Abstract
Cat sense
If, like me, you love feline medicine and, as a result, you have felt the need to know more about cats, not only as patients but as living beings, then this book should be next on your list to read.
All of us are interested in cats and their medicine or we would not be reading this journal, and much less this page you have now in front of you, right? However, correct me if I’m wrong, but our training in physiology, pathology and therapy is far greater than our general knowledge about the cat itself, its origins and how these origins modified its domestication. Not only that, but how domestication changed the cat to the one we have sleeping on our lap every night while we are relaxing after a hard day of feline clinical pathology.
And this is precisely what this book explores.
The discussion is divided into four broad themes:
Cats in the wild to modern house cats. From different domestication attempts during prehistory to the cat in hatcheries of Egyptian temples, the author pinpoints differences in the domestication of dogs and cats.
How the cat’s brain works. Although, as mammals, our human brains share similar anatomical features to the cat’s brain, there are several notable differences. For example, the five basic senses are not equally important for cats and humans. These, and the social differences lead so often to quite different interpretations of the world around us.
The cat’s social skills. The cat was originally, shall we say, an ‘asocial’ animal. Domestication has allowed some cats to live together in some circumstances without too much distress and discomfort. This section explores these circumstances and how they are evolving; helping cats to adapt to our new style of life.
The cat’s place, present and future. Various questions are posed to the reader, such as: a) whether the cat should or should not live completely indoors; and, if fully adapted to an indoor existence, whether this carries some disadvantages; b) if tolerant behaviour towards people is at least partly inherited, how would cats be in the future if we neutered all ‘good’ house cats? Will this mean that in the near future most cats will be procured from breeders? And, if so, will this spell the impoverishment of genetic diversity?; and c) how we can help in the coexistence of protectionist cat associations and groups that protect the diversity of wild or semi-wild ecosystems around us.
Feline-specific content
Practice resource
Value for money
Overall reviewer rating
This small, yet great book is ideal to learn about or remind yourself what a cat is, how a cat works and why. But don’t be misled, it contains a huge quantity of science and experience, written in an easy way that avoids tiring and boring chapters. Thanks to that, this book could satisfy the needs of general practitioners, students and interested owners. The author, John Bradshaw, has an incredible method to show you the path, bringing you knowledge and concepts in a very didactic way, assuming that his readers will not all be expert behaviourists.
In summary, this is an easy book to read in terms of both language and content.
It is structured in a logical way, and takes the reader on a journey to show how the cat sees our world - or, better still, how the cat perceives the world that it shares with us. This is a relevant and interesting exercise given the importance of the cat in our modern society, both as owners and as veterinarians.
Acred Med Fel AVEPA
ESAVS Fel Med & Surg
Master Fel Med
John Bradshaw. Penguin Books,
London, 2013. Paperback,
336 pages. Price £8.99,
ISBN 9780241960455