It will come as no surprise that at International Cat Care, we’re crazy about cats. Not only do we fill our working day with them, we like to read about them and watch their exploits on TV and in films in our spare time.
We’ve been compiling a list of our favourites, but as you can probably imagine, it’s a long one. We’ve decided to split it into a few parts, this second part is a collection of cat-related fiction books.
The Silent Miaow – Paul Gallico
Paul Gallico was the very first president of International Cat Care, which at the time was called the Feline Advisory Bureau (FAB). He’s probably most famous for his novel ‘The Snow Goose’, but his huge volume of work has been adapted many times for film and has been an inspiration to many other writers, including J. K. Rowling.
He was heavily inspired by cats and many of his books involved them, but our favourite is ‘The Silent Miaow’. Paul Gallico claims to have translated this from the original feline, and is a guide for how cats can train their families. It’s very well-written and an entertaining look at the behaviour of cats.
If Cats Disappeared From The World – Genki Kawamura
The title alone is enough to raise alarm bells in the mind of any cat lover, a notion shared by the narrator of this book who lives alone with his cat Cabbage. This book is in the form of a letter and the story is told through the voice of the narrator. He has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and shortly after is visited by the devil who offers him another day of life in exchange for making something in the world disappear.
It’s a quick read, but one that will make you think about what’s really important and exactly what it is that makes life worth living.
One Hundred Ways for a Cat to Train its Human – Celia Haddon
This little book is a collection of wisdom on the subject of humans from the point of view of cats. Recommendations for how to act around people, how to train them, and a number of allowances that should be made for them. ‘Dogs may have masters. We cats have staff.’ Is an observation that every cat owner will be able to relate to.
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats – T.S. Eliot
The poems in this collection were originally intended to be gifts for his godchildren and the children of his friends, but they ended up becoming his best-selling work.
He lived with many cats over his lifetime, and the names he chose for them were no less inventive than the names he chose for the Practical Cats. A small selection were Jellylorum, Pettipaws, Wiscus, and George Pushdragon.
Anyone familiar with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical adaptation ‘Cats’ will be familiar with some of the stories, and for anyone familiar with the 2019 film, don’t be put off. Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats is a classic homage to cats of all kinds.
I Could Pee on That – Francesco Mariculiano
This book is introduced with the declaration that cats have tried and failed through every medium to express what it means to be a cat, but finally, through poetry they’ve managed to portray what they’ve always wanted to.
Managing to be both humorous and insightful, this book shows the inner workings of cat, including how they might rationalise peeing on a brand-new sweater. The poems are accompanied by pictures of their feline authors.
The Guest Cat – Takashi Hiraide
This book tells the story of a married couple that both work at home and find they have little left to say to each other. A cat visits, then again, and again, and the couple find themselves closer than ever as they concentrate on the shared love of their new friend. Their lives blossom alongside the garden that they’re drawn into by their new friend, then comes a twist.
It isn’t a long story, but it’s beautifully crafted and you’ll find yourself wanting to re-read this to see the details that you missed.
