Start Reading Cat Daddy: What The Worlds Most Incorrigible Cat Taught Me About Life, Love, And Coming Clean Fashioned By Jackson Galaxy Accessible From Bound Copy
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: What a remarkable book.
I'm a Jackson Galaxy fan having enjoyed his shows and his depth, He has taught me a ton so to see how he evolved and how things worked and didn't! for him was a looking glass in opportunity, This book was particularly emotional for me but really rewarding, Highly recommended! Take the love you feel for one and love all, The process is terrifying. Loving the world is not like the trust fall exercise you did in EST, summer camp, or your last corporate retreat loving the world is far bigger than that and far more impossible.
I'll say this much: you won't read the book if you don't love animals, but if you love animals, whether or not you know who this guy is, this is one to read.
Not because it's brilliant but because sometimes you like hearing how much other people love being a pet owner as much as you do,
It was sort of a fluke finding Galaxy's show "My Cat From Hell," to be honest, But the minute I started watching I really fell in love with him, He's a big dude with tattoos, piercings, and he carries himself like one of those toocoolforlife guys, But the second he opens his mouth and steps into the homes of people who are desperate for help with their cats, he is one of the most down to earth, humble people to watch.
I'd go as far as to say he has a gift, but he'd probably hate that sort of term for what he can do,
See, the thing about Galaxy's attitude that makes me appreciate him so much is that he doesn't look at problems as things that can't be fixed, But anyone who watches the show and reads the book will learn pretty quickly that the "problems" people have with their pets are never about the pets, It's about the people. I'd venture to guess the bulk of the people dealing with cat problems on the show and in the book have them not because they're bad people or bad pet owners for the most part, it's because they're struggling with something personally that they don't want to face.
And that's where I think Galaxy's approach is one I can't stop watching or thinking about, He doesn't just "treat" and animal, He "treats" the people too, The idea that nothing is unfixable is something that's hard to grapple with, but it's true, There's no problem that can't be solved or adapted to, You just have to be willing to put in the work,
The book itself follows Galaxy's story from being a drugaddicted, goalless guy just getting by, He admits to living a life that's just about survival, as long as he got to play his music at night, He was happy about it, But the chance opportunity to work in a shelter really caused him to reevaluate what it was that made him happy, and he realized that just connecting with the animals there both the fourlegged kind and the twolegged kind brought him the kind of satisfaction he didn't know he could have.
And he was GOOD at it, too,
He never portrays himself as a hero or even, really, as a likeable guy, But he doesn't play the pity card at all, either, Throughout the book, Galaxy talks about how being the caretaker for Benny, a notoriously hardtoplease cat, ultimately caused him to think about his own life and choices, Being forced to learn how to communicate with a difficult creature made him better able to be a communicator with himself,
But you see what he does here Galaxy gives you an impression of who he is, but he forces you to reevaluate your own biases because he is not at all what you'd expect of "someone like him.
" Just like a difficult cat isn't that, either,
The writing here isn't very good, to be honest, and the book itself meanders a lot, But I think for what it was, it was enjoyable, Galaxy lays out what a lot of people who love animals know, so it's much less about him and much more about reminding readers that animals can be a huge part of what makes life enjoyable.
And yes, yes, yes, there is death in this book and there is more than one chapter about euthanasia, and yes, yes, yes, I cried my eyes out more than once.
But the thing is, Galaxy's approach to it is really sort of empowering, rather than painful, He just has a damn good attitude, period,
Much as it isn't an award winning book nor never will be, it's worth it to read for animal lovers, The little blurb on the cover about there being tips for raising happy and healthy cats is a little misleading, There's very little of that,
I did read this while my three shelteradopted cats snoozed happily on my lap, thank you very much,
I cannot believe I wrote this long a review about a book titled "Cat Daddy, " Read my full review:sitelink ly/cqkCY
My opinion: OK, . . LET ME GIVE A PREFACE WARNING!! IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A CUTE CAT BOOK OR ARE SIMPLY A FAN OF JACKSON'S SHOW, CAN ONLY HANDLE NICENICE AND NOT OPEN TO THIS MAN'S ROUGH START OR HIS INCREDIBLY STRONG OPINIONS.
. . THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR YOU, THIS BOOK IS RAW. THIS BOOK IS GRITTY. AND YES THERE IS PLENTY OF SWEARING!
This is one of those books that the book description is so off from what the book is truly about that I would have to ask the person who wrote the Cat Daddy's description.
What dramatic pause were you thinking Did you even read the book
Jackson's early life is one that many addicts can relate to and is written with such insight that I have seen it in many a client.
This continued on with addressing or not addressing the underlying causes for his addictions that had not been addressed,
I felt a "YEAH BOY" with his strong opinions on issues such as cat declawing spay/neutering kill versus no kill shelters, etc,
He does give advice for reading your cat, but it was few and far between, One had to really read and grasp the entire story to pull those situations out,
This book was so engrossing on so many levels and so many topics that I had to force myself to push it aside, I ended up listening to this book,