Do Cats Hear with Their Feet?: Where Cats Come From, What We Know about Them, and What They Think about Us
By Jake Page
Edition: illustrated
Published by HarperCollins Publishers, 2008
ISBN 0061456489, 9780061456480
224 pages

Synopsis

Do Cats Hear with Their Feet? traces the evolution of cats from the time they first adapted their feline form about 20 million years ago. Exploring every aspect of a cat's life—from predation, to play, to communication—Jake Page shows us what a cat's daily life is really like. He gives us a cat's-eye view of a bird hunt in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and explains why cats will hunt even when they are full, and why no self-respecting cat would eat vegetables. In sections that will be of interest to every cat owner, Jake Page demonstrates why territory is all-important to cats, investigates cat ESP, and shows that cats have, in fact, never been fully domesticated; they've just graciously decided to reside with us. Beautifully illustrated, this engaging book is full of surprising facts. Did you know: Black cats do better in the crowded conditions of cities than any other color? Cats are as allergic to humans as humans are to cats? Cats have survived falls from heights of over seven stories?

Do Cats Hear with Their Feet? will show readers exactly why cats are such amazing creatures, and why humans have been crazy about them for centuries.



Review:Eva Lautemann - Library Journal

The answer to the intriguing title question as well as others can be found in this carefully researched work on feline natural history and evolution. Page, a former editorial director of Natural History magazine and a prolific author of nonfiction (e.g., Do Dogs Laugh?) and mysteries, traces cats from the time they first adapted their feline form about 20 million years ago. He gives readers a cat's-eye view of why cats hunt even when they are full, why territory is so important, and why no self-respecting cat would eat vegetables. The result is a convincing case for an all-meat diet. To help explain various theories, hypotheses, and speculations as to why cats are such amazing creatures, Page offers numerous anecdotes of his own cats along with personal observations. As in Stephen Budiansky's The Character of Cats, there is solid science content that will help readers recognize we should let cats be cats and what a darn good job they have done of domesticating us. Appendixes on types of cat food and health problems by breed are helpful. For popular science collections in medium to large public libraries and large academic libraries.
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Biography


Jake Page was the founding editor of Doubleday's Natural History Press, as well as editorial director of Natural History magazine and science editor of Smithsonian magazine. He has written more than forty books on the natural sciences, zoological topics, and Native American affairs, as well as mystery fiction. He and his wife live in northern Colorado with six dogs and a steady supply of dog hair, available free.