This is a good book for basic information about cats, without getting too deep. The pictures are very nice, making it an easy read. I found myself reading it hungrily, but now need more substance. I'll probably try to give this book away now.

I thought this book was very informative, and well illustrated. I think that anyone that is thinking about getting a cat or even anyone that has one already will find this helpful. I needed information about kittens, and found this book the best information on the subject, but it doesn't stop there.

Never before have I felt so compelled to write a review on a book, but Dr. Bruce Fogle's "The Cat's Mind" bothered me so much that I wish someone had warned me before I made the mistake of buying it.

Prior to even reading a word I was struck by the fact that there is an entire chapter dedicated to disciplining your cat. While Dr. Fogle does make mention of one form of discipline being positive reinforcement, he then goes on to disturbingly describe how negative reinforcement can be used to effectively retrain cats to behave "as you would like them to". The next two sub-chapters are titled "aversion" and "intimidation", the latter of which describes techniques to hit your animal, including the use of rolled up newspaper, or as the author proudly claims to be his method of choice, using the "nearest fly swatter".

If this isn't bad enough the rest of the book (or actually the first half of this book as I couldn't even finish reading it) is riddled with ridiculous and barbaric experiment citations involving cats which, he states, are "unpleasant, at times thoughtless and at other times cruel, but it would be foolish to disregard the results". I don't want to hear how inserting electrodes into a calm cat's brainstem can turn it into a "ferocious demon", what effect keeping newborn kittens in total darkness has, or what happens when a cat's whiskers are removed. He even goes on to cite an "experiment" you can conduct yourself to test your cat's balance ("hold your cat by its front and back legs upside-down a yard above your bed and let go").

To say I was disgusted with this book is an understatement. First off, there are so many alternative ways to "discipline" your cat to where you are not physically hurting it (my favorite are the cans of compressed air most computer stores sell to clean your computer keyboards with. They emit a loud "hiss" noise when engaged, which startle the cat. To me this beats even the water gun because no contact is made with your cat). Even with his method of punishment aside, in respect to Dr. Fogle's need to cite animal experiments, I do not feel the end justify the means. Just because an experiment was conducted does NOT give it merit or mean the results should be reviewed. Should the horrific experiments the nazi's conducted be viewed as viable research simply because they were conducted? Absolutely not.

I found this book to be very distracting and even if Dr. Fogle gave informative insight I wouldn't know because I couldn't even finish it. If you are a true animal lover, in my opinion, you can go elsewhere to find more feline-friendly information, and not waste your time on this book.

This book improved my understanding of my cat's needs and behaviors; it also heightened my appreciation for these sometimes quirky behaviors. The author blends the history of cat domestication and scientific research with humorous anecdotal illustrations to help the reader understand the why cats behave like cats.

This book was a great help for me to try and figure out my unpredictable cat. It explains why cat's do what they do and treatment options for the cat to calm down their behavior. I have visited several vet's with no luck and I think I finally have gotten Tigger's attacking behavior under control after reading this book. It's a must have for cat owners.

There is some interesting information contained here but it is still a major disappointment. Unless one physically sees the book before ordering, one can easily take note of the 400 pages and feel they are getting something of value for their dollar. However, it should first of all be noted this book is less than four inches high! I found the book just too overwhelming small and frustrating to bother with and certainly not worth the price.

If the reader truly wants value for their dollar, I highly recommend any and all of the books by Desmond Morris, such as "Cat Breeds of the World." Readers should not be disappointed in any of his books. They contain an endless wealth of information and beautiful photographs of cats. In my opinion, all of his books are worthy of a five-star rating and certainly worth the money.

This book was everything I would expect from DK - great pictures, good information, easy to search through, but I did not expect it to be only three inches high! Now I know to look for the dimensions with every book I order. A great book for children to look through, because the book is really to small for adults to use on a regular basis.

I'm submitting my review under this book as it is essentially -- almost exactly -- the same book in a beautiful thick little paperback. I adore this book! Of course it could be because I found "dead ringers" for both my Sabrina (pg60 -- Norweigian Forest cat) & my best friend's Gracie (pg 222-223 in my addition -- a Chartreux) We were both wrong on our cats' heritages. (Adopted.) I always thought she was mostly Maine coon because my neighbor's Norweigian was so much bigger. (Think he's just a tad overweight though.) 'Brina is a fit 15 lbs. I just love her long whiskers, big eyes & loving disposition. She is also good with my little grandchildren.

Anyway, it's like a cat show in a book! Dr. Fogle knows his stuff.

Not for younger children, as it gratuitously displays and describes dogs in the act of mating. This adds nothing to the book, as small children love dogs, but would be less likely to be dog breeders at the ages of, for example 6 or 7, and as such do not need to view such explicit depictions. Also, adults can pretty much already identify those acts (especially) in fellow mammals when they see them, and so this adds nothing for them, either.

i have many dog books because i study them and read them whenever i have time. the reason that i like this book is because it is very informing it tells what to feed your dogs it shows the ways to groom and so on i recomend this book to dog lovers and people who just like the pictures ether way is good.

This book is very informative. I just adopted a Miniature Schnauzer puppy, and he is my first dog. I didn't really know the in's and out's of dog training and behavior. When I read this book, I learned a lot. It is not only very comprehensive, but interesting. It also has a lot of pictures of dogs exhibiting certain behaviors, this makes it easy to follow along. I highly recommend this book to all dog lovers and owners.

This book is very pleasing to the eye. It is laid out well and has many color photographs on each glossy page. This book is not breed specific and has only the very basics on general dog care. I did like this book and really enjoyed the photographs and page lay-outs but if you are looking for something in depth on german shepherd dogs or general dog care (health, obediance, or whatever) this is not the book for you. Just the very basics here with little or no info on the breed itself.

A good book for beginners, not to be overlooked because of its size. It contains some very useful information, however is not for the more experienced hobbyist. A small section that lists different fish that can be kept in community is a very good reference for anyone who is just starting out in the aquarium hobby.

I just recently had a medical emergency with my Dachshund. She woke up and I noticed that she was dragging her back leg, I knew immediately what was wrong and took her to the vet within an hour of noticing it. Within 8 hours she could not stand on either leg and I had to rush her to a big Vet Hospital, they did surgery on her that same night. Back problems in dachshunds are common and if I had not read a lot of books on the subject I would not have know. I found this book very well written and very informative, the way they explained everything about their backs in depth. I would recommend this book very highly and plan on purchasing it for all the people who purchased her puppies, a MUST FOR ANY DACHSHUND OWNER.

Linda Goodwin

Very informative pocket reference for the Dachshund owner. Gives important factual data on the dog breed, standards and care. Can be easily read and is suitable for children to learn about the Breed. A great reference to give to present or potential Dachshund owner!

This is a great book if you want nice, attractive pictures of over 400 dog breeds but if you are looking for any deep info about the breeds than this is not the book for you! Due to the small physical size of this particular book Dr. Fogle was not able to fit much information into this pint size dog book. The descriptions of the breeds are very disjointed, leaping from idea to idea, never really explaining any one subject. The breed history that is included is really only a description of what other breeds were bred together in order to produce the certain breed. The little symbols accompyning each breed entry, in order to describe the characteristics, are a nice idea but are not very consistent. For examply for the breed entry on the Parsons Jack Russel terrier the symbols show that this terrier is a good apartment dog, hard to train, and needs lots of excercise. Out of the ten possible charecter symbols the Parson Jack Russel only gets three! The only redeeming features of this book, and the only reason that it recieves two stars, are the wonderful pictures of the breeds and the sheer number of breeds included in the book. Dr. Bruce Fogle has written many nice books about dog care but this is not his crowning glory. So unless you are simply looking for a nice visual dictionary of breeds, I would say don't waste your money.