Cat Manual

The complete step-by-step guide to understanding and caring for your cat

RRP: £17.99
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 978 1 84425 675 4

The Haynes Cat Manual takes a well-informed but commonsense approach to our relationship with our cats with the aim of keeping them healthy and happy. The Haynes Cat Manual is a brightly presented manual will reveal lots of feline facts you almost certainly didn't know, such as how long do cats live? How to calculate your cat's age? And other joys that come with owning your feline friend. Written by an expert author with a wealth of experience, this manual's fact-packed content, clear writing style, eye-catching colour photography makes it an ideal guide for anyone who loves cats, and wants to understand them

• Looking at the world from the cat's perspective, understanding its little foibles.
• Feeling safe, staying safe - the cat's territory and how it attempts to keep it secure.
• Fulfilling your cat's needs - what do you need to be a good owner?
• Your cat's environment and its importance - what does it need in it?
• A spot of training - how does a cat learn?
• Keeping your cat healthy.
• Prevention of disease - vaccination, worming, flea treatment, etc.
• Back-up: vet, cattery, insurance, basket, collar, cat toys, etc.
• Where to go for help.

Claire Bessant has been Chief Executive of the Feline Advisory Bureau (FAB) since 1994.Under her guidance the charity has grown and developed into the UK's leading advisory charity on the health and welfare of cats. She has written 10 books on all aspects of cats and their behaviour, and regularly contributes to magazines. She lives in Wiltshire.

'Pet of the futu.re'

"Why choose a cat as a pet? That question doesn't arise for some people. To ailurophiles, or real cat lovers, who just adore everything about this little feline - its shape, its colour, its temperament and all of its foibles- it can do no wrong. Quite often these people are women. And often they're creative folk who admire the independent spirit of the cat and its beauty."

"Men too, these days are allowed to say that they enjoy the challenge of a cat, rather trying to control it like a dog, will be as flattered as anyone else that this creature, which can live as well in the wild as it can with us, has chosen to spend time with them."

• "Unlike many household animals the cat appeals to a wide variety of families, mainly for its independence and few restrictions."
• "Agile or disabled - a warm lap can belong to anyone. Without the need to be walked or physically controlled, the cat works well as a pet for all."
• "Cats are good pets for single people - a warm welcome to come home to without the guilt of having to leave an animal n its own all day, as cats often prefer to be alone."
• "Cats are also great with families and enjoy sleeping on various different beds and getting the attention of adults and children".
• You can get a kitten or an adult cat, a neutered male or female, a tabby or a black-and-white, show-ready beautiful or rather battered; all can make brilliant companions and trouble-free pets.
• "Being happy either to go out into the great outdoors or to use a litter tray indoors, cats are flexible too. Large houses or flat, they use all space available , vertical as well as horizontal, and are much more 'nose-friendly' than dogs - they're much less smelly and keep themselves clean and tidy."

As author Claire Bessant says "What most people want is to have the best relationship it's possible to have with their cat for the longest time. There are things that we can do as owners to maximise this. From choosing the right cat for our situation in the first place, to giving it a home where it can feel safe and secure and keeping it healthy, we have to realise that we have a significant effect on how our cats live. So if we gain an insight into how cats see the world and what's important to them, then we can understand how any change we make to their environment and their care will affect them."