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  • Published: 3 December 2024
  • ISBN: 9780241681237
  • Imprint: Allen Lane
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 240
  • RRP: $45.00

The Interpretation of Cats

And Their Owners





A trail-blazing guide to feline mental health from a leading veterinary psychiatrist

Is your cat happy? What can you do to help? And what can cats teach us?

The relationship between humans and cats has never been simple. Cats are mysterious and contradictory, independent and affectionate, predator and prey. Their true nature continues to elude us, and their subtle and complex behavioural problems can often seem unsolvable or incomprehensible.

In this ground-breaking book – a huge bestseller in its native France – veterinary doctor and psychiatrist Claude Béata draws on cutting-edge research and decades of experience with cats, to revolutionize our understanding of pets and transform our appreciation of feline mental wellbeing. Here, we meet Nougatine, a Siamese suffering from bipolar dysthymic disorder, Tabatha, an anxious Ragdoll with attachment issues, and Melly, an Abyssinian struggling with a feline form of schizophrenia – as well as their owners who seek advice and support.

Charming, surprising, and offering illuminating insight into a range of disorders, Béata’s book calls for greater compassion and provides a new way of understanding cat psychiatry so we can care for the mental, and physical wellness of our beloved pets.

  • Published: 3 December 2024
  • ISBN: 9780241681237
  • Imprint: Allen Lane
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 240
  • RRP: $45.00

Praise for The Interpretation of Cats

Béata demystifies the highly complex behaviours of our little tigers, so that we may better understand them and live more harmoniously together… A fascinating book, charming to read and bursting with anecdotes

Santé Magazine

Enlightening... Claude Béata sheds new light on animal psychology at a time when we are all, more than ever, reappraising our relationships with living things. In his new book, we learn how cats are affected, in extreme cases, with conditions like schizophrenia and bipolar

Madame Figaro

Across the pages, and with clinical examples, Claude Béata decrypts the perspective of this enigmatic companion, torn by its dual nature as both predator and prey. The book refers as much to the madness of certain owners as to that of cats, who the author hopes to soothe with his accessible and concrete advice

La Croix

A guide to being the best humans we can be for our cats... For the countless humans living with cats, this could become the most useful manual

Focus

Through concrete case-studies which target the major behavioural problems in cats, Claude Béata gives us the keys to love our pets even more. An absolute must-read!

Monaco-Matin

An exciting journey through an alternative mental universe, and a successful gamble for this specialist, who confides having received – in a dream – a diploma in cat-language translation, awarded by the first cat he cared for!

Cerveau & Psycho

In this book, Claude Béata draws on the most recent research in ethology and animal psychology to help us better understand who cats are

Essentiel Vétérinaire

It is often said that there are two means of refuge from life – music and cats – and I'd like to add reading this book to this soul healing prescription

Theresa Cheung, author of PSYCHIC CATS

The internationally renowned veterinarian and animal psychologist Claude Béata has given cat-lovers the perfect guide to their feline companions. Drawing on many years of experience and research into the behavior of these adorable and enigmatic creatures, he shows how they interact with the humans with whom they share their lives. If you want to understand the needs of cats, you can do no better than read this wise, witty and absorbing book

John Gray, author of FELINE PHILOSOPHY

Fascinating. A must for every cat owner

Philippa Perry, author of THE BOOK YOU WANT EVERYONE YOU LOVE TO READ

A highly entertaining, perceptive and authoritative study of feline and associated human behaviour, a practical handbook for vets and cat owners alike

Paul Copley

Claude Béata sheds light on the complex emotional lives of cats... a fascinating manual about the wellbeing of cats... Béata understands the animals on a very deep level, while managing not to judge their owners

Laura Hackett, The Sunday Times

The Interpretation Of Cats is a rich and wise book, packed with fascinating case histories that are detailed but never dull. Above all, it is full of feline love

Mail on Sunday
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