Do Cats Hear with Their Feet?

November 15, 2008
The answer to the intriguing title question as well as others can be found in this carefully researched work on feline natural history and evolution. Page, a former editorial director of "Natural History" magazine and a prolific author of nonfiction (e.g., "Do Dogs Laugh?") and mysteries, traces cats from the time they first adapted their feline form about 20 million years ago. He gives readers a cat's-eye view of why cats hunt even when they are full, why territory is so important, and why no self-respecting cat would eat vegetables. The result is a convincing case for an all-meat diet. To help explain various theories, hypotheses, and speculations as to why cats are such amazing creatures, Page offers numerous anecdotes of his own cats along with personal observations. As in Stephen Budiansky's "The Character of Cats", there is solid science content that will help readers recognize we should let cats be cats and what a darn good job they have done of domesticating "us". Appendixes on types of cat food and health problems by breed are helpful. For popular science collections in medium to large public libraries and large academic libraries.Eva Lautemann, Georgia Perimeter Coll. Lib., Clarkston

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2008
Page, author (Dogs: A Natural History, 2007) and magazine editor (Natural History, Smithsonian). here turns his natural historytrained eye to the most common of our house pets. Beginning with the origins of the cat family and the domestication of the African wild cat into our lap-dwelling companion, Page discusses the cat as a highly efficient predator. Cat behavior is modeled on the main fact that they are lone predators, so all aspects of their social behavior revolve around the need for space and safety for their kittens. Cats senses sometimes seem extrasensorywhen they stare into space, what are they seeing that we cant see?and they do appear to detect sound waves with their feet. Cats communicate with all sorts of sounds and body postures, and the author reveals one of the greatest mysteries of catdom, only recently solved: how they purr. Page compares our domestic cats with their wild relatives, examines the claims of differing personalities for different breeds of cats, and tosses in reminiscences of his own and others cats. This chatty book will eagerly be sought out by cat lovers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)