5 comments about Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids' Letters to the First Pets.

1. It's too bad the book doesn't have an update about how Hillary, after using Socks as a prop, gave the cat away when she left the White House because it became too "inconvenient".
   
   What a warm and loving woman...



2. A book for all dog and cat owners. I liked the way she organized the photographs between the children's letters. Some of the children's letters had drawings that my grandchildren enjoyed. I thought Buddy's Bio and Socks Stats where clever, and we tried the same idea to describe other pets. My children grew up with pets, but my grandchildren do not have room for pets. So we read this book about Buddy and Socks whenever they want to know more about having pets. Usually it leads to drawing a picture or writing a story afterwards.



3. The President and First Lady's book shows the unconditional love and understanding between humans and our best friends.
   The childrens' curiosity and interest shown in their letters serves as a valuable source of inspiration and learning for young and old alike.



4. What a fun way to see inside the lives of the first pets. Well-written, with lots of cute photos and interesting information.



5. In this predictable knockoff of the Presidential pet book series pioneered by several Republican administrations, Diet Roosevelt's cat and dog ("Socks" and "Buddy," respectively) are hagiographically profiled. Author Lady Diet Roosevelt relies largely on letters purloined from a swarm of unsuspecting child correspondents for the body of the text, much as her husband's administration largely appropriated the watered-down policies of his predecessors in running the nation (even his philandering was a watered-down take on Camelot days!). Intelligent Diet Roosevelt watchers who buy this book hoping for hidden political insights should look elsewhere, as this is a fairly straightforward profile of the first pets, targeted solely at small children and Democrats. The one curious exception to this is the unconfirmed rumor - suspiciously unrefuted in this volume - that the Kremlin's most popular occupants in Lenin's day were his cat and dog Ïðèÿòåëü and Íîñêîâ - Russian for Socks and Buddy, respectively. Coincidence?

5 comments about Three Cats, Two Dogs: One Journey Through Multiple Pet Loss.

1. Mr. Conglaton took a heartbreaking event and turned it into a joyous remembrance. His skillful writing enables the reader to acquaint themselves with his pets. This is a moving testimonial to his best friends who were taken from him abruptly. Anyone who has owned a beloved pet and lost them before their time should read this book. It will make you cry, but the joy that he and his wife received from these cats and dogs will keep you reading to the very last page. I particularly enjoyed reading the newspaper columns that he wrote about his friends and felt I knew each one. Must Read!



2. First some background--A few years ago some stray and ferel cats started adopting me. Due to the life they led they all came with major medical problems (FIV, FeLk, FIP, kidney failure and more). I loved them all, I cared for them all through very long, painful, illnesses. I had to make agonizing choices, put them through painful proceedures, watch them suffer, and watch them all die. I loss 6 in the course of one year. And others before and after that year. That's why I bought this book.

   I don't want to discount the author's grief over the loss of his pets, which I can wholeheartedly understand and commiserate with, but his "journey" is so unlike anything that any other pet owner on the face of the earth is ever likely to go through, and he was so blind to the gifts that he received that the rest of will never even come close to, that I found myself incensed at his bad attitude and behavior. I could not in any way relate to this mans "journey."

   His animals died quietly in their sleep. He didn't have to live with long terminal illnesses, painful treatments, or horrible decisions. I don't want any of my pets to die, but as they have to, I would pray to have them pass as his did rather than suffer through illness. But was he even remotely grateful for such a quick and painless passing? No.

   He was a public figure so hundreds (no joke!)of people offered their sympathy and support to him. But there were two people who did not...and he was so angred by these two people that he felt it necessary to write about them, by name, in this book. A whole whopping two people were insensitive to his ordeal and this so enraged him that he felt it necessary to lash out at them? Poor baby. If I could find two people who understood what I was going through I'd feel blessed and lucky.

   He got to stop working, due to his grief. Have any of us ever had that luxury? Or did our bosses not want to hear about it? Again, was he grateful? or annoyed when people hinted it was time to come back to work?

   He held a public memorial service for his pets in a theater and it was standing room only. He got to talk about it, share it, let it go. How many of us get any opportunity to talk about our dead pets to anyone, least wise hundreds of people? Most of us know that no one wants to hear about it. We have to keep it inside. Again I feel he was blessed and yet he didn't see it.

   Despite his grief he got twice as many new pets within a very short period of time. But does he enjoy them? No, in fact, he refuses to even celebrate Christmas with new pets. And once again gets irritated when a couple of people don't understand this. This proved to me that he learned nothing from the deaths of the original five....life is short and can be taken at any moment. He should have celebrated joyously that he had new pets...but he "couldn't bring himself" to do so. I barely had time to grieve one death before another was occurring yet I assure you I celebrated Christmas and every other day I could with the new pets.

   The authors attitude annoyed me. He was given the best of everything and it still wasn't enough for him. If he had seen those five pets through long, painful, illnesses one right after the other, and had to grapple with painful treatments and surgeries, when to euthansize, digging a grave in his backyard one night and getting up and having to go to work the next day, all the while having no one to talk to about this...then he might begin to understand what the average pet owner goes through. I don't think he has a clue what it's like for the rest of us....and I hope he never has to.




3. Just finished another interesting paperback book I bought thru Amazon.com titled
   Three Cats and Two Dogs--One Journey Through Multiple Pet Loss by David Congalton. Copyright 2000 Publisher: NewSage Press

   It is a story about a writer who is also a radio talk show host and his wife who lose all their five pets one night in December 1997 to an accidental fire while the couple was out. In the months that followed, not only were they grief stricken and felt a deep sense of loss but also felt a sense of guilt and great emptiness. Within months and after lots and lots of tears, they started to "move on" as best they could. Within two years they had rebuilt their fur family including among them several handicapped animals. At the end of the book, their family consisted of a grand total of nine cats, one kitten and four dogs and they couldn't seem happier although they will always think about the night when all 5 of their pets died.
   This is a great book for anyone who has ever lost a pet and would understand the couple's grieving process. And happily the book does end on a joyous note.
   Happy Reading.




4. Having suffered pet loss in two different forms, ( as a result of death and as a result of a divorce) I could empathise and sympathise with David and Charlotte on losing not just one animal companion, but five. Although I do not by any means claim that I fully understand the depth of their grief, no one truly can. Grief is an individual process and experience, because of the relationships that exist between all individuals.

   As I read this book I could only do so a page at a time, stop to cry and grieve for David and Charlotte and then move on again sometime later, to the next page. Once I read up to Chapter Four (I think it was) I could proceed reading normally, although somewhat bleary eyed.

   This is a truly moving and emotionally draining encounter of love, connection, companionship, loss and grief in the truest sense.

   My condolences and my congratulations to David and Charlotte, not just on their loss and a wonderful book respectively, but also for being able to 'see the light' in a time of darkness, by showing the world how animal companionship is, in its most pure and deepest form, and for being able to 'move on' out of respect for five wonderful soul companions.

   As a result of reading their true story, David and Charlotte inspired me to commit 'deeds, not just words' to the animal kingdom. I have committed my spare time to my local animal shelter (Blue Cross Animal Shelter)...and as a result of that deed, I adopted two cats and a rabbit....(to add to my two canine companions and rabbit!!!!)

   You two should be proud of yourselves...your committment is infectious.

   Well done David and Charlotte.

   Blessings for all Animals. May they always have people such as yourselves to see them in peace and harmony, with love.




5. This book tells me it is okay to grieve and it does it very well. The problem is I already knew it was okay to grieve because I was grieving - terribly. I wanted to find out how to deal with my grief. I read a lot of reviews and a lot of books, but the only books that worked for me were Will Fido Be in Heaven and Cold Noses by the pearly gates.

5 comments about Catspeak:: How to Communicate with Cats by Learning Their Secret Language.

1. This is one of those great gifts to get all your cat loving friends or ones that are considering adopting a feline friend. I love when Bash suggests to ask your cat to do something rather than to tell them. It really works! An enjoyable and educational read.



2. This book was purrfect. I have always spoken to my "girls" but now have a better understanding of their special ways of communicating. The book was insightful and educational. Written simply and easy to comprehend, I felt as though Mr. Dibra was speaking directly to my family.



3. repetative, dull, poorly written, and really dumb. As other reviewers note, it is tough to find anything in here that you don't already know...probably even if you have never owned a cat. And if you think that you will learn Cat Speak, whatever that is, don't hold your breath, the entire section is less than a chapter, and the chapters aren't much. . My sister gave this to me, thinking that it would help us with our two cats. Use it for litter.



4. This is a great book for someone who is getting a new cat or has a cat but doesn't understand him/her.
   I was expecting some new information about a "secret language". There was no mention of the latest research in feline behavior and the author describes training a cat like training a dog; so what's the "secret"?
   I agreed with almost everything in the book except the comment about cat owners who leave on a trip. The author says that cats do not get lonely. Well, that's wrong. He also says that a cat will go to the home where the best food is served. How does one explain cats who live with homeless street people?
   The title was deceiving.



5. This book is probably extremely helpful for people in a few categories. It would be quite helpful to someone who wants to train a cat for show business or for cat shows; it would also be extremely helpful to someone who has never been around cats, someone who has been around cats but doesn't really understand them, someone who wants to learn basics about different cat breeds, or someone who is going to be living with a cat for the first time.
   I had lived with cats before by the time I read this book, and I found most of the provided information to be fairly obvious. Feline body language, for instance, is one topic covered by the text. There were some bits that were interesting and/or surprising to me, though. For example, there is a short section on chattering. My present cat does sometimes chatter, but previous cats I'd known never did, so this topic was new for me.
   The portion of the book about cat selection was not all that insightful, to my mind. If I did want to adopt a purebred cat, I'd want to research breeds in more depth than the book offered; but my cat came from a shelter, and I felt like the only advice the author had that applied to "impure" breeds was to make sure that the individual cat to be adopted was healthy and well-adjusted.
   If you're looking for basics on cats, breed selection, cat training, and/or cat mannerisms, this book is an excellent choice for you. If you're already familiar with cat behavior and have no interest in extensive training, however, the book won't tell you much that you need to know.

2 comments about Cats in the Parsonage (All God's Creatures Series, Book 1) (All God's Creatures).

1. What is more fun if your a cat lover, than reading this wonderful book. Full of religion and cats. The preacher and his wife learn to enjoy the antics of their cats. This is a wonderful inspirational book.



2. I received this as a gift because I LOVE cats! I could only read so much. In the first 17 pages, the author has an "outside" cat that gives birth to 5 kittens, 2 of which get run over. Those 3 then have kittens of their own, bringing the total to 16 cats.
   The author doesn't think about being a responsible pet owner and having them spayed or nuetered. One of the cats has a
   hard time giving birth, and is weak and sick for days afterward. Does the owner take her to a vet? Of course not!
   He leaves everything up to God. The writing is peppered with religious talk that makes me sick, because the owners won't even take care of their pets! I couldn't finish the book- it made me so angry.

5 comments about The Well Adjusted Cat: Feline Chiropractic Methods You Can Do.

1. I have taken my cat to a chiropractor and they muscle test and use the activator (which doesn't stress out the cat). This book, however, has you doing adjustments (most require two people). I felt the safety of the animal, if you are not a professional, was at risk. I tried some of the moves that only took one person and got no results.



2. I enjoyed this book. Lots of methods and lots of good advice.



3. Most books that call themselves "technique" or "method" books, usually don't deliver the goods. This one does!



4. Easy to follow and a lot of fun to read.



5. As a practicing holistic veterinarian, I understand the need for chiropractic. This book fills a important void.

3 comments about Kitten Care & Training: An Owner's Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet.

1. It may be out of date, I don't know. When it comes to important matters, everyone should consult with a trusted veterinarian. But for emergency care, interest, and a general guide, I've raised four cats on this book. Everything, from warnings on what and what not to feed your cat and what plants you can and cannot have in the house to when to call your vet, is covered, well, and easy to find. The book could use a more extensive index, but it was a very convenient and affordable helpmate for an anxious mother.
   
   Tuxedo was four weeks old when we brought him home, which we didn't know, because he was a barn cat, and nobody really knew how old they were. Twenty-four hours after we got him settled in, we discovered that baby had no teeth. So, there we were, desperately going through the library and the pet store, frantic to figure out why baby didn't use the bathroom, didn't eat, and was losing weight at an alarming rate.
   
   Some books were more helpful, but we were poor, and some just didn't cover enough, and some covered TOO much. I got lost in extemperanious information, and couldn't find what I needed. This one was "just right." ;-) It gave me just enough to quiet my new mother fears, and help me answer all of my questions, without losing me in technical terms, and kept me from calling the vet every ten minutes.
   
   Tuxedo is now 16 solid pounds, healthy as an ox, and well trained. He has welcomed three women into his family, and they've all been at different stages of health, and different ages, but this book has helped us get through them all. I keep it handy, and still, after four years, turn to it about once a month when I'm in over my head.



2. In 1996 when this book first appeared it offered current information and was one of the first to address "training" in cats and to promote early-age neutering. It is written in an engaging style and remains a good basic reference for first-time kitten owners. But in the seven years since publication, much has changed in the world of feline health care, such as vaccination recommendations, and the understanding of behavior and feline diseases. DO NOT rely on this book for health care advice.

   Shojai's latest book, "COMPLETE KITTEN CARE" is a much better choice. This is the author's 18th pet care title and it has up-to-date medical information and advice based on Shojai's interviews with hundreds of veterinary experts. The training and behavior material comes from Shojai's hands-on personal experience with shelter cats and kittens, as well as insights from professional breeders.




3. VERY COOL!!!It'S Really Nice And Interesting!! Cat'S LOVER SHOULD HAVEE!!!Thats'Me!!HeHe!!

2 comments about A Cat of a Different Color (Alice Nestleton Mystery).

1. I read "Cat of a diffrent color" just to see if "Cat in the Manger" was a fluke. It wasn't. "Different Color" is better, but still is a bad mystery. It starts with the news that a whacko theatre guy is dead, and Alice goes to his funeral, where she is accosted by another whacko theatre guy. If this sounds cliched, it is. Adamson makes almost everyone invloved with theatre a raving lunatic. The three elderly Russian guys have got to be the worst excuse of villains I've ever seen. There is also a cat at the center of this, and the importance of this cat is ludricous. Read this book only for campiness.



2. I really enjoyed this book i have read many Alice Nestion storys and can't wait for July 2 for A Cat Named Beat to come out

No comments about Diseases of the Cat: Medicine and Surgery (Diseases of the Cat).

1 comments about Devon Rex Cat (Pet Love).

1. Good job on giving background about the breed, along with information regarding what is needed when purchasing a Devon Rex, and health/grooming information. A great little book!

1 comments about Small Animal Anesthesia: Canine and Feline Practice (Mosby's Fundamentals of Veterinary Technology).

1. This book was a great help for me. It is so good I am ordering another copy for a friend of mine.