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1,001 Things
You Always Wanted to
Know About Cats
J. Stephen Lang
Copyright © 2004 by Howell Book House. All rights reserved
Howell Book House
Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Lang, J. Stephen.
1,001 things you always wanted to know about cats / by J. Stephen Lang.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-7645-6926-0 (paper)
1. Cats—Miscellanea. I. Title: One thousand one things you always wanted to
know about cats. II. Title.
SF445.5.L35 2004
636.8—dc22
200400947
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To my family,
for having homes where
cats were always adored
Yes, it is strange that anyone
should dislike cats.
—C. S. LEWIS
CONTENTS
Introduction 1
1 How They Behave, and Why 5
2 The Amazing Feline Body 55
3 All About Breeds and Shows 71
4 Keeping Them Healthy and Safe 115
5 Mating and Motherhood . . . and “Fixing” 151
6 Find ’Em, Feed ’Em, Change Their Litter 177
7 Wild Ancestors and Wild Cousins 201
8 Cats with Humans, Beginning in Ancient Egypt . . . 221
9 Lies, Folklore, Myths and Legends 261
10 Feline Words and Phrases 291
11 Notable Cat People and Their Opinions 327
12 ix
10
Contents
11
12 In Books, Music and Art 361
13 Silver Screen and Small Screen 401
14 Cartoon Cats 419
15 Cats as Marketing Tools 447
16 And a Few Bits of Potpourri 463
Index 477
x
INTRODUCTION
Nine LIves,
Lives, and Thousands
of Books
Y
our reaction to seeing this book might have been
the same as that of my agent, Ed Knappman, when
I proposed the book: another book on cats? My
reply to him, and to you: yes, and why not? Cats are
a great subject, they now outnumber dogs as pets in
the United States (see entry 347 for more details) and
lots of cat owners love to read about cats. Add to this
the fact that a book about cats is, for me, a labor of
love—I’ve been a cat fancier since infancy. Finally,
the “1,001 Things You Always Wanted to Know
About” formula has proved profitable for me in the
past, demonstrating to me that readers love these
“tidbit” books, which are perfect for browsing. So
here you have it: yet another book about cats, yes, but
1
1,001 Things You Always Wanted to Know About Cats
one that I’ve tried to make fun, user-friendly and
browse-worthy—made to be enjoyed, just as cats are.
Cats are intriguing in form, so I’ve included an
entire chapter on the amazing feline body, truly a
marvel of beauty and design. Naturally there is a
chapter on feline behaviors—behaviors that fasci-
nate and puzzle us (purring, grooming, mad dashes
through the house) and frustrate us (clawing furni-
ture, spraying). There is a quick tour of the various
breeds of cats (all beautiful, of course), from the
placid longhaired Persians to the nearly hairless
Sphynxes. You’ll also get an education in pedigrees
and cat shows. And despite cats’ reputation for hav-
ing “nine lives,” they do get sick, so there’s lots of
information on cat health, and on mating and moth-
erhood as well.
Since I am a history-minded person, you’ll get a
nonboring history lesson in cats, including details
about their prehistoric ancestors, their wild cousins
of today and their early associations with the Egyp-
tians, Greeks and Romans.
This is a book about cats (obviously), but, just
as important, a book about human responses to
cats. Thus there is an entire chapter on famous peo-
ple who have doted on their cats—writers, artists,
musicians, politicians and other notables. The
human affection for cats has resulted in thousands
of books, movies, artworks, cartoons and songs
with cats as the subject as well as the use of cats as
2
Introduction
advertising gimmicks, and you’ll find these items
covered in this book. Both fondness for cats and
detestation of cats have resulted in innumerable lies
and legends about them, and there is a chapter
about these stories. My favorite chapter deals with
the many “catty” words and phrases that add color
to our language—phrases sometimes rooted in real-
ity, sometimes in misconceptions.
This book is not an encyclopedia, but it can
serve as one if you make use of the index. If you are
curious about how cats purr, for example, look up
“purring” in the index to find the numbers for the
entries that deal with purring. If you recall that the
author Ernest Hemingway was fond of cats and
you want to know more about his relationship with
cats, you’ll find Hemingway in the index, too. If
you’ve heard the rumor that the cat-loving ancient
Egyptians made mummies of their deceased cats,
you can confirm that rumor (it’s true) and find out
more by looking under “mummies” in the index. In
short, the index is a neat alphabetical list of nearly
every cat-related subject you can think of (and
plenty that you never thought of).
A black-and-white shorthair named Lucy was
usually just inches from the keyboard while this was
being written and served as both inspiration and (at
times) sedative. Given her role in the creation of this
book, this purring refugee from the county animal
shelter probably merits being listed as coauthor.
