At the beginning of May, Norwegian Forest Cat kitten Stiorra joined our ‘women’s team’ at home. Although we have had cats and dogs together before (and also raised kittens around the dogs), I wanted to make sure I didn’t make any mistakes, especially since we also have a puppy in the house. Now, as a behaviourist for dogs, I have quite a bit of knowledge about dogs, but I don’t really know all that much of cat behaviour, and a colleague behaviourist advised me to read this book. I ordered it online, and as soon as it arrived I immediately started reading.
Note: this book is only available in Dutch at the moment, but I still wanted to translate the Book review to English as well. Maybe an English translation of the book will be written sometime!
Fun facts
It is not a super thick book (65 pages), but it is a nice read and it is full of fun facts about dogs and cats. The authors have nicely framed these facts by putting an icon of a dog or cat in front of them, so that you always know immediately which species the paragraph is about.
An explanation is given about how dogs and cats learn, and clear examples are given everywhere. It is also strongly emphasized that the authors only use fear-free methods in their work. Something I can fully support, and this means that I can confidently recommend this book to students and behavioural clients. Super nice!
Many stress signals are also mentioned and explained, so you learn to recognize negative stress in both dogs and cats. Super important if you are going to introduce dog and cat to each other, of course, because this way you can act quickly if one (or both) has a hard time.
Preparation and Step-by-step plan for Introduction
Then some tips for the preparation are given, with which you can ensure that things slowly change in the period before the introduction of a new pet and that your cat or dog can get used to it.
The book ends with a step-by-step plan for the actual introduction of dog and cat, and a number of clear photos of body language in dogs and cats.
Some specifications:
- 65 pages
- Authors: Claudia van der Linden & Renée Noor
- Can be ordered through Bol or Spin & Kwispel for €17,95
My Verdict
Very nice book!
I can definitely recommend this book. To anyone who already has dogs and wants a cat, or vice versa. But also to anyone who already has one or both and just wants to know more about dog and cat behaviour.
The situation with us
And Stiorra? She is now completely used to living here, she plays and sleeps comfortably with the dogs, but also in her own sleeping spots in her climbing tower.
She and Herja are close friends and play with each other every day. Very nice to see!
I am still very happy with her, hopefully we can introduce a cat friend for her in the future, but for now we are enjoying her wonderful kitten shenanigans!
Book review – Don’t Eat That! by Simone Mueller
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