Cat People: Human-Cat Interrelatedness in the Cat Fancy

by Emily Stone

This book examines the social world of the cat fancy, or the leisure activity of breeding and exhibiting pedigree cats. Based on multispecies ethnographic fieldwork and interviews in the United Kingdom, it explores the process and performance of exhibiting cats at shows, the breeding practices and discourses integral to the creation of pedigree breeds, and the relations that these practices generate between human guardians, the pedigree cat population, and non-pedigree cats. Through observation with cat fanciers and their interactions with their cats, the author investigates the social dynamics and relationships that form within the fancy, considering the interconnections between biopower and eugenics in pedigree breeding, the practices of pet keeping and the complexities of more-than-human care, and the implications of involvement for the cats themselves. As such, Cat Human-Cat Interrelatedness in the Cat Fancy will appeal to scholars from across the social sciences and humanities interested in human-animal interactions, multispecies leisure, anthrozoology, and more-than-human care.

224 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 31, 2022

About the author

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Reviews

[mimo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been raised with the message "adopt don't shop" so I've always been a bit leery of cat fanciers. I think Stone did a great job balancing her argument for the re-evaluation of cat fancy culture with a neutral/objective tone, though. I also learned a lot from all the ethological literature she cites.