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Call of the Cats: What I Learned about Life and Love from a Feral Colony Paperback – November 8, 2016

by Andrew Bloomfield (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 354 ratings
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When aspiring screenwriter Andrew Bloomfield moved into a bungalow in Southern California he soon discovered that he shared the property with a large colony of feral cats — untamed, uninterested in human touch, not purring pets in waiting. But after a midnight attack by predators that decimated yet another litter of kittens, Bloomfield decided to intervene. He began to name and nurse, feed and house, rescue and neuter. Drawing on his time living in Asia among spiritual teachers, he takes us on the contemplative, humorous, and poignant journey of saving these cats, only to find it was they who saved him by revealing a world of meaning beyond his unrealized Hollywood dreams.
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  1. Print length
    256 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    New World Library
  4. Publication date
    November 8, 2016
  5. Dimensions
    5 x 0.75 x 7.75 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1608683982
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1608683987
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“With humor and wit, Call of the Cats illustrates the perils and rewards of rescuing animals that live at the margins of human society. If you have ever cared for an animal, this book will resonate with you.”
― Marty Becker, DVM, America’s Veterinarian and author of Your Cat: The Owner’s Manual

“Andrew Bloomfield’s heartfelt memoir is not just about his unconditional love for the feral-cat colony that he came to know and adopt. It’s also a much larger portrait of how we can live with, and gently support, animals, who are all at our mercy.”
― Patrick McDonnell, creator of MUTTS and illustrator of Guardians of Being

“Great writing is great storytelling, and Andrew Bloomfield is a great storyteller. This book is, in a word, stunning!...Buy it for every cat lover you know, as well as every ‘not yet’ cat lover. If this book doesn’t win them over, I don’t know what will.”
― Amelia Kinkade, author of Straight from the Horse’s Mouth

“Call of the Cats is like Born Free in an urban backyard, full of remarkable detail about the wild life around us and the extraordinary emotional attachments that can exist between human beings and the untamed animals that occasionally share our lives.”
― Bruce Joel Rubin, Academy Award–winning screenwriter of Ghost

“While claiming not to be a ‘cat person,’ Bloomfield nevertheless is a deeply compassionate man in his interventions on behalf of the feral felines....This isn’t a superficial work, and the author provides many pages of references, as well as resource websites for organizations that deal with feral animals. All in all, a very engaging and highly recommended book.”
― Library Journal

About the Author

Andrew lived the better part of two years in Nepal where he followed a 17th century pilgrim's guidebook to research spiritual sites around the lower Himalayas. He has worked as assistant manager and book buyer for East West Books in Manhattan, and for Snow Lion Publications in Ithaca, NY. He wrote Learning Practical Tibetan (with MP3s) for Snow Lion. In Seattle, he opened his own bookstore, Infinity Books, in Pioneer Square, where he hosted many public events, including appearances by renowned Tibetan lamas, Hindu saints, and Zen masters. He moved to Los Angeles and wrote How to Practice Vedic Astrology (with CD-ROM) for HarperCollins, subsequently published by Inner Traditions.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ New World Library (November 8, 2016)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1608683982
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1608683987
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.75 x 7.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 354 ratings

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Andrew Bloomfield

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
354 global ratings
great fun
4 Stars
great fun
It will pull you in, a great story.
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Top reviews from the United States

Kristine Trefz
5.0 out of 5 stars Feral cats book
Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2024
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Very good story. I love it. I really enjoyed it. Cat lover
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Mark S
5.0 out of 5 stars Bloomfield’s eloquent delivery and clever wit, brilliantly provides the reader with a meaningful, emotional experience!
Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2016
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Not being a cat lover, I reluctantly picked up Andrew Bloomfield’s “Call of the Cats,” thinking it might be mildly entertaining. But after the first page I was hooked. I quickly read the next ten pages and found myself mesmerized by a remarkable storytelling-voice seldom heard. The story exploded in a half dozen different directions -- Hollywood; girlfriends; cats; the Sky Bar; and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. I knew I was in for a great ride! Bloomfield’s voice was humble but infused with a wisdom that wove its way into every sentence and every adventure. His literary voice so captivated me that before I knew it I had read 120 pages in a single sitting. Bloomfield’s powerful imagery, eloquent delivery and clever wit, brilliantly provides the reader with a meaningful, emotional experience. “Call of the Cats” has not converted me to a cat lover, but has made me a great fan of the author!
32 people found this helpful
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BeInspired
4.0 out of 5 stars Good read, but frustrating at times for the cat-rescuing audience
Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2017
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I enjoyed reading this book; it's a quick read. There were many historical and educational tidbits as well as (I can only imagine) fantastical anecdotes embellished with raw emotion. The reason why I give this book 4 stars instead of 5 is because, as a cat lover and rescuer myself, I found it difficult to comprehend some of the author's actions in the book. While he did attempt to explain his initial neglect of (spoiler alert) TNR, for example, I just couldn't understand why a rational human being with a love for cats would let kittens grow up in the bush. Knowing of the abundance of predators, watching as kittens got snatched--how did that not immediately motivate him to halt the cycle, socialize the kittens inside, and try to find adoptive homes for them? Yes, we can't save them all, but that's why kittens from feral colonies should be plucked as soon as possible and adoptive families sought. In fact, the ideal age to ensure that kittens born to feral parents are properly socialized with humans is 4 weeks. By then, they are close to being weaned and only need canned food and formula mush for maybe two more weeks before being on regular kitten food. By 8 weeks of age, feral kittens are already much more difficult to tame--they will be fearful and unsure of human contact. Surely, the author could have saved far more cats if he had brought them in earlier and attempted to find other homes for them, rather than trying to keep them in the house he shared with his housemates.) That's just my perspective, as someone who has rescued ferals and fostered feral kittens (who are all now loving and adored indoors-only family cats). So, overall, I would say that if you're not very involved with cat rescue and don't know a whole lot about it, this book will probably be enjoyable, heartwarming, and the author will probably come off as an insane cat man. However, if you're involved with cat rescue, some of these stories will be frustrating, to say the least. Either way, it's a fast read. If you have felines in your home, you may appreciate them that much more, and keep them that much closer.
34 people found this helpful
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M. Mangion
5.0 out of 5 stars With my WHOLE heart I love this book!
Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2023
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As soon as I finished this book, I read it again (to "mine" it for the spiritual nuggets included throughout.)
Like Andrew Bloomfield, I feed, love and agonize over feral and stray cats. If one or more are not doing well, neither am I! Bloomfield is wise, insightful and funny as hell. His chapter "The Naming of Cats" (which includes he and his room mates' annual "Kitty Oscar Award ceremony" (the "Koscars" for short) is a gem, and something only true cat fanatics would understand. THANK YOU for your extreme love and devotion to cats in need.
5 people found this helpful
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NJG4303
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved This Book
Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2017
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What I expected to be a diary of events about a feral colony of cats turned out to be so much more. The author's cat story was interspersed with tales of his world travels, his spirituality and his family and friends. It was a formula that made for a brilliantly spellbinding read. When I was about halfway through the book I purchased a copy for my cat loving friend on the east coast.

I was initially drawn to this book because of my own experience with a starving stray cat. On a blisteringly hot August day, it appeared on my driveway last year vocally begging for help. He was skeletal and had bare patches in his fur from being infested with ticks and fleas.

Oh, the mistakes I made in trapping and neutering him. The bargain surgery turned into an expensive several month debacle of surgeries, antibiotic PICC lines and loss of income after being bitten. And yet here he remains, living in a Kitty Tube beside my house. Loving, playful and flirtatious but never quite sure he can completely trust me after being trapped and neutered.
50 people found this helpful
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RP
3.0 out of 5 stars Say What?
Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2018
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I like cats. This book was kind of fun...but much of it bordered on ridiculous. I have yet to figure out how this person had the income to pay a vet to do all this work. It was fun...but most people know cats are fun. How did this guy, who seemingly hardly ever worked, make repeated trips abroad and buy into the India/Asian booga booga stuff and still take care of the cats and pay the vet and his rent???
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Susan J. Williams
5.0 out of 5 stars Heart, Humor & History
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2023
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This is my absolute favorite book on cats, to date. It is beautifully written, with a lot of laugh-out-loud humor that blindsided me, mostly when in the middle of a very serious situation. The author lived way out of my comfort zone with these feral cats, which earned a huge amount of respect and awe from me.
There is some excellent history of cats interspersed occasionally as well.
I highly recommend it.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Shannon Colthorpe
5.0 out of 5 stars A Catastic Read!
Reviewed in Canada on January 31, 2018
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As a feral cat rescuer myself, I found this book very interesting! There need to be more books on the subject.
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Rachel Woodisse
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written book for cat lovers
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 5, 2019
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I really enjoyed this book, it was both heartbreaking and heartwarming. I’m not sure I could look after a colony of ferals as it would upset me too much but the people that do are true angels.... this book makes you realise how important trap, neuter and return is.... I also loved how the author is very spiritual in his writing. I hope this book is enjoyed by cat lovers the world over.
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Alison Versteegh
5.0 out of 5 stars Fully satisfied.
Reviewed in Canada on January 28, 2018
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Arrived earlier than expected. Fully satisfied.
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Z. Raza
5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn’t put it down!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 4, 2018
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Beautifully written with wonderful insights and anecdotes about life, love, responsibility and of course the cats! Loved this book and hope for more from this author!
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