Enjoy Cat Daddy: What The World's Most Incorrigible Cat Taught Me About Life, Love, And Coming Clean Illustrated By Jackson Galaxy Listed As Softcover
me just preface this review by saying that I'm a twenty year ferret caretaker, I never had cats until I recently adopted a feral from my yard last August who we had been working with and caring for for six years.
He eventually wanted to come in, so we let him, Cat guardianship is all new to me, but animal guardianship, in general, is not, I've been a lifelong animal lover and caretaker, so I devoured this book in a weekend, Galaxy is a kindred spirit, and I could not put this book down from the time it came in the mail until I finished in two days, and while it's not a light read, there is enough selfdeprecating humor sprinkled throughout that the reader won't feel bludgeoned by the subject matter, and Galaxy touches on some very dark, disturbing, and controversial subject matter with regards to the animal welfare and shelter system currently operating in the US.
Most of the book is the autobiographical account of Galaxy's ascent out of the hell we know of as addiction, Galaxy was addicted to everything pretty much: pills, booze, pot, prescription drugs, and food, which were really only symptoms of a greater addiction: Galaxy's neurotic fear of being a fraud and a failure a fear most of us have had at some point in our lives, more so painfully felt if you are a creative type but Galaxy was at least selfaware enough to understand that fixating on himself wasn't going to improve his situation.
People always like to tell addicts to "get over themselves," and in reality, that is wise advice when put in the proper context,
Galaxy did attempt to get over himself, hoping that if he focused his energy on helping shelter animals that somehow he would be able to manage his own demons and get himself some direction in life.
He was right, but he didn't go in clean, so the physical and emotional pressures of working in the shelter system simply made things worse.
Galaxy did find his calling as a cat behaviorist, but not without tripping, stumbling, and falling on his face along the way, Galaxy's life was a train wreck waiting to happen, and the carnage he left in his wake affected everything and everyone around him, including his cats.
You can't have a good relationship with an addict, It's just not possible, and that is the truth of the story, How could Galaxy possibly have a healthy relationship with these troubled animals if he couldn't even have one with himself
Benny the cat's story is also sad but not uncommon.
In our throw away society, animals are nothing more than a commodity: something to own like a designer handbag, Most people, including Galaxy at that time, are woefully ill equipped for animal guardianship, and sad to say, most people are way too selfcentered to give what takes when it comes to loving and caring for an animal properly.
Most people buy and/or adopt an animal because "they the human" need something, They put their human need first, Who the animal is and what the animal needs are often marginalized if not downright ignored, Animal guardianship is a commitment, It's work, and it's for life,
Now I don't want to spoil the book, it's such a wonderful and inspiring read, It's about hope, and faith, and the struggle to find it and keep it with a few helpful cat care tips mixed in a long the way so I'll just say: if you've worked in the shelter system, you'll get it.
If you've screamed, cried, and felt hopelessly impotent while caring for a disabled and/or sick animal, you'll get it, If you've ever struggled with addiction of any kind, you'll get it, If you understand that "you" directly affect how your animal companion understands and behaves in its/your world, then you'll get it, and, lastly, if you are the sort of person who understands that people don't own animals, that they share their lives with us, and that they are unique sentient beings who deserve our respect and understanding, so much so that you are the sort of person who is willing to spend endless hours educating yourself so that you can provide the most enriching and healthy quality of life possible for your animal companion, then you will totally get it.
I could rant here about the pet industry, but I won't, Jackson Galaxy does plenty of ranting in the book, We just need to support the cause,
I've gone from ferret person to cat person in a very short span of time, When my last ferret passed away of old age, I could have wallowed in it, but I had a cat to care for, A cat who had had a hard life on the street a cat who needed reassurance and comfort during the difficult transition it had decided to make.
It decided to put its life in my hands the day it walked into the house on its own for the first time, and I could not have succeeded in rehabilitating my Moon kitteh without the helpful advice of people like Jackson Galaxy.
If you are looking for a "Howto" manual for cats, this isn't the book, I would think of it as a "How I made myself a better person and a better guardian" sort of book, If that's your cuppa tea, then you'll get it, I picked this up off of a library display of cat and dog books, Id heard of Mr. Galaxys show but never seen it because I dont have cable, Anyway, this isnt exactly a cat book its a memoir about a guy who discovered he had a Gift for understanding cats,
Mr. Galaxys early life was as a rock musician, where he became addicted to everything: alcohol, street drugs, prescription drugs, food, He eventually B. S. d his way into a job at an animal shelter, which was brutal at times, While he connected with dogs as well as cats, he found that dogs speak Human better than cats do, so cats need extra help to get them adopted.
Mr, Galaxy gives some tips on cats and tells about his cat Benny, a crazy, difficult cat, and his journey to getting clean, Its brutally honest and sometimes crazy yet relatable, and the stories of Benny got me to tear up a little,
We need to be angry to move toward any systemic change, But ultimately the fingers have to stop pointing and the hand has to get down to workand that work is always messy, There are still those who gather just enough information to make themselves dangerous and then froth at the mouth about what they deem the inherent negligence, incompetence, and, worst of all, apathy at kill shelters.
These are the people who hurled epithets like “Nazi” at me and who do so to others in the field every day, Excuse me Really Youre blaming all shelter administrators and workers for killing because theyre, what heartless and lazy Sorry, Naiveté is one thing, but naiveté cloaked in righteousness is something else, So to all the people, then and thankfully fewer now, who vilify workers in the killshelter system, screaming about nokill while doing nothing about the actual problem: f you.
To the shelters who say youre nokill so you can get the donations but then turn away blind cats or twelveyearold dogs so that they dont mess up your numbers and you dont have to be the ones who euthanize them when nobody adopts them: f you.
To the people who sneer at the euthanasia shelters for doing your dirty work for you so you can keep your hands clean: f you.
Twice.
Language: Steady amount of strong language
Sexual Content: Implied only
Violence: I think somebody gets punched once,
Harm to Animals:
Harm to Children:
Other Triggers:
More reviews and no fluff on the blog sitelink wordpress. com/I chose to list to the audio version of this book, narrated by Jackson Galaxy, Really, there is nothing more poignant, emotional, and compelling than a book with this much pathos actually narrated by the author himself, It allows Galaxy to punctuate and accurately show the triumphs and failures in his own unique voice,
As the title suggests, this is about the 'cat daddy' as he was nicknamed, But it is also about his relationship with a very unhappy cat hit by a car, abandoned he fostered early in his cat behavior career.
Though both animals, human and feline, had a lot stacked up against them, they manage together to create a relationship, In the end, Jackson learns a lot about feline behavior through his difficult charges and the cat, Benny, is given as comfortable a life as can be achieved with the amount of physical debilitations with which he will be challenged.
This is a book about recovery from several types of addictions eating disorders, prescription drugs, illegal drugs, etc, Although it had the potential to become preachy and I'm very sensitive to that, so I was worried going in, I found that he really didn't shove anything down anyone's throat.
Similarly to how he deals with cats, he doesn't force a viewpoint, he lays it out and leaves it there to be dissected or ignored.
This is a relatively short book, It is broken down into vignettes/events that characterized certain points of his 'cat daddy' life, It starts with working at a shelter, where he will eventually meet Benny, and really ends with Benny's death a heartwrenching chapter years later, In between, both will go through a lot to arrive at that point,
This isn't a book about cat behavior and it isn't a book about his cat Benny, It's about the man behind the cat and it makes for a compelling, honest, easytofollow and in many ways uplifting story of a cat advocate.
And yes, the audio version of this is AMAZING definitely hold out for the audio version!
Note that there is an extra chapter at the end with cat behavior recommendations.
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