The Pug Who Bit Napoleon by Mimi Matthews

The Pug Who Bit Napoleon by Mimi Matthews ISBN-13: 9781526705006 Paperback: 152 pages Publisher: Pen & Sword Released: Nov. 30, 2017

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description from NetGalley:
From elaborate Victorian cat funerals to a Regency era pony who took a ride in a hot air balloon, Mimi Matthews shares some of the quirkiest—and most poignant—animal tales of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Meet Fortune, the Pug who bit Napoleon on his wedding night, and Looty, the Pekingese sleeve dog who was presented to Queen Victoria after the 1860 sacking of the Summer Palace in Peking. The four-legged friends of Lord Byron, Emily Brontë, and Prince Albert also make an appearance, as do the treasured pets of Alexander Pope, Samuel Johnson, and Charles Dickens.

Less famous, but no less fascinating, are the animals that were the subject of historical lawsuits, scandals, and public curiosity. There’s Tuppy, the purloined pet donkey; Biddy, the regimental chicken; and Barnaby and Burgho, the bloodhounds hired to hunt Jack the Ripper. Wild animals also get a mention in tales that encompass everything from field mice and foxes to alligators and sharks lurking in the Thames.

Using research from eighteenth and nineteenth century books, letters, and newspapers, Mimi Matthews brings each animal’s unique history to vivid life. The details are sometimes humorous, sometimes heartbreaking, but the stories are never anything less than fascinating reading for animal lovers of all ages.


My Review:
The Pug Who Bit Napoleon is a collection of animal stories from the 1700s & 1800s. The author went back to the original sources of the stories (letters, newspaper and magazine articles, and poems) and included quotes from those sources. Many of the stories were about favorite pets owned by famous people.

There were 9 dog stories (including stories about animals grieving the death of their person), 4 cat chapters (including information about the first cat show in England and pet funerals), a chapter each on horses, a pony, a donkey, a famous goat, a monkey and a parrot, two ravens, two military hens, an inspiring wild field mouse, pet rabbits, several shark sightings in the Thames, an "alligator" in the Thames, two foxes as pets (bad idea), and flea circuses. There were also pictures of the animal (in the case of famous pets) or of animals like the one described. The book is a quick, fun read. I'd recommend this enjoyable book to fans of animal stories.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

The Cat Whisperer by Mieshelle Nagelschneider

The Cat Whisperer by Mieshelle Nagelschneider ISBN-13: 9780553807851 Hardcover: 254 pages Publisher: Bantam Released: March 5, 2013

Source: eBook Advanced Reader Copy review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
Cat behaviorist Mieshelle Nagelschneider provides practical and effective strategies for solving feline behavior problems, from litter box issues to scratching, spraying, biting, and beyond. Central to her approach is an understanding of the unique way cats see the world--their need for safety and security, their acute territoriality, and their desire to catch and kill prey.

Her proven C.A.T. cat behavior modification plan is a commonsense course of action that can be specifically tailored to your cat in the context of its behavior problems and its particular household environment. You’ll discover how to harness the power of “friendly pheromones," how to create a litter box environment that will solve many problems, and how to end aggression in multiple-cat households.


My Review:
The Cat Whisperer is a reference book on solving a variety of common cat behavioral problems. While the instructions were easy enough to understand, I was surprised by how long it took me to completely read through this 254 page book.

The first 68 pages were mostly the author's credentials (why you should believe that she knows what she's talking about), talking about what she thinks is wrong with the system, and speculation about the motives and minds of cats. She places the blame for cat behavioral problems on humans and talked like cat owners are largely abusive toward their cats. I suspect she'd get faster cooperation from humans if she didn't talk so negatively about them.

She did make a few good points in this first section, though: cats are cats, not dogs, not humans. Cats don't act out of a desire for revenge. Getting angry or hitting them isn't generally going to help and will probably make things worse. Simply removing your attention or presence is far more effective.

Unless you're set on reading the whole book, I'd suggest jumping to chapter 2's "Elements of an Effective C.A.T. plan" and then to chapter 3's "Taming the Wild" and continuing from there. The author became more organized and used a more practical and instructional tone at that point. You can also jump directly to the chapter that talks about the problems you're having. The solutions that she suggests are sometimes quite complicated, other times relatively quick and simple. If you're having a problem, her suggestions would probably be good ones to try.

Of her suggestions, though, I would never try to reduce the confidence of a "confident," bully cat. I doubt the cat is actually confident. I've fixed this problem by building up all of my cat's confidence--in my cats' case, confidence that my attention is not a limited resource. I also made different locations my "focused attention" spots for different cats so they all got attention in places that felt safe to them. They're now relaxed and willing to share me in all locations, though they reserve first rights in their special spots.

Anyway, overall I thought that her advice would be helpful. She covered what types of medical problems might cause various behavioral problems, described a case with the problem, what might be causes of the problem, conventional advice NOT to follow, and how to change the cat's behavior using a C.A.T. format: Cease unwanted behavior, Attract to a wanted behavior or location, and Transform the territory.

The main cat problems and techniques that she covered were: introducing new cats or reintroducing known cats in a way that ensures friendly relations afterward; using friendly pheromones; creating enough territory and resources to reduce conflict over resources (which is a cause of many problems); properly playing with your cat using a prey sequence; cat aggression toward people or other pets; pooping or peeing outside of the litterbox; marking with urine or poop; excessive meowing; destructive scratching of items--no need to "declaw!", unwanted jumping up on counters or tables, overgrooming, wool sucking and chewing, and clicker training basics for cats.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


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