One of my favorite things about ‘Catification’ is that is encourages pet parents and cat lovers to look through the eyes of a cat. It is a funny and informative book with lots of tips that will get you excited about how you can make your cat even happier about being in your forever home!
Jackson Galaxy is a cat behaviorist with more than 15 years of experience. He is known for the Animal Planet TV show My Cat From Hell, helping befuddled cat parents learn how to manage out-of-control cats.
Kate Benjamin is a cat style expert, known for her Hauspanther.com site and originally her Moderncat.net site. Kate was inspired to start her first site Moderncat.net when she couldn’t find a site about stylist cat products. She created her own handmade cat products as Moderncat Studio, starting in 2009. At Hauspanther you can find stylish cat furniture and products that cats and kittens cozy up to and owners love to add to their home’s ambiance.
Jackson explains cat behavior and patterns for us to understand at the start. The first part of the book explains how your cat looks when they are happy, mad or hunting. Look at the ears, face and tail especially for signs along with the body language.
Then there is a section that explains the “type” of cat you have, from one who likes to climb high, climb under things or one who hides for example. The more you know about your cat (a.k.a. “the client” for Catification), the better you can create the ideal environment for them.
Jackson and Kate explain that cats are one of the most popular pets in the U.S.A. according to the Humane Society, with more than 90 million of them in households, more than dogs! One of the reasons cats are a favorite pet is they are easier to keep in smaller homes and apartments and overall need less space – but Jackson and Kate stress that you do need to adapt your environment to enhance your cat’s well-being.
While you may need to make some changes to your home environment, it may surprise you to discover how budget friendly they are and also how simple they may be. If you like a pretty home, ‘Catification’ will make you smile because the aesthetics of suggestions given are created by Jackson and Kate to fit seamlessly into your home and to look attractive. But best of all – your cat will be happy and have lots of fun exploring, playing or simply lounging around watching Cat TV (the windows!) and being your cat.
I suggest you read the book through once, to look at the projects and tips that Jackson and Kate recommend. The first section is especially important because this is all about understanding what “type” of cat you have – and how they will relate to the design choices you make. Get to know your cat so you can select what would work best for them. Jackson and Kate both gently point out that Catification is an ongoing process that you will likely continue to make changes.
This is a fun book and it is easy to see Jackson and Kate’s passion for helping cats and to see them find forever homes, to be happy in those homes. It may or may not surprise you to discover how much the home environment affects your cat – and this book offers some terrific tips. Jackson shares experiences from several episodes of My Cat From Hell where the living environment was one of the challenges to good cat behavior, and that by changing this – it helped the cat be happier!
One of my favorite things about this book is that it is very budget friendly. Kate’s projects now let you DIY with a beginner to advanced level – and many of them are budget friendly with supplies you can easily find. Some craft and How To books will list projects with lots of supplies and no sense of how much it will cost. Many of these projects in ‘Catification’ total up how much the estimated project will cost. Even if you adapt the project a bit, you have a good sense right from the start, which is very helpful.
Jackson and Kate are very encouraging, they say to work with your strengths when Catifying the environment for your favorite feline. There are no-sew projects, there are projects for those handy with a hammer and there are projects you can make with cardboard boxes and other supplies (a kitty hammock!). You WILL find options that work with your skills and budget.
I think the kitty hammock project is the one I will start with, because my cat Penguin is a ‘Cocooner’ according to Jackson’s behavior tips. I’ve also noticed that Penguin loves cardboard boxes, so I think this is a‘Catification’ he would enjoy right now. I like the idea of this being a process and I’m looking to consider adding something Penguin could climb for the future.
Even if your cat seems pleased with their environment, I recommend taking a look at this book. You may find some fun projects to enhance their quality of life. Let’s all get to Catifying!
Disclosure: Some of the products that I review here are received from companies, publishers, PR agencies and authors. It does not affect my opinion and review.
