Pet Pals: MY CAT: How to Have a Happy, Healthy Pet
Written: Sep 26 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Pictures are adorable, step-by-step guide for children
Cons: No information on life expectancy. Does not cover allergies to cats
The Bottom Line: An almost complete guide to obtaining a cat or kitten from preparing for the arrival to visiting the vet.
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| bonniesayers's Full Review: My Cat: How to Have a Happy, Healthy Pet Books |
My nine year old autistic son has recently become enamored with a neighbor's cat. The duplex we have resided in for six years has a shared sidewalk to get to the back door and porch. This outdoor cat has always been around, but never made an impression on my children until now.
We have been watching more Animal Planet and National Geographic shows this past year. That's My Baby and Adoption Tales are on each morning. Since viewing kittens coming into this world and observing other children picking a cat, my son wants one as well.
He does not really understand that I am allergic to pets and we cannot have one. Informing my son that he can have a cat in 8-10 years seemed to put his requests at bay, although everywhere we go he either tells people about the neighbor cat or the fact that in 10 years he is going to have one!
While at the library this summer we asked the Librarian for books on taking care of cats. This led to borrowing the book within the Pet Pals series entitled, MY CAT: How to Have a Happy, Healthy Pet. My son loves this book! He can differentiate the breeds displayed on four pages and now knows that the kitty he has grown to love is a Domestic shorthair (tortoiseshell and white).
There are sixteen chapters with colorful photos, snapshots and drawings of cats on each page. The expressions on the cats are priceless. Most of the photos depict either a cat alone or with a child.
The index is on the last page, 48 and covers everything from cat grass, drowning (kittens can fall inside toilets), hissing, microchips, training on a leash to vaccinations. We learned through the neighbor that kitty is 15 years of age and lives outdoors only and has been fixed.
MY CAT: How to Have a Happy, Healthy Pet does not mention life expectancy, something my son was interested in learning about. While at the grocery store my son picked out some toy balls that were exactly like the ones pictured within the pages of the book. He was quite disappointed that he could not teach kitty to play with the balls. It turned out that kitty likes to lounge around on his hula hoop, so that made him feel better.
I learned a bit too late that I should not have given the cat milk because he could have gotten sick from it. Cats should always be given their food in separate dishes. If you want to have a playmate for your cat it is suggested to have one of the opposite sex so they will get along better.
Kitty meows all the time for my son and rubs against his leg. He learned from the book that kitty is saying hello to him so he spends a good deal of time saying Hello and I love you to kitty. Although my son is nine, he is on the autism spectrum, so he is learning on socializing with this cat. For example he is a budding artist, so he switched from Dinosaur drawing to cat sketches. At the store he picked out a cat card to give kitty for it's birthday. Kitty was oblivious to looking at the cat card and the drawings. My son was so eager to show these to the cat and is starting to understand more about this relationship.
The chapters cover:
1. Which cat should you choose - mixed breed or purebreds
2. Where to get a cat or kitten - shelters, breeders.
3. What to buy before your cat comes home - bedding, posts, litter box, feeding bowls.
4. Creating a safe environment - power cables, blind cords, cat flaps
5. Bringing your new cat home - cat's corner, meeting dog or cat, safe trip
6. House-training your cat - litter box, orange peels (cat's do not like this scent)
7. Feeding your cat - mealtimes, dangerous foods
8. Grooming your cat - flea combs, cat's eyes, hairballs
9. Handling your cat - training on a leash, holding a kitten
10. Playing with your cat - balls, rope, playhouse, plants
11. Traveling with your cat - items needed, cage, air travel
12. When your cat can't go with you - food and water dispensers, cat kennel
13. Regular health checks - eyes and ears, fleas and ticks, worming
14. Visiting the vet - at the clinic, urgent signs
15. Having kittens - neutering, how they grow
16. Why does my cat do the things it does - hisses, sniffs, arches back, meows
Chapter 2 did not cover pet stores, which then made sense to my son since the pet store we visited had only dogs, birds, snakes and rabbits. He has started reciting all he has accomplished in the pet area. First there was petting the kitty, touching a rabbit, feeding the kitty a treat, giving kitty water. He is looking forward to each new step he takes in preparing for MY CAT: How to Have a Happy, Healthy Pet.
Chapter 2 does break down how a cat should look before you bring it home and advises to have a vet look it over. This should be done between 6-8 weeks. The domestic shorthair kitten will have a moist nose, bright eyes and shiny fur.
My son learned that some cats like to be left alone, it is not okay to hit a cat, how to pick up a cat, although this did not really work out well with the kitty. My son recalled a visit to the Pediatrician this summer when he burned his hand at day camp. The Dr showed him a scratch mark on her arm from her cat. This made an impression on my son so he decided not to attempt picking up kitty anymore.
Cat rescues is also discussed in a brief paragraph. My son learns more about that on Animal Miracles, K-9 to 5 and Animal Cops. I found through www.volunteermatch.org an organization that seeks people to visit foster cats that are awaiting adoption. It turned out that they want a commitment of an hour weekly for at least one month. My younger son had started school two weeks before the nine year old so we could not begin this without having him accompany us to comply with the rules.
My nine year old is helping his younger non-verbal autistic brother to become accustomed to kitty. Thus far my younger son grabs the sibling's hand and strokes kitty with him. It would have been nice to see a page devoted to humans having allergies causing them to not be around cats. Even a page describing red, itchy eyes, sneezing and breathing problems. This would alert kids that they may in fact be allergic to the cat and need to see a Doctor for a shot or medicine.
MY CAT: How to Have a Happy, Healthy Pet is a great book, each chapter covers from 2-3 pages in an easy to read format for a child with accompanying photos and pictures to grasp the information.
There is no age recommendation, but I would estimate from K-5th graders would gain insight into obtaining a cat or kitten. My son also wanted to know what other books were in this Pet Pals series, but it is nowhere to be found if they have books for other pets.
A favorite television show is on Sundays entitled Pet Star, found on Animal Planet. We have not seen any cats on there performing tricks or showcasing their talent. My son wanted to learn how to do tricks with a cat, but this is not the book to learn and only covers walking with a leash.
Recommended:
Yes
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bonniesayers
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