a comportamiento tanto animal como humano. De todos modos no está mal.
• 
  Averil

  Brilliant