Table of Contents
Preface 1
Part 1 What is a Cat?
1 How Does a Cat Perceive the World? 3
2 What Your Cat Is Telling You: Body Language 11
3 Grooming 28
4 Why Cats Sleep So Much 32
5 Stress 34
6 Glad or Mad: What Does a Cat Feel? 38
7 The Personality of a Cat 42
8 How Intelligent Are Cats? 44
9 A Good Start: Socialization 47
10 How Do I Choose A Cat? 50
Part 2 The Cat and Other Cats
1 A Cat's Territory 57
2 What Do Cats Think of Other Cats? 62
3 Making Friends: A Good between Cats 64
4 Introducing a New Cat 68
5 Body Language in Groups 74
6 Mourning 78
7 Dominant Cats? 81
Part 3 The Cat in the House
1 On Top of the World! 85
2 Scratching, or: How Do I Keep My Furniture in One Piece? 88
3 Cat in the Box: All About the Litterbox 96
4 The Cat Room: Their Own Castle? 102
5 A Dreamy Place to Sleep 104
6 Dinnertime! 108
7 Help, My Cat Has to Go on a Diet! 116
8 Water Bowls, Faucets, and Ponds 120
9 Outdoors or Not? 123
10 Safe Outside 127
11 The Cat Door 130
12 Alone Time, Vacations, and Separation Anxiety 133
13 The Senior Cat 136
Part 4 Interacting with Your Cat
1 How a Cat Learns 143
2 The Power of Rewards 146
3 To Punish or Not to Punish? 148
4 Modifying Behavior (Without Punishment) 153
5 Teaching New Behavior 157
6 Petting, or: Keep Your Hands to Yourself Sometimes! 160
7 Greeting Cats 163
8 Picking Up Your Cat 165
9 The Cat Carrier 168
10 Going to the Veterinarian 172
11 Fighting after a Visit to the Vet 174
12 The Vacuum Cleaner 176
Part 5 Playing and Training
1 Why Play Is Important 179
2 Boredom = Mischief 180
3 Your Cat's Toybox 184
4 Play Is More Than Having Toys 188
5 Making Play Fun 192
6 Training Your Cat 196
7 Turning an Outdoor Cat into an Indoor Cat 198
Part 6 A Healthy Cat is a Happy Cat
1 How Can I Tell If My Cat Is in Pain? 201
2 How Can I Tell If My Cat Is Sick? 203
3 How to Recognize Urinary Problems 204
4 How to Give a Cat Medicine 206
The Happy Cat Checklist 210
Sources 212
Index 214
Thank You 217
About the Author 218
