5 comments about The Craggy Hole in My Heart and the Cat Who Fixed It: Over the Edge and Back with My Dad, My Cat, and Me.

1. This was a great book and an easy read. It helps with understanding the feelings about our parents.



2. I enjoyed this book from beginning to end. Geneen Roth is a very talented writer - I love the way she writes from her heart, letting others in her life, to help us learn and grow by seeing parts of ourselves in her life. This book has helped me get a grip on some emotions I've been dealing with for a long time. And in just a few days of reading I finished it with a stronger attachment to my own cats and appreciation for their place in my life, as well as for certain people in my life that I've so long taken for granted. Can't wait to read more from Geneen! I'm sharing this one with my mom, a cat-lover as well.



3. A beautiful and engaging story, this memoir deals with coming of age, learning to accept and give love, coming to terms with parents, and death and dying. Geneen Roth masterfully writes about many of life's large universal themes and puts them together expertly into a cohesive whole. This story will stick with you. This book is one of those rare gems to keep in your permanent library, one that will surely unfold a different lesson and mystery each time you read it.



4. I love this book and I often re-read it. Funny and clever writing. Easy to relate to and written with heart!



5. Parents, like all humans, are imperfect. When they die, we sometimes recall events, actions, and issues that make us question why we may have ever thought they loved us. Pets, on the other hand, come with no strings attached. They love unconditionally and are a source of joy that is boundless. Geneen covers losing both in the funny and touching book, which may offer healing and hope for those who have lost either.

5 comments about Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats.

1. This was the first book I purchased in the field of nutrition for my dog.
   I am happy I did buy it, but it turned out that my dog was not doing well on grains. The recipes in the book (I am not sure if the newer edition contains more grainless recipes) all contained a lot of grains and ground meat. I found out later that a dog, as well as a cat, needs to use his teeth and jaws and that he needs to chew and tear. I still have the book and regularly consult it when I want to look up what to do in case of illness (I missed information on problems with the thyroid there).
   So: diet-wise I can't give it a good review, but I like the list of ailments and cures, as well as the first aid part!



2. Many people swear by this book, but I don't find it that essential. Most of the information was not especially useful or was common knowledge. Mainly I disagree with Pitcairn's use of grains in a dogs diet. Instead, I recommend New Choices in Natural Healing Dogs & Cats and The Nature of Animal Healing.



3. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a forum for questions that can be asked concerning Dr. Pitcairn's latest edition of his book, so I am
   hesitating to purchase it. I own the 1982 edition and wonder if it has been updated as far as recommendations of diet- specifically foods that have been deemed dangerous to dogs and cats- as one reviewer mentioned, raisins. I have recently heard of onions and garlic included as dangerous foods for dogs and cats, and Dr. Pitcairn's earlier book is laced with encouragement for feeding them to our pets. As someone who is severely allergic to onions myself, I have learned that they lurk in MANY places and in various forms. Onion powder is just as detrimental for me as raw onion, and is found in chili powder and many other spice combinations, soy sauce, ketchup, mayonnaise, chicken broth, vegetable broths, bouillon, tomato sauce, even canned beans, especially the organic varieties. I avoid feeding anything that might contain these to my dogs. I wonder if the revised edition of Dr. Pitcairn's book includes cautions about feeding onions and garlic to pets? Since I cannot find an answer to my question without purchasing the book, I will continue to hesitate to do so.



4. I can't praise this book enough. It has literally saved me hundreds of dollars in pet care costs and more importantly saved at least one of my pets' life. I've owned my copy for at least eight years. I have a Weimaraner with allergies which this book has kept her allergy free without the prescriptions recommended by the vet.
   More recently I had a cat with a blocked urethra, common in male cats, which can also lead to a rapid and painful death if they are completely blocked. The emergency vet wanted $1500 to catheter and care for the cat for two days with antibiotics etc. I opted to have them do the catheter ($300) and took him home to care for him. I followed the books instructions. He did great right away by giving him the vitamins the book suggests and the prescription food the vet suggested. But after two weeks of being 100% well he started to have blood in his urine again, the first sign of the problem. Then I realized that I had slacked off on the vitamins the book suggests, (vitamin C, and some others). I had mistakenly assumed the "prescription" food would be good enough. I immediately gave him the books homeopathic remedy followed by the books recommended vitamins and their "Healthy Powder" (recipe in the book) and his problem cleared up the next day and he has had no signs of any problem since. He is in the best health he's ever known! And I'm being smarter about his needs.
   If you care about your pets, believe in their own abilities to heal, and natural and holistic approaches to pet health, this book is the best; it's the one I go to first to find the answers to my pet's problems.



5. I read this book hoping to find another way to try and treat my dogs skin problems and with the interest to start feeding him more rare food (less kibble).
   
   However this book tends toward more of an extreme view STRONGLY recommending only feeding your pet human organic food and bottled water (i love my dog but if I dont drink bottled water and eat organic food he doesnt need to). There were 3 "booster mix" recipes to add to a kibble diet that were okay.
   
   The recipes seem expensive, especially if you have large dogs, but the ingredients are broken down and ordered by cost per protein gram on a handy chart.
   
   The biggest flaws were the suggestions that we just inaccurate. For instance recommending dried fruits such raisins, when in fact raisins, like chocolate, grapes, and alcohol are toxic to dogs. PLEASE DONT FEED THOSE TO YOUR DOGS!!!! Inaccuracies like that make me question the validity of the rest of the book. I would recommend double checking any advice from this book before following it.

2 comments about Purr More, Hiss Less: Heavenly Lessons I Learned from My Cat.

1. Purr More, Hiss Less overflows with heartfelt thoughts on how to live a joyous life, based on kitty wisdom. Author Allia Zobel Nolan has perfectly captured the magical eyes through which cats see the world. The enchantment continues with Erika Oller's beautiful illustrations.
   
   All of the insights in this charming book will bring a smile, but two that really touched me are "Do the right thing...even when there's no one watching" and "Retain a kitten-like sense of wonder." Imagine how the world might be if we lived by those ideas?
   
   This book will be treasured by cat lovers of all ages!



2. This book is chock full of wisdom - kitty and otherwise. 'Take the good fleas with the bad,' bestselling author Allia Zobel Nolan advises readers of Purr More, Hiss Less: Heavenly Lessons I Learned from My Cat.
   
   If I had to pick my favorite it would be, 'Don't stick your paws where they don't belong.' There are smiles to be had on all 224 pages. This gem of a book is lovingly illustrated by Erika Oller. The combination of Allia's wit and Erika's watercolors is a winning match.
   
   Buy this just-released book as a gift for anyone (young or old) in your life who adores cats. As Allia says, 'It's okay to be hooked on a feline.' ... So while you're at it, why not pick up a copy for your neighborhood cat lady?
   
   [...]

5 comments about Why Paint Cats: The Ethics of Feline Aesthetics.

1. I don't know what I was expecting in this book. I had seen a couple of the pictures out of context and was intrigued by the paint jobs on these cats. My first disappointment in the book came when I opened the package and discovered just how tiny this book was. I had not paid attention to the size listed on Amazon and was very upset that the book was so tiny and the pictures so small. As I flipped through the book, the stories behind each paint job were entertaining. A good number of the paint jobs began to disturb me in their weirdness. Some of the cats were admittedly beautiful enhanced with "naturalistic" paint jobs, but others were quite humiliating and I cannot fathom why someone would want their cats painted in a humiliating way. I have not opened the book since zipping through it the first one or two times and would hesitate at recommending it to a true cat lover.
   
   About a week after posting the above review, I found out that the cat paintings in this book were likely computer generated (check out snopes). If that is true then even the stories behind the paint jobs are a farce. Yet another reason not to bother buying this book.



2. (As a cat lover) I wish my cat could look at this book. I am sure he would be entertained!! The enhancement of a beautiful animal is much appreciated. I love it when children look at this book. Their comments are wonderful.



3. I bought this work on the way to a party a few years ago.. It became an instant hit. People who were shy and didnt know anyone, bored children, happy party people, everyone took a few minutes to pore through this book, talk about it to their neighbors.. and debate which cats they liked best, and what they they thought of the idea of cat painting.
   
   A splendid, funny, thought provoking book, that will forever cahnge the way you look at cats.



4. I did not notice these were miniature books only 4" by 4", you can't see any of the paintings they are too small.



5. I give this one star only because I must - if zero were an option I would have chosen it. IF, and I repeat IF, there is any truth to these painted cats, and they are not, as I strongly suspect, a product of Photoshop on the computer, then why indeed paint cats? Obviously the Cat in question does not desire to be painted. He is already beautiful just as he was created. Obviously the answer is to provide some frivolous sense of self importance to the owner of the cat. If indeed, as I have read, it costs up to $15,000 every three months to keep the cat nicely painted, I think that someone has more money than they know what to do with, and I pity the person who has nothing better to do with his time and money. Not to mention I pity the Cat. Also, I cannot imagine that this could be done without putting the cat under anesthesia, because such intricate artwork could not be done on a living creature who was less than comatose. Anesthesia carries risk, especially to cats, who are hard to keep under Anesthesia. Put your $60,000 annually into a charity and do some good with it - help feed the needy. If your ego is in such sad shape that you need a painted Cat to feel important, spend some of it on Psychoanalysis. Shame on you! Leave the cat to his natural beauty.

5 comments about Stuff on My Cat: The Book.

1. Let's face it, cats are just plain funny. How many of us have secretly put things on our cats and were amazed and amused by the results? We already knew our cats were possessed, but we didn't realize that there were so many OTHER cats out there that were, too!
   
   These pics are a HOOT! I'm going to have to buy several copies of this book, as husband, then brother, etc., found it, and laughed hilariously through the entire book. Now, I can't get the book out of their hands as they said, 'NO, NO, NO - "Stuff on my Cat" is MINE!'



2. This is the funniest cat photo book since Why Paint Cats, which fooled a lot of people into thinking the images were real "cat paintings." But here the photos actually are real. Considering how finicky cats can be, it's amazing so many of them would put up with having so much odd junk piled on them, and then being patient enough so that you could take their picture. If I hadn't seen the book I might not have believed it myself. With so much odd stuff piled on them, the images become sort of live kitty collages. :-) For someone who is both a cat fancier and amateur photographer there is probably no more entertaining book than this.



3. 
   My poor cats have no idea what they have coming the next time I'm drunk off my butt on Jack Daniels' popsicles!



4. Sometimes it is great to have something fun to open at Christmas. This year I gave this book to my new son-in-law, and it was quickly passed around the family. My daughter says that they have it out at their home to share with their guests. Hey, I'm allergic to cats, and I even like it!



5. If you have the Internet none of the pictures are that great. Many of the pictures are online or have been done better since. The paperback is too small to enjoy the collection pages (they display 20 or so pictures on one page). You can get this for someone that doesn't have the Internet, but the paperback isn't good enough so you would need to find a hardback; but I couldn't see paying the price.

1 comments about Getting in TTouch with your Cat.

1. Whether your cat is the most well-adjusted animal ever, or neurotic and nervous, there will always be times, like going to the vet, when calming and communication from the owner will help. I can't recommend the T Touch more highly. I was doubtful, but it has enormously helped my terrified Persian rescue, so I even used it on my 15-yr. old Himalayan with excellent results.

5 comments about I Would Have Bought You A Cat , But... A Get Fuzzy Gift Book.

1. My daughter collects all the Get Fuzzy books. When I saw this was a hard copy I was very excited. They fell to mention the book is like a 5 x 5 and a sentence or two on every other page. Of course my daughter will enjoy adding this bad kitty to her collection but I think the "hard copy" description was deceptive.



2. This is a gift-book that is a compilation of single frames from previously published whole comic strips. The frames are usually the "punch lines" and are funny only if you have previously read the entire strip and understand the dysfunction that is Bucky Katt. There is no new material here. If the recipient of the gift is not familiar with the material, they will not think this is funny. If they are familiar with the material, they have seen all of this before.



3. this is a great gift for any dreamer who says I want a cat!



4. As all of his cartoons, I loved this book. It is very, very cute and would make a great gift for someone who likes cats. I bought it for myself.



5. If you like Get Fuzzy you are going to love this book. I laugh everytime I read it.

5 comments about Murder at Monticello (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries).

1. I started the Mrs. Murphy books because they were advertised as being like the Lilian Jackson Braun books. Not so. The Cat Who... mysteries are fun, clean and delightful to read. The Mrs. Murphy books are full of cussing and anti God remarks.
   This is my opinion. If you want good clean reading. Stick to the Cat Who's...



2. The home of Thomas Jefferson provides the perfect setting for mysterious murders, both past and present. The past murder comes to light when an archaeological dig unearths the remains of a man buried in Monticello's slave quarters. Postmistress Harry Harristeen and her blue-blood friends begin investigating the murder, and in doing so, they place their own lives in danger. Of course, Harry's cat, Mrs. Murphy, and corgi, Tee Tucker, are instrumental in solving the case. As a result of the investigation, some current murders also occur. As usual, author Brown provides a good read, this time enhanced by some interesting background information on our third president and his famous home, Monticello.



3. In the 3rd installment of the Mrs. Murphy and Tucker Mystery series, a body has been discovered in the slave quarters of the home of Thomas Jefferson. Since Jefferson has been dead for 170 years, it is impossible to question him about the man found dead from a blow to the dead. And when another recently murdered body is discovered, it becomes apparent that someone wants the secrets that have been buried with the body to remain so. Coming into question is the practice of slavery, and the descendants of Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson had been rumored to have fathered a child by one of his slaves, and it appears that the man found murdered may have been also been involved with one of the slaves. The citizens of Crozet band together to prove that their beloved Jefferson had nothing to do with the murder or cover-up, and while doing so they unearth secrets that have been hidden in the town for over a century.
   
   I have become a big fan of this series, and enjoy the banter between the animals. The relationships between the members of the town have been evolving, and I like the way that Harry is loved and embraced by the people who have known her all of her life. She works hard, cares for her animals, and genuinely cares for the town and its residents. I look forward to future books in the series, and am hopeful to see more of Blair as a potential love interest for Harry.
   
   The first book in this series is called "Wish You Were Here". Enjoy!



4. Is this old murder from 1803 connected to the new one that just occurred in present day Crozen? Harry and her friends think so, so they begin to dig deep into old records and letters to find out what the connection could be. Can some knowledge be that great that it covers two centuries? Apparently so because it appears that someone really wants some old secrets kept secret. I enjoyed this book actually more than the previous two because I found that the two murders separated by almost 200 years were very well connected by the author. I still find the "talking" done by the animals in this series a little off-putting, but the mysteries are quite good in spite of this.



5. I love the characters but, too many ...
   confusing to say the least. The books would be better with less characters. Also the cats and dog need to interact more.

5 comments about Complete Book of Cat Breeding, The.

1. This book was a disappointment. It was much smaller than I was expecting and the content was superficial. The content was mainly commonsense with very little additional useful information. Almost nothing on showing. It was an easy and pleasant read but not the right purchase for someone seriously interested in cat breeding. I felt I had wasted my money.



2. This is a great book for people interested in properly breeding their cats.
   
   As a breeder myself, I've found this book so handy for quick reference topics.
   
   The book was shipped by Glen Books in great time and quality.
   
   A must for the serious breeder.



3. This is a concise, illustrated guide to cat breeding, written by an experienced DVM. I got this as a gift for someone interested, and she loved it. I may try cat breeding eventually, and I appreciate all worthy information, especially books, that I encounter.



4. This book is very informative and helpful. It really gave me alot of ideas about how to breed my cats. Being a new breeder of Ragdolls, it really opened my eyes to what I was doing wrong. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that has never had experience with breeding. The only thing I found to be not included in the book, was the different breeds.



5. Should be on the reference shelf of every serious cat breeder. It contains some specific information about pregnancy and delivery that I've not seen in other cat books. It's also discusses the breeding program process. A good overview.

5 comments about Wish You Were Here (Mrs. Murphy Mysteries).

1. Lion's Pride; The World I Imagine: A Creative Manual for Ending Poverty and Building Peace
   
   As a writer of mysteries--as well as nonfiction--and an unreconstructed cat person, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the first installment in Rita Mae Brown's Mrs. Murphy series. I was so intrigued by the anthropomorphic slant on the animals that as soon as we've finished collecting Lilian Jacson Braun's The Cat Who . . . series, we plan to get busy on more of Mrs. Murphy and her human, Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen!
   
   The insidious fun here comes in the fact that as soon as the reader settles on one suspect, up pops another stiff, and the plot is thrown into chaos anew. The crime here, besides homicide, isn't that hard to understand, but there are some surprises before all the sleuthing is done, including how the animals get those humans to recognize the obvious!
   
   Mrs. Murphy and her clowder are not the only series creatures conceived by this writer, so Rita Mae Brown's mysteries will probably run on my wish lists for years to come!



2. I liked the story very much; however, I didn't like the language used in the book. I would not recommend this book. There's no reason the author has to have her characters use such language. Literature (even cozy novels) should set a good example, not stoop to gutter language. I'll stick to reading "The Cat Who..." novels.



3. Fluff in its purest form, this is definitely a cozy read. And even though I did have it all figured out, it was still compelling enough for me to read because I liked the characters (though I admit my favorites were the animal characters). Nothing earth-shattering or deep, but cute. A good book to read when you really don't want to have to think - just enjoy a good story.



4. my favorite cat mytery books. love this author. own all of the cat who book written today. great shipping, and weel packaged



5. In the 1st installment in the Mrs. Murphy and Tucker Mystery series, we meet Mary Minor Haristeen (aka Harry), Mrs. Murphy (a tiger cat) and Tee Tucker (a Welsh corgi). Harry is recently divorced and a postmistress in Crozet, Virginia, which is a very small town. She has grown up there, and finds it difficult adjusting to life as a divorcee' in such a small town. Half of the town is on her side, the other half on the side of her ex, Fair Haristeen, a beloved local vet. It also doesn't help that Harry is constantly seeing Boom Boom Craycroft, the other woman who broke up her marriage. But working in the town's post office with her pets each day does offer its own diversions. One such diversion is reading post cards...something Harry has always done. When 2 prominent business people are killed after receiving graveyard postcards reading "wish you were here", Harry realizes there is a pattern to the killing. And when a good friend receives one, Harry springs into action to stop the killer in his/her tracks.
   
   This is a great series! I will admit that it took me awhile at first to get used to all of the nicknames in the book (there is a large cast of characters, but most show up in each book), and to the animals having a part in the dialogue. In this series, the animals talk to one another, and try very hard to help their humans understand. The cats think that humans are inferior to themselves, as they can speak human and cat while humans cannot. I find that very amusing! (I swear cats can laugh at us!) After getting used to the dialogue from the animals, and the nicknames, I have quickly begun to adore this series.
   
   I have become a big fan of this series, and enjoy the banter between the animals. The relationships between the members of the town have been evolving, and I like the way that Harry is loved and embraced by the people who have known her all of her life. She works hard, cares for her animals, and genuinely cares for the town and its residents. I look forward to future books in the series, and am hopeful to see more of a potential love interest for Harry in future installments.
   
   The next book in the series is called "Rest in Pieces". Enjoy!