The Character of Cats

This scientific look at the world of cats aims to reveal: why they do what they do, why they are what they are and how they got to be that way in the first place.

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Unlike every other domestic animal, the cat evolved as a solitary animal, not a group-dweller. A dog in a household lives in a social situation it has evolved to experience. A cat in a household is almost literally a fish out of water. That cats can nonetheless get along with people and (sometimes) other cats when forced to, is testimony to a remarkable adaptability. But it also makes for an extraordinary range of behaviours. By putting cats in this artificial environment, we are asking them to do things they don't really know how to do, and it not surprising that they react in a variety of odd ways. Cats have for years been the subjects of intensive research in the fields of developmental psychology, learning, emotions, brain chemistry, and perception. THE CHARACTER OF CATS is the first popular book to bring this new knowledge to bear on the behavior and nature of cats. Budiansky enables us to see that many of the things that puzzle and at times baffle or even infuriate cat owners have a rational - though often very surprising - explanation in science.