Author: Vicky Halls

ISBN: 0593 052773

Following the success of her debut “Cat Confidential” Britain’s leading cat counselor Vicky Halls offers desperate cat owners more useful advice on how to solve their cat’s mysterious behavioral problems. The book is meant as a source of information before you contemplate ringing a cat counselor, however she stresses that owners should, depending on the problem, always consult their vet in the first instance before trying to solve their cat’s undesired behavior problem. “Cat detective” provides owners easy-to-understand and straightforward instructions and advice. Her case studies, which often read like impossible-to-solve problem cases, vouch for the effectiveness of her programs.

So what is different and new in Cat Detective? Unlike “Cat Confidential”, in which the chapters were divided according to types of cats (for example the “scaredy cat” or “the aggressive cat”), the chapters in “Cat Detective” are divided according types of behavioral problems, ranging from house soiling, urine spraying, aggression, inter-cat aggression and anxiety to medical/neurological and bonding problems. These chapters include helpful case studies, which illustrate her suggested therapy regimes. Solutions often prove to be simple and are based on common sense and, of course, her extensive knowledge of the cat’s nature and needs. These include for example in the case of house soiling the provision of more litter trays in a multi-cat household, repositioning the litter trays for more privacy and security and changing the type of litter.

Whilst some problems are straightforward and easy to solve others turn out to be more complicated and demand more radical solutions, these include cases of cats which tend to over-groom themselves, chase their own tail or mutilate themselves. In rare cases, mostly involving multi-cat households, she advises that giving up the cat may be necessary, if there is no alternative solution in sight. Giving up your cat, because it causes too much friction in the household is the toughest decision a cat owner can make and whilst I was reading this book I was faced with that decision. I had to return one of two cats I had adopted to his original fosterer after I realized that he was constantly bullying our female kitten. It was a tough decision, but one, which was rewarded with a happy end for all parties concerned. We kept the little one and he remained with his fosterer.

The book’s first chapter explains what constitutes a problem behavior, whilst the second one, titled “What to do when things go wrong” explains what to expect from and how to choose a pet behavior counselor, and it describes different treatments available including complementary therapy. The third chapter “Playing Cat Detective” explains the importance of early socialization for the cat’s personality and how it can affect its behavior in later life, she then describes different types of cat personalities and encourages the reader to determine their cat’s personality. Her cat “stereotypes” range from “the lodger”, a cat who basically uses you as a hotel and does his own thing, to “the comic”, which describes my own cat best, to the “ringmaster”, a cat which demands all your attention and manipulates its owner to do everything he wants. Establishing your cat’s personality helps in understanding its problem behavior. The chapter finishes with a behavior questionnaire, which directs the owner to the most appropriate chapters.

For me one of the most useful chapters was about the indoor cat, because Halls gives a lot of useful advice on how to prevent the housebound cat from becoming obese. This involves hiding its dry food in several places so he can actively seek out his food and positioning enough water bowls in the house. Play is especially important for these cats, as they can’t follow their natural hunting instinct. It also helps to form a special bond between owner and cat. Halls recommends lots of great toys, which are cheap and easy to make yourself. The book finishes with a chapter on the most common questions asked.

Like its predecessor “Cat Detective” is written in Halls’ unique humorous style and with a lot of love and passion for its subject and recommended to anyone who wants to adopt or buy a cat and cat owners, who want to find out how they can help their distressed cat to feel content and happy again.

The above review was contributed by: Helen Kaut: Helen has an MA in art history, English and philosophy and she has been working as a freelance journalist since 2001. Since 2002 she has been based in Cardiff, Wales. Helen writes in German and English and has been published in the German media as well as in TheTimes, The Guardian and Sec-ed. She writes about education, careers, health, cats and animal welfare. To read Helen's reviews CLICK HERE

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