Several years ago, I was contracted to write a book about stray cats. The book investigated several issues:

1. The natural history of the domesticated cat;
   
2. The history of the treatment of domesticated cats, particularly in the West;
   
3. The history of the animal welfare and animal rights movements and the ensuing wars between the different philosophical views;
   
4. The current feral cat controversies and the related topics of wildlife management and disease control;
   
5. And, what the average person can do to help stray cats, given the different choices.
   

I interviewed experts and activists, visited libraries, read magazines, inspected facilities, and talked to cat lovers from Anchorage to Miami. I scanned hundreds of journal and newspaper articles. The manuscript was rejected, but I was left with an interesting collection of material. So, I sifted through the books and chose the ones that made a significant contribution to my research and that are accessible to the average person. I don't necessarily agree with everything on this list; in fact, one of the more interesting results of my research was discovering the strong disagreements among degreed professionals about simple facts regarding cats, such as nutrition and the best ways to socialize strays.

You will find a mix of veterinary cat classics, historically significant (and, in my opinion, some very wrong) books on cat care, radical discussions about animal rights and wildlife, and some favorite feline fiction. Obviously, many are out-of-print. I have left out bestsellers that I felt simply repeated information from more seminal sources. These choices are not a negative reflection on any other books or authors.

This list is not inclusive by any means, and my research stopped in 1998. If you have corrections regarding the books listed below, or a web link to the author, I would be happy to hear from you, but I have no plans to add to the list at this time. You can e-mail me at pat@pattern.com.

As to the book itself, I plan to edit the manuscript and look for a new publisher. If I can't find a suitable publisher, I will probably post an edited version. Someday.

The list is now located on LibraryThing under the account called StrayCat. It does not cost anything for you to use the site and you are not required to supply any personal information.

http://www.librarything.com/profile/StrayCat (profile)

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/StrayCat (catalog)

Thank you,

Pat Wagner