Complete Cat Care Manual: The Essential, Practical Guide to All Aspects of Caring for Your Cat

Covering everything cat owners need to know, this practical guide to looking after the most popular pet in the United States is the perfect reference for any cat lover. The Complete Cat Care Manual provides detailed information on the day-to-day care of kittens and adult cats, including feeding, training, handling, exercising, essential equipment, and grooming. Detailed chapters outline the reasons behind behavioral problems, such as eating houseplants and scratching furniture, and provide tips for changing unacceptable behavior. Health problems are completely detailed with anatomical diagrams, diagnostic charts, and illustrations that identify symptoms and treatments. Step-by-step instructions teach all the techniques needed to nurse a sick animal or administer emergency first aid. Hundreds of remarkable color photographs, specially commissioned for this book, detail every aspect of a cat's life. The material is based on extensive research. Dr. Bruce Fogle, a leading specialist in pet behavior, has observed hundreds of cats during his years a veterinary surgeon. He identifies how cats communicate through posture, body language, facial expressions, "speaking" (meowing and hissing), and rituals like rubbing, swatting, and grooming. He discusses the differences between learned behavior and instinctual action, the importance of a cat's sensory perceptions like smell, touch, and sound-and when a cat's eccentricities are due to genetics or are merely a matter of individual temperament.Endorsed by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.