How to Live with a Neurotic Cat

by Stephen Baker, Jackie Geyer (Illustrator)

Modern life takes its toll on felines, as Baker and Geyer aptly demonstrate in this comic guide to help cat owners identify--and survive--their pets' eccentricities.

Genres: Humor, Cats, Nonfiction, Animals, Comedy, Literature, Collections

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Bren fall in love with the sea. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have had, over the years, so many cats. There is nothing cuter then a little kitten. I am a proud unashamed cat lover! I love them all, whatever shape or size. All cats are cute bundles of fluffy fur.

So this book is utterly hysterical and a must read for any kitty lover. Packed with information o f an extremely fun nature, you will find much of your own kitty's strange behavior has an explanation .

Also the truth of it is this book is almost as adorable as the cats and kittens it is written for. It is an homage to all our fluffy ones. I highly recommend you get yourself a copy and read it with your little Meow by your side.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5) Sure, it’s a novelty/humor gift book, but so much of it rang true (apart from cats eating anything they can get their paws on, including from the trash). All cats are neurotic, apparently, and these tongue-in-cheek suggestions for diet, exercise, grooming and sleeping habits are unlikely to do anything to solve the problem. I especially loved the daily schedule. Sample entry: “7:41 A.M. Cat goes back to sleep on the floor. Owner trips over him and falls on his face. Cat follows owner to the living room and goes to sleep on the living room couch.” The black-and-white illustrations by Jackie Geyer really make this book.

[Shel Holmes · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t think this writer even has a cat.

[Christyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read How to Live With a Neurotic Dog so when I saw How to Live With a Neurotic Cat at my library I check it out. It wasn't as funny or amusing as I thought it would be. There were a few smiles and a couple of raised eyebrows (who throws their cat at a wall? Or for that matter throws a telephone book at their cat? Or even thinks these things in the first place?) and quite a few yawns to be honest. Maybe reading about all the sleeping made me sleepy. It was okay, some of it struck true, a lot of it really didn't (I think this book focused a lot more on less desirable cat behavior - but not necessarily normal cat behavior - one of my cats used to love the bunnies we had, as well as the dogs and none of them were super destructive or as sleepy as the cats in this book are). It was okay, readable but nothing to really get excited about.

[Kellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely hilarious book. A must read for cat lovers especially if you find that you have cats taking over your bed at night. I swear the get bigger and longer as the night goes on! And how many cats are neurotic well 100% if not more. And who makes our cats neurotic well us of course. [It just made me think about that poor cat who was not consulted about getting an addition to the family. Does anyone know how to turn off a baby (Maybe I should swat at it . . . or maybe not.). Poor thing. Next thing it knew dad was trying to kick it (Maybe I should go after the dog . . .)] So learn how to make your cat less neurotic (hint: give it everything it wants and sleep on the floor).

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and true and a quick read. Only one flaw -- the author continually used the word "owner" when referring to the human in the cat/human relationship. Correct words include "staff", "human servant", "bipedal roommate", "lap provider", "living can opener" -- but cats do not have owners. The first page of the book points out that even God finds them uncontrollable.

[denudatio_pulpae · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Nie niepokój się, jeżeli twój kot wydaje się nienormalny. U kotów to normalne".

Jestem zaprawioną w bojach właścicielką dwóch futrzastych kulek. Nasza zażyłość doszła już do etapu: "w domu, w którym są koty, sierść to przyprawa". Za każdym razem zanim nałożę skarpetki, wycieram stopę o pufę, w celu pozbycia się żwirku. Zabieg jest nieskuteczny, ale przeszedł w nawyk. Codzienne odkurzanie nie wchodzi w rachubę, koty odkurzacza boją się bardziej niż pustej michy na żarcie. Odkurzam w wyjątkowych sytuacjach, przywykłam więc do życia z wszechobecnym żwirkiem. Co jakiś czas wytrzepuję go z butów, kiedy już naprawdę nie da się w nich chodzić, to najskuteczniejsze rozwiązanie. W związku z wegetariańskimi zapędami moich obydwu kocic, rośliny zielone znalazły się na niezdobytej dla nich wysokości. Miejsca te są również trudnodostępne dla mnie, może dlatego moje mieszkanie bywa cmentarzyskiem kwiatów doniczkowych. Biorąc kolejną paprotkę z Biedronki, zawsze ją przepraszam. To nie jej wina, że padło na nią.

Takich historii właściciele kotów mają na pęczki. Część anegdot z " Jak żyć z neurotycznym kotem" nie pasuje do moich pupilek, część się zgadza. Spodziewałam się bardziej zabawnej treści, dlatego ocena tylko 5/10. Dla kociarzy nic nowego, dla ludzi nieposiadających w domu mruczących kulek książka nie będzie zbyt wartościowa, może być niezrozumiała, lub co grosze- wypaczać obraz wspaniałej kociej natury.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw this book on my bookshelf, and after laughing at the title, decided to reread this book!  Although, I have to be honest since this was originally written in 1985, some of the jokes are outdated but there are still a lot of wonderful gems. 

Here are a few of my favorite snippets since they remind me of my own cat:

1) "Cat's hearing apparatus is built to allow human voice to go in one ear and out the other."

2) "Cats grow in size throughout the night - or so it seems to the owner who bears up under their weight."

3) Chapter 9 "Can the Neurotic Cat Be Cured? No"

Finally, I do love the illustrations. 

[Hubert · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun book! Deftly illustrated, every cat own empathize with the main message conveyed here. Cheers to all the neurotic cats of the earth - you will forever be cherished, and indeed, the world is your oyster (or mouse!)!

[Riona · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. The introduction made me smile --

"And then God created a furry lump which for lack of a better term He called the Cat. He looked at His creation and shook His head. It wasn't exactly what He had in mind.

He held the thing up in the air and it hung limply from His finger. He dropped it to the ground and it spread out in all directions as flat as a pancake.

...

He rubbed His beard incredulously. He didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. He knew of course that what He had just created was less than a miracle."

Unfortunately the rest of the book, while being cute, didn't really deliver the laughs. I don't think I even chuckled out loud once. Plus there's a bit too much dependence on the same old "cats sleep all day" jokes (and not much else), so it gets a bit repetitive. But it's not like this a book you're going to invest a lot of time in, so it's perfectly adequate for whiling away half an hour or so.

[N. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is supposed to be humorous but I chuckled maybe twice. It just didn't describe my cats at all. They're unusually active and it was mostly about cats sleeping (well, yeah, they do that but they also chase lasers and jingle balls round-the-clock) and scratching things (mine are trained pretty well -- they scratch the cardboard scratchers I've got everywhere and pretty much leave the furniture alone), what a cat's day is like (there was no knocking things off dressers -- how can anyone do a cat book in which the cats don't knock things down to get attention?). Can't let this be my final book of the year, so I'm going to whip through a middle reader by an author I trust.

Update: Love this review - http://cineramaetcetera.wordpress.com...

[Monique · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the last page........ Cant the neurotic cat be cured? No.

It is a little outdated, but its to be expected when the book was published 2 years after I was born. The majority of the jokes still hold up and as the staff of an elderly cat we recognized a lot of the behaviors. I read a few paragraphs out loud to my husband and our cat got rather annoyed and looked at the book as if she was trying to figure out who told all her secrets.

[Amie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read a couple of cat books lately, and this one was disappointing, really. I expected more from it. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as entertaining as I thought it would be. Ah well. You win some, you lose some, I guess.

[Kristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this for Christmas from a friend as a bit of a joke, but honestly I loved it. It made me giggle. Cats are such strange little creatures (I have 2) and they definitely have neurosis. I definitely recommend if you enjoy cats and want a bit of a laugh.

[Erma Talamante · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review pending...

[H Grimes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent bathroom reading. Accurate instruction manual for cats.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was probably more funny in 1985 before I could see every cat meme imaginable online. There are a still a few gems, though. Quick read.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lighthearted fun read for cat lovers.

[Lucy · Rating 2 out of 5]

How to live with a neurotic cat? You can’t. I have no hope.

[Janneke · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 50%

I did not enjoy this book at all. It was very clear that it was meant to be funny, but I just didn't find it funny at all. It just wasn't my type of humor I guess

[C. (Comment, never msg). · Rating 2 out of 5]

Remember when health groups understood that we needed to stop advertising cigarettes? Cats hardly come first in rescue, blood donation drives, food or toys, health guides, or books; unless that author had published about dogs first. People must stop considering cats in a secondary priority. How do you start equality? You stop publishing bullshit when you offer a book about cats. None of the clichés are true or funny, cat lovers know better, and you must stop peddling garbage to the uneducated.

If you lean heavily on species genetics, listen up. I have had black kitties, tabbies of grey and orange, marbles, calicos, Siamese, diluted oranges, and sweeties of pretty browns and golds. They have been housecats, country cats, city, apartment, solo, partnered, and big families. They lived in but had the freedom to go out by day.

EVERY ONE OF MY BELOVED CATS....

Loves being with us more than anywhere else.
They sleep with us, massage us while we read or watch movies, wait outside our baths.
They all come when called. Sit when asked. Raise up and give us “five”.
None of our cats ignored us. To the contrary, they reply to us aloud.
None ever harmed us or hoped we would go away.
They wanted us by their sides even in childbirth and natural death at home.
They are the lights of our lives and are unhesitatingly our dear equivalent to children.
Every one of our cats my whole life, makes me laugh and does it again when they see that.

Wanting to do things or not, means having the intelligence to speak for ourselves. Only the unobservant interpret a stereotype: “See that cat, preferring to nap”.

I will not recommend to anyone: “How To Live With A Neurotic Cat” Stephen Baker & Jackie Geyer (illustrator), 1985.

[Charlotte · Rating 1 out of 5]

Umm cute. Liked the art.. pointless though.

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth the dollar I paid for it at that flea market. It describes my cat pretty well, actually. The illustrations were pretty good and humorous. To tell you the truth, the textual style could get a little grating from time to time. The book could have benefitted from being shorter, as it became kind of one-note the longer it went on. It's also a little dated. Still good for a laugh though!

[Karolina Halik · Rating 1 out of 5]

Niby śmieszki, ale kiedy pod koniec lektury uświadamiasz sobie, że najlepsze rozwiązanie dla Ciebie i kota to zostawienie zwierzakowi mieszkania i zamówienie regularnego cateringu jako rekompensaty za wyrządzone smutki (np. zostawianie zbyt mało miejsca na łóżku lub zajmowanie ulubionej poduszki na kanapie, zrzędzenie, przerywanie snu), zaczynasz gorzko łkać i pakować walizki. Przecież dobro neurotycznego kota jest najważniejsze.

[Sheena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Julian actually gave me this when he was known as Ben. John and I had gone back to his mothers for coffee after a night out and he loaned me it. I read it quickly and got it ready to return to him next time he was in the area.When I tried to give it back he made it a present. will have to look expect we have still got it somewhere 22 years later and now here we are an old married couple.

[Lire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Le titre accroche, le sous titre aussi et c'est annonciateur de bon mots et de rires. Sauf que non. La mayonnaise n'a pas pris, pourtant dès qu'il s'agit de délirer sur les chats je suis bon public. Là, ce n'était pas drôle. Peut être quelques phrases par ci par là, qui ont réussi à me faire sourire, mais sinon je me suis un peu ennuyée.

[Shelly Hammond · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is cute. It's definitely one you can get a good laugh over when you are a cat owner. It made me look at all my cats a little more suspiciously here and there. Though I do have an older edition of the book, I think that the newer version would make a great gift for cat lovers or simply cat owners everywhere.

[Edwina Howard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well written book I hope was written as a joke. I don't appreciate the mention of declawed cats like declawing is ok. All of my cats are well trained. Even the strays I feed and house are well behaved and learn the rules of my yard quickly. People train their cats to be neurotic. Cats raised without people or by people who understand them are not neurotic, they just have quirks.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A silly and slight book, with such humorous advice as: "Generally speaking, if your cat no longer fits in a standard-sized bathroom sink, he is fat. If you can't fit him in the bathtub, he is *really* fat."

Nothing particularly exciting or original, but it's worth an hour's chuckle for sure.

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is not funny. Actually, I had no idea it was possible to write a book about CATS and make it boring. Unfortunately, Stephen Baker managed to do it. There are lots and lots of better books out there, and I'm sorry I wasted my time on this one.