How to be Both a Book Lover and Cat Lover--It can be Done

August 9 is National Book Lovers Day so live it up with plans to continue the celebration throughout the week. Bibliophiles it is your time to celebrate with reckless abandon. Flip through a book, sniff the pages, savor each word as if it is part of an exquisite meal, and read the day, night, or vacation away. 

If you live with cats, you know the lengths one must go through simply to enjoy a little time absorbed in the pages of another world. Find a comfortable chair and a cat appears on your lap. Lie in bed to enjoy a few moments with your favorite author, and plan on buying special glasses that allow you to read through fur because the feline one will be lounging on the book by the end of the first paragraph. Turn a page and duck for cover as a paw comes flying out to grab the new toy.

Over the years, I have learned that when I am ready to sink into a book, I must provide the same opportunity for Whiskey and Boris. If the timing is just right, meaning they are near nap levels and have no immediate desire to seek revenge for some minor infraction committed five years ago, I place book traps around the bed. Like a moth to a flame, the boys pick out their manuscript and sprawl across the cover.

Remember that most cats are not good sharers. In fact, they are basically greedy little beasts that find immense gratification in stealing pleasure from other members of their species. With that in mind, one book trap is a beacon for trouble. Fighting is almost guaranteed to occur.


On rare occasions, cats will work as a team to accomplish the common goal of sleeping while preventing the hired help from reading all the while appearing to be offering a service of some sort. This is how they make humans feel as if the relationship is a symbiotic one deserving of their time, money, and litter box cleaning efforts.

Disclaimer: Cat Noir CC advises anyone who attempts to read with cats to be current on their tetanus shot. Without warning your calm, relaxing activity can take a turn for the violent when your cat realizes he is no longer the center of your world, but rather a book is.

In some cases, cats will turn on each other because, although they can't read, they can randomly decide that disruption involving claws and teeth should immediately ensue and no book is good enough to get in the way of macho posturing and dominance displaying. Should this occur, it is best to quietly move to another room and watch TV.

Every Color Deserves a Forever Home

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