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Book Review of An Unlikely Cat Lady: Feral Adventures in the Backyard Jungle

An Unlikely Cat Lady: Feral Adventures in the Backyard Jungle
LynniePennie avatar reviewed Should be called the discriminating cat lady... on + 169 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3


Bascially, this book is about Nina Malkin's feeding a feral group of cats in her backyard and she gets involved in the TNR Program (Trap Neuter Release). She names her Ferals mostly after rock stars and tv personalities and their comical antics. While I deeply admire anyone who feeds and cares in any way for feral cats, there were a few things that I didn't care for in this book. Ms. Malkin has one stray who died, so she just throws the corpse into the dumpster and she attempts to make this comical.?! Also, there was an unattractive feral tom cat who's not very healthy and he was sleeping in an old kitty condo in their backyard and Ms. Malkin and her husband chase him away "because he's ugly". Later when setting a TNR trap, they trap the same "ugly" tom cat. Rather than take him to get neutered, she releases him in order to trap a more "attractive" cat. Did the author ever think that maybe with a little care, medical treatment and love that the "ugly" cat's looks might improve? Also, if you're conservative about curse words, the author uses quite a few. She also makes a commit about white people which is a bit racist, tho I don't think she meant it to seem that way.

Don't get me wrong, there were things I enjoyed in this book too. Being my mother cares for over 70 homeless and stray cats, I really appreciated the author drawing attention to other people (the unsung heroes) who have helped cats. Also, this book gives readers ideas for helping feral cats.

Overall, I'd recommend checking this out of the library first or swapping for it. While there were parts I enjoyed, I doubt I'd read this book again.