This is the best book I've read on cats. I had always been a dog person, so I didn't understand when I adopted my two "juvenile" cats why they wouldn't get along. This book not only explained why but gave me specific things I could do to change their aggressive/defensive behavior toward one another. I now have peace in my home with my two cats Archie and Tessa. They may not love one another but they're co-existing quite nicely. I would recommend this author to anyone who has any type of cat behavioral problem. She really knows her stuff.
I wanted to read this book because, although we initially planned to have our current cat be our only cat, recently some needy outdoor cats have caught our attention and I wondered if we could possibly take another one in without being unfair to the kitty we already have. Our cat growls, puffs up, and sometimes attacks at the sight of any other cat, although she's quite accepting of new humans.
To make a long story short, the book did not answer the question of the right thing to do in this situation. I also didn't feel that the book made a strong case that cats "are often misunderstood as natural loners," as the blurb suggested. Johnson-Bennett does make it clear that, if humans are incredibly patient, they can typically make cats accept each other over time. She never made me feel that the cats would be delighted to be together, however--just, perhaps, tolerant.
Cat vs. Cat brought a lot of less-obvious causes of cat behavior to light. It started me thinking about things in different ways so that I developed new hypotheses on my own. And it introduced me to feline-related products I hadn't previously been aware of despite getting more than one catalog of pet supplies.
So even for a single-kitty home, Cat vs. Cat is definitely useful--just not in the way I originally intended.
Very insightful!
I have 4 cats and work in an animal shelter and I still learned a few things from this book. I highly recommend this book for anyone who currently has multiple cats or who is considering adding another cat to an already single-cat household. Easy reading and very interesting!
