Is Your Cat Crazy?Solutions from the Casebook of a Cat Therapist
by John C. Wright with Judi Wright Lashnits
ISBN: 0-028-60838-0
Paperback
227 pages
March 1996
1995 Best Behavioral Book
--Cat Writers' Association
Is Your Cat Crazy? provides feline fans with a wealth of practical information and entertaining stories drawn from Dr. Wright's long practice making housecalls on dysfunctional cats. Along with helpful suggestions on how to cope with the most common behavior problems, he shows cat owners how and when to pick out a new kitten, what determines a cat's personality, how to deal with multiple cats, and what works and doesn't work when it comes to kitty "discipline." Whether the problem is strange eating habits or disdain for the litter box, aggression or post-traumatic stress, Is Your Cat Crazy? will help restore order to a cat-crazy home.
Interweaving practical advice with engaging tales from the front, IsYour Cat Crazy? introduces readers to: Walker, the feline with the fabric fetish, who chewed up his owners' sweaters and party dresses; Whiskers, the whirling dervish, who climbed curtains and bounced off walls nonstop day and night; Napoleon, a Maine Coon cat whose introduction to the platoon of Patton, Caesar, and MacArthur put him in harm's way; Figaro, whose disapproval of his owner's fiancé nearly broke up a marriage. Whether the problem is strange eating habits or a sudden personality change, aggression or post-traumatic stress, the treatment plan Dr. Wright devises is tailored to the specific cat, situation, and client. A new location for the litter box solves one case, while another requires a systematic desensitization program undertaken over several weeks. The key to some problems lies in the use of an upside-down mousetrap set on a sheet of waxed paper; others call for the client to stop punishing the cat and substitute more effective behavior-modification techniques. Through these stories readers will learn why cats scratch and bite, refuse to use their litter boxes, and react in different ways to different people and other animals. They'll find out how and when to pick out a new kitten, what determines a cat's personality, how to deal with multiple cats or outside agitators, and what works and doesn't work when it comes to kitty "discipline." At once a delight to read and a source of invaluable insight into feline behavior and misbehavior, Is Your Cat Crazy? is a book no cat lover will want to miss.
Acknowledgments.
Introduction.
1. In Search of the Perfect Cat.
2. Secrets of Litter-Box Success.
3. The Crime of Punishment.
4. Eating Habits Weird and Wonderful.
5. Can You Teach a Cat Good Behavior?
6. Beware of the Attack Cat!
7. Top Cat, Bottom Cat: Challenges of the Multiple-Cat Household.
8. Inside Cats, Outside Agitators.
9. Life-styles of Stressed-Out Felines.
10."Don't Blame Me--I Have a Note from the Doctor".
11. When Bad Things Happen to Good Cats: Getting
Past Traumatic Events.
12. Hatred, Revenge, and Inflexible Felines.