In following up his insightful Q&A-style treatise on feline behavior, Catwatching (1987), Morris here answers 60 equally engrossing questions, this time supplied by readers of the earlier work. The questions run the gamut on feline life--everything from will one female feed another's kittens (yes) and what are the best pets for allergy-sufferers (Cornish Rexes and hairless Sphynxes) to why do some cats suck on wool (the equivalent to thumb-sucking in humans--a substitute for suckling) and how and when was the cat first domesticated and bred. Morris also deftly researches the origins of such unusual terms and expressions as "catgut" and "grinning like a Cheshire cat." Cat aficionados may take exception to one of Morris' assertions--that neutering a cat is "butchery" done only for the owner's convenience, and should be replaced by tube-tying. (Though this solution might be applicable, and in some situations even desirable, one wonders whether Morris has fully considered the dangers of unneutered cats that run away from home during mating season, and the virtual impossibility of keeping odiferous cats--toms that spray--in multifamily dwellings.) With the exception noted, perceptive and enlightening--and for cat lovers, not to be missed.
