The Cat Whisperer: Why Cats Do What They Do--and How to Get Them to Do What You Want

If you got a cat, This is the book you need. Your going to start learning just what actually works too help you and Kitty be in better communication, find all the secrets to help you and Kitty get clear on what's happening, fix the hardest problems in just minutes of reading I got revolutions on just what I needed to do so my cat would stop over grooming.. the number one problem and top of the list hardest to figure out how to stop them. It teaches you how to see think and be a cat!!!! You thought you knew! Well this book will expose you to many thing's that you have to know to be a good cat.. so your cat will be happy and stop attacking biting scratching pooping peeing in all the wrong places and more. This book is written well!!! So we'll your not going to want too put it down... Indexing is spot on! Find it fast! Get it right..! Read it all. It's fun full of kitty humerus view of us and life. Your cat needs this book! You also...

Mieshelle Nagelschneider is a life saver. She knows her stuff. I have 4 cats and 3 dogs. One of the cats, a 2 year old formerly feral cat that I rescued at the age of 3 weeks old, took it as his personal mission to pee on as many of my baseboards in the house as possible. To the point that the paint was peeling off. I tried everything and nothing worked. I was spending a small fortune on enzyme cleaners trying to keep on top of the smell. Once I read this book and started using Mieshelle's CAT plan, within a week the marking had decreased from 3-5 times DAILY to one time the first week. Holy smokes, it's a miracle! The book covers all sorts of behavioral problems that you might run into with your wayward kitties. It's easy to read and straight to the point. Also, the chapters are set up that you don't have to read the entire book to find the answer to a particular problem. I strongly suggest this book. It's restored sanity to my house.

I'd definitely recommend this book for all of those "crazy cat ladies" out there. This book really gives you strong insight into cat behavior; we so often project human emotions or canine behaviors on our cats and as Nagelschneider explains, this couldn't be a more incorrect approach to raising cats. The information is quite in depth and ranges from explaining behavior to the best ways to correct poor behavior and properly reward good behavior. My recommendation, however, would be not to read it cover to cover (unless of course you have the time). Skim the table of contents for what is interesting/relevant for you and your cat and simply take it from there. As she goes chapter-to-chapter, the author will refer back to "chapter x for more information on this" which allows for cherry picking very easily and still not missing anything pertinent.

I'm so grateful I found this book. I highly recommend it for solving cat issues. After reading it I realized how in the last year there were serious changes in my cat's environment and it was stressing my cat Andee out big time. She was pooping and peeing outside the litter box. She didn't always do it. This book helps you view your home through your cat's eyes. Andee is a very loving wonderful cat but easily terrified especially of noises, and strangers in the home. Even simple things like strange box left near her litter box will make her scared and go elsewhere. We adopted a new young golden retriever who was too rambunctious for her liking and while she tolerated him he invaded her space. This book made me realize that: 1. I had picked up all the little cat toys because of the dog (he'll eat them) so she had nothing to play with. I've added more play time back and toys in her cat only spaces. 2. I got busy with the dog so stopped maintaining bird feeders for Cat TV. Now I have two going at windows she likes to sit by again. 3. She needed some dog free spaces so started baby gating a few rooms where she could have a dog free zone if she wanted to. We also have room custody arrangements she gets the master bedroom as a dog free zone all day then it's open to cats and dogs at night (Goldens want to sleep near their family and so do my cats) 4. I figured out she liked white litter boxes not dark ones, and no covers please. 5. The author suggested making sure litter box areas are well lit, I added night lights so my cat could see clearly. She instantly started using them more. 6. I added high places for her to perch throughout the house. Including one right on my side of the bed where she can sleep at night and be out of the way of the dog. She used to sleep at the foot of the bed but the dog would hop up there scaring her off, now with the special bedside tower she is queen bee. I use purrfect post tower/scratching posts for this. 7. I added several transport routes for her through rooms in the house where she can travel more than one way to get to a destination, including some hidey places along the way. 8. I added the Feliway diffusers to the main rooms she frequents. 9. I added more litter boxes (white of course) in more rooms so if she was scared of something near the normal location of litter boxes she'd have access to one. 10. She is super bonded to me and I realized she gets stressed when I leave town and the pet sitter comes. I took steps to not close off areas of the house that she is the most comfortable with when I'm out of town, so she has all her usual hidey places when scared. 11. She likes a thin layer of litter not thick and wants a clean box every time. My other cat likes a lot of litter. I have 9 boxes for two cats so they each have the box they prefer in each main area of the house. Also both cats want a different box for poop and pee so having several makes sure there is always a clean one for both things they may need to do. Read this book and start looking at your situation through a cat's eyes and I think you will be surprised at the changes you can achieve. I would have never given my cat up since I love her so much but I sure am happy to be cleaning up the litter boxes not the floors. I really can't praise the author enough for providing so much help to cat owners. I thought the situation was hopeless. Thank you.

I was just about to become guardian to my daughter's 3yo Zoey, as her roommate had just given her an ultimatum. The cat was very nervous, very aggressive, spraying all over the living room(and in the roommate's closet as the final straw) and was not affectionate at all - except sometimes with my daughter. The thought of re-homing her and never seeing her again (or worse, her not finding a home... gulp.) was breaking my daughter's heart. So, I agreed to take her for a year or two, until my daughter graduates college and gets her own place, to make the separation more bearable for both mama & kitty. I purchased this book, and read it cover to cover, before my grand-kitty's arrival. I have had a dozen or more cats in my lifetime, but all were indoor/outdoor cats - and it never occurred to me all of the behaviors/activities that indoor cats were missing out on, and that I needed to create an environment that mimics what they do in the wild, to act out all of their "cat-ness" in the house. From litter box "dos & don'ts" to toys & effective play routines, to how seeing other animals (esp cats) out the window, could upset them and cause unexplained aggression - she covers it all. I now feel like a cat expert, myself :-) She even explained why Zoey may always be more on the nervous, no-affectionate side - that she probably wasn't socialized around humans and other animals properly during a critical period(I think 7-12 weeks or something). It also explained why her behavior got much worse this past year ( going thorough feline sexual maturity). She's been at my house for about a month now, and is doing better than I've ever seen her. She hasn't scratched at us or sprayed even once, and has actually become quite a bit more affectionate and sweeter than I ever expected. I've spent around $500 so far (yikes!) on her Southwest Pet fare, vet check-up, cat towers, pheromone diffusers, toys, supplies, ect. But I know she will live probably ten years longer than an outdoor cat, and I am spoiling her as grandmas do! Hubby wasn't sure at first, but now EVEN he loves her!! She'll eventually go back to her mommy a happier cat, and I feel confident knowing I can share all of the knowledge that "The Cat Whisperer" has given me. HIGHLY recommend!

I bought this when my cat was defecating in the house often. You're desperate to find any solution to the problem. I tried cleaning the littler more often, changing the litter more often, using expensive unscented litter, adding another litter box. Didn't matter. The cat for whatever reason just decided it was a good time to go wherever. I know that sounds disgusting, and it is. My beloved cat, for many years -- never did anything like that. Then around 8yrs old she decided to start leaving these "presents" around the house, without really exhibiting other health issues at the time -- and because we had a small pug and dogs like to eat cat poop, there was constant anxiety and checking of different rooms. If the dog wandered off quickly as if it had the scent of something, we'd go running after it. We are clean people and it's just one of those "why is this happening to me?" scenarios that you didn't think you'd have to deal with and wish it would just go away. Anyway, back to the book. I'm sure some of the material is decent for helping with problems. But these are cats. They will for the most part do whatever THEY WANT. They can be trained to an extent, but in cases like we were dealing with where their defecating and it's not a litter pan, or clean litter, or marking because of another animal type of issue or seemingly a health issue -- you'll drive yourself nuts trying to figure out what you're doing wrong or could do differently to appease the cat. And maybe in the end it's just reading too much into it. The cat decided it had to go, or it had pain in its stomach (IBS or whatever) and that enough of the time there wasn't someone around to yell at it or chase it from -- it's gonna do it and keep doing it. My cat has since passed away. I loved her. A really good cat before all of that happened and a good cat if you look beyond the defecating on the floor -- still had her claws and rarely scratched at anything besides her scratch post. So, unfortunately in my experience, a book like this just played on my desperation to get somewhere with a problem that was emotionally driving me to my wits end that amounts to trial-and-error in eliminating things or changing things (different cat food, different smelling litter, unscented litter, more litter boxes, bigger litter boxes, etc) to see if maybe one of those things helps. That's about all you can do. So if you have this problem, I'm here to help save you a few bucks in your search for an answer. I never did find a way to stop this issue completely. I do know that scented litter is bad for some cats, as mine decided to pee in the house for the first time inside a firewood tote we had when we got a scented litter she didn't like. Tossed that. So, they are telling you some things by doing their business elsewhere and you have to think about what's changed. But when you're using the same litter, cleaning often and nothing has really changed but they decide to start going elsewhere in the house -- there may not be a good answer or actual solution. It's worth trying to get somewhere by changing food, changing litter pans or locations, changing the type of litter, cleaning the litter pan more often.. but you have to be prepared for "there's no solution to this" and just find ways to manage it better. Not saying this book wouldn't be worthwhile to a new kitten owner that wants to see if they can train their cat more than most people would think you could train a cat. Or even just to have some insight into why they do what they do. It's just not a be-all-end-all to solving cat issues and sometimes YOU aren't the problem, so don't feel bad if you love your cat and are doing everything you can think of to help it and care for it -- because, sometimes a cat's gonna do what a cat's gonna do.

If you are looking at this book, you are probably trying to figure something out about your cat or you are probably experiencing some sort of negative behavior (ex: spraying) and are looking for a solution. "The Cat Whisperer" provides a lot of solutions to common cat problems as well as imbuing a cat owner with a ton of knowledge about the feline psyche. I'm a serious cat lady who loves her ferals and rescues and likes to give them the best I can. I have managed to research enough on the topics and employ different strategies that help all of our indoor cats get along. While there are stresses and strains of daily cat life (from a doorbell ring to re-arranging furniture) ... I've learned to anticipate the stress this can cause on them. I've learned through research. What this book brings is the behavioral research you need to help cats acclimate and adjust to their environment and to each other collected in one book. You will learn to be an astute cat owner. You'll learn how cats are not dogs and are not "little people" either. While the author is very pragmatic at the beginning, she wants to set the boundaries and make them clear so that the owner knows their place and that common anthropomorphic views can sometimes slant the relationship. I have to admit that as a cat person, I found the beginning the toughest to read and get through .... but the author is correct. If you can put your emotions aside for a moment and take the golden nuggets from this book - those nuggets being the great advice she offers for common problems - you'll be a better cat owner for it. I bought a copy for my Mom because she has recently become home to 3 kitties and has seen how our 5 can get along peacefully as indoor cats without stinking up the house. Miraculous. This book is a great help and worth the time spent to learn from it. If you have a cat - or better yet - have two or more, this is a great resource!

For anyone wishing to understand the antics of cats and their behavioral problems (with detailed instructions to correct the undesirable ones) this is a must read. It is very well written, entertaining, and especially, offers a clear understanding what produces undesirable cat behaviors, spraying being at the top of the list.