The Character of Cats

by Stephen Budiansky

Does the world really need another cat book?

Maybe not, but I have to say that I'm glad I read this one.

Aware that he's adding to a very crowded section of the bookstore, Budiansky addresses — and often repudiates — many of the “facts” regularly cited in the cat book genre, such as “cats were worship in Egypt, and reviled in the Middle Ages” (it's not a simple as that), or “we don't know how cats purr” (when actually, we do...).

I appreciated that Budiansky actually explained instead of just stating certain cat facts, such as why calicos are always female, and orange cats are most often male. (The orange O gene is carried on the X chromosome. If male cats have that gene on their single X chromosome, they are simply orange. But females can carry the O gene on one of their X chromosomes, but not on the other. This results in the calico colouring.)

But even better was his bringing up cat facts that I didn't know before. One of the most interesting is that cats aren't really “domesticated” animals at all, in the scientific sense. Physically, they really aren't any different from their wild counterparts. Without being raised by humans, they would be wild — unlike a domestic cow, dog, or chicken, which has changed physically to the extent that they now rely on humans for their survival.

The chapters on misbehaving cats made me very grateful for my three, none of whom regularly mistake the rug for the litter box or insanely attack us for no reason. But if you are experiencing such problems, the author has advice for dealing with it. Hint: punishment won't work.

Would this book be of interest to those who aren't particularly cat people? Of course not. But for those who have an interest in things feline: this is one of the best I've ever read.