I have a new found appreciation for cats. As you know, I am a proud dog owner. Previously, I was not very fond of cats. I always thought they were rather frightening, unkind and boring.

By some strange coincidence yesterday, I read I Could Pee on This: And Other Poems by Cats by Francesco Marciuliano and The Oatmeal’s How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You.

I read How To Tell If Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You first. To be honest I wasn’t a big fan of The Bobcats mini-series that focused on these cat characters being jerks in the workplace. The majority of the book was devoted to this “mini-series”. For something by The Oatmeal creator, it was somewhat of a let-down.

My favourite illustrations were the other sections such as if humans and cats changed roles and the comic strips illustrating the much more realistic behaviour of cats. Of course there was also classics like Cats vs. The Internet and How to Pet a Kitty.
 
 
 
 

Marciuliano’s book explored the mind of a cat through a series of hilarious free verse poems. There are four categories of poems: family, work, play and existence. 

If I had to buy a book for a cat lover it would be this one. The poems illustrate why cats do certain devious things and that perhaps we are misunderstanding them as human beings. Most of the poems start off in a vague manner and it is not until the end that you understand what the cat is doing; whether it be knocking down a vase or scratching itself in the mirror. In between poems there are also adorable cat photos related to the writing.

I don’t plan on getting a cat any time soon (or ever), but in reading these books I definitely don’t think they are boring anymore. On a random note, if you do like cats I found this random site called Catmoji which is like a Pinterest for cats.