Back in March I posted that for Respect Your Cat Day I was treating myself to a copy of Play with Your Cat! The Essential Guide to Interactive Play for a Happier, Healthier Feline by Mikel Maria Delgado, PhD.
I’d been looking forward to this book since I heard it was in the works. Now that I’ve read it, it’s definitely on my list of recommended cat resources. It’s fun and interactive with “Your Turn!” suggestions throughout encouraging you to pause and play with your cat.
I’m all about looking for ways to make our lives with the animals in our homes happier for us and for them. As I like to say, training for happiness is not just about looking for and preventing problems (although it can do that, too), it’s about improving the quality of our lives together. I want us to feel great about the (too short) time we have together.
We spend a lot of time concerned when our animals have medical issues, but our cats' behavioral health is just as important.
As Dr. Delgado’s work spotlights: Play is a huge part of health and wellness. Daily play is a sign of a happy cat!
What I love about this book is…everything.
It’s so cat-focused and really takes us into the worldview of these ambush predators. I love the idea of people reading this book because they want to learn how to play better with their cat (and there really are some fun tricks to it). I love the idea of people thinking about how to spend time playing with their cat. Delightful!
The illustrations by Lili Chin are delightful. I also recommend Chin’s book Kitty Language to learn more about cat body language as well as a free course on Feline Communication: How to Speak Cat and Understand Cat Behavior offered by Maddie’s Fund.
Play With Your Cat! also has got some great cat facts. While you are exploring and reveling in cat play, you’ll learn a lot about how cats perceive the world. You can use this knowledge to choose the right color, size, shape, and type of toy for your cat, adjust your play style to your individual cat, and keep your cat playful throughout their life.
My favorite quote:
"Although we cannot stop our cats from aging and, sadly, also from dying, we can use play throughout their entire lives to help them age well."
As Dr. Delgado says, “Play is just one way to make your cat love you more!” and it’s a great way to feel good about the life you’re giving your cat.
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