By Jake PageThis book is well written and researched thoroughly; it is clever, instructive and engaging. Beginning with a great natural history of the cat, the first few chapters takes you through the millions of years of feline development. Jake Page engages the arguments of paleontologists and geneticists about origins of feline domestication and feline evolution. Page writes nimbly and trots the reader through such discussion without getting bogged down or distracting from the subject at hand. The sketch drawings of the various cats he is talking about brings the differences among these felines home.
A chapter is devoted to understanding the senses that are keenest in cats and how they assist in night hunting (cats being nocturnal and predators by nature, even domesticated cats). I found his exploration into the senses fascinating and thorough. He begins with the sense of touch, a sensation which he argues is much stronger on creatures with fur.
"On a cat or a dog, for example, each hair grows out of a small cluster of cells that are fairly strongly tweaked when a hair has been moved. Each hair is like a lever, the shifting of which in one direction or another has a magnified effect on the sensory neurons at its base. The most sensitive levers on a cat's body are, of course, its whiskers, which scientist call vibrissae . . .These are especially thick and stiff hairs, and the little bundle of cells are three times farther below the skin than regular hairs. These deep cells send vibrissae-sensed messages back to the brain along the same pathways as the nerves to the eyes. And some of them produce a sensation that is probably analogous to vision." Page 100
The vibrissae on the face "are what have given the cat the reputation of being able to see in the utter dark. While the cat's eyes are excellent gatherers of light, even very low light, they cannot perceive anything in true dark. But the vibrissae, held forward, can detect the slightest motion of the air in a wide swath as wind or air currents are reflected from nearby objects - a kind of "seeing" that is unimaginable except perhaps to some blind people." Page 101
"Aside from the use of their whiskers, it is speculated that their feet are so sensitive that they can pick up the vibrations on the floor, say, of someone walking in a familiar gait." Page 117
Cat communication comes in three categories of cat sounds: murmur (sounds made with mouth shut like a purr), high intensity (made with the mouth open like growls, snarls etc) and then vowel sounds (the miaow). "The cat vowel sound calls are used to ask for something, to complain about something, or to express confusion. In these instances, the cat's mouth stays open, changing the shape to make different vowel sounds." Page 135 The cat uses its entire body to communicate - posture, tail position, whiskers. "Most of the signals cats make with their posture, their tails, their ears and their facial expressions are what scientists call distance-increasing signals - as opposed to distance-reducing signals that are more common among dogs and other highly social animals." The movement and position of a cat's tail can tell you fairly accurately the mood of the cat. Here are some examples from the book:
-Arched tail over its back or tail in an upside down U, or straight up, "it is making a friendly approach or if it is a kitten, it wants to play"
-Tip of the tail or whole tail waves back and forth, "it means the cat is uncomfortable with the situation at hand"
-Flat ears back are almost always fear or aggression
"Suffice it for now to say the cat has twelve separate muscles serving each radar antenna-like ear, and the cat's eyes work well in both day and night. Here we will observe some of the details of the predatory strategies cats (including domestic cats) use, of which there are two main types: mobile, where the cat actively seeks out prey; and stationary, where the cat waits silently for the action to come to him or her." Page 60
Page's premise is that cats are "obligate loners" and in some situations when forced they can learn to tolerate socialization. All other domestic animals were social in the wild, living in packs or herds. "Cat's are the only domestic animals that derive from loners in the wild. The notion of herding cats is a colorful way of describing anarchy." Page 148
As loners, their day to day experience is not about dominance like a dog who is used to a pack structure but instead about territory. Each cat has a series of boundaries around them which are related to safety and comfort. Home range is the whole space the cat considers its area, the widest boundary around a cat. Within that is a territory, which is "the area the cat will defend agianst encroachment by feline strangers." Within the territory is an area called "social distance and inside that is personal distance." Males have a wider territory and are considerably more territorial (more aggressive over a wider area).
While understanding cats remain an utter mystery, Page's book brings us one step closer to grasping aspects of feline behavior which we can utilize in everyday life as well as a genuinely enjoyable exploration of felines in history. For cat lovers, it brings us closer to those amazing, curious and mysterious creatures who fill our lives with such humor, audacity and admiration.
"Here is an animal whose direct ancestor only a few thousand years ago was a lone hunter, and body language are geared to keeping other cats at a distance if not altogether out of the picture. Here is no herd animal, no creature drawn to the life of the pack, like dogs or cows or elephants or dolphins or horses. Here is the lone stalker, an animal so preoccupied with itself that it will spend up to a third of its waking hours licking its own fur. And this animal, if treated well, will allow itself to find warmth and affection, food (at least some), and companionship with you and me. This is an astonishing turnabout . . . Indeed if we are smart, we just let cats be cats, and recognize that they have done a pretty good job of domesticating us." Page 164
Book 29
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