Cat people
Sir: In his review (The cat people, 1 January) George Gale makes, amongst others, the following statement: 'More rubbish has been written by otherwise intelligent men on the subject of cats than on any other.' Quite so, specially since Mr Gale appears to have added more than his fair share to it.
In all honesty I have never been able to understand quite why it is that so manY people take it upon themselves to write about, or indeed, to write reviews about books dealing with subjects which they are not ihterested in, have done no research into, and consequently have no real knowledge of.
With a more constructive vein of criticism allow me to elaborate : I am no feline drooler, but I have had a great deal of experience over the past forty-five years with all kinds, shapes and sizes of cats, the good, the bad, the indifferent, the hungry and the overfed, and I assure Mr Gale that the average cat is every bit as affectionate and loyal and just as capable of showing it as is the average dog. Few cats, however, allow themselves to become abject slaves as do dogs, a characteristic which greatly endears the latter to its owner, mainly due to the inflation of the ego which obviously follows. Nor does Mr Gale appear to be aware of the fact that there are also 'useful' cats. Apart from keeping mice away, at which they are better and safer than any vermicide, there are also hunting cats and retrieving cats and those who will raise the alarm in situations of danger such as fire. do not dislike dogs but it is only fair to point out that the cat is the cleanest of all domestic animals. Not only does it keep its fur clean without having to be bathed, but it is also very fastidious about its toilet, digging a hole and burying its droppings therein wherever there is soft ground. Where no soft ground is available the great majority of cats will search for a drain down which theY allow their droppings to fall—all this without any training at all.
The same cannot be said for dogs, at least not for those whose arrogant owners Push them over the wall to deposit excreta willY nilly all over my lawn as if they had some God-given right to do so. It is in fact dog owners and not cat owners who suffer from the attributes which Mr Gale lists in the first part of his review.
Donald A. Scott 2 Chichester House, Chichester Road, London NW6
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