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Lost Cat: A True Story of Love, Desperation, and GPS Technology

Caroline Paul, Wendy MacNaughton (Illustrations)

5 stars
1,220 (27%)
4 stars
1,577 (36%)
3 stars
1,151 (26%)
2 stars
280 (6%)
1 star
146 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 657 reviews
Profile Image for Bill Kerwin.
Bill Kerwin
Author 1 book81.5k followers
February 21, 2019

I love cats, but don't like cat books: the funny parts aren't that funny, the sentimental parts are way too sentimental, and the illustrations are often too cutesy for even the worst kind of children's book. I made an exception in the case of "Lost Cat," however, because: 1) it was recommended by a good friend not not given to sentimental excess, and 2) although I'm an "inside cat" man myself, I've always wanted to know where those outside kitties go in the course of their wanderings. (Boy, I wish I could put GPS devices on "Jack" and "Nameless," our wayfaring neighborhood friends!)

I am glad I made an exception. Caroline Paul has a tart, laconic style and a gift for irony. She never overdoes it, and, consequently, "Lost Cat" is funny and genuinely moving without ever being sappy. In addition, the illustrations are inventive and whimsical without being cutesy in a Disney-gooey way.

Besides, you get to find out where the cat goes. Isn't that the important thing?
Profile Image for María.
María
144 reviews3,070 followers
August 14, 2019
Un simpático libro ideal para amantes de los gatitos.
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Shannon
529 reviews12 followers
April 30, 2013
This took about an hour to read and as a potential crazy cat lady myself, I'll admit, I laughed, I cried and nodded along emphatically to pretty much everything Caroline said. The story was a bit of fun, the drawings were cute and the actual photos of GPS map tracks and kittycam footage were pretty delightful - I'm not going to lie. Overall I'm glad I won the following conversation and bought it.

Upon seeing new cat bio in store...
ME: Oooooo, I need it.
FRIEND: You don't need it.
ME: Yes, but I do. It'll go with my cat bio collection.
FRIEND: You don- wait, you have a collection of cat bios?
ME: Yeah! proceeds to list the numerous cats I've read about and cried over
FRIEND: How did I not know this about you? Tries hard not to look at me like I'm a crazy person

All in the name of kitties.
Profile Image for Sarah.
Sarah
351 reviews156 followers
January 1, 2015
When my cat was a teenager, two other young cats used to sit on the front lawn and wait for him to come out, then they'd all run off together. Up until he reached middle age, I'd see him from time to time around the neighborhood hanging out with other cats. Later in life he kept the perimeter of the yard, sometimes entertaining visitors and sometimes fighting. Now in his venerable age (18), he sits on the deck and ignores everyone. Sometimes he meows to be let out the back, and then he walks around to the front and meows to be let back in.

Anyway, I find my cat so delightful that I'm just going to keep talking about him, so I definitely understand the impulse behind obsessing over your cat, spycamming him and then writing a book about it. To be honest though, I was totally disappointed in how pedestrian Paul's findings were - I guess cats have pretty limited interests, and they tend to keep to a fairly small territory. In retrospect, I don't know what kind of excitement I fancied my cat ever getting into (though it likely involved his two favorite activities - sitting around and killing things).

What I couldn't relate to at all was Paul's hurt reaction to discovering that her cat just needed some time away from home after a particularly crowded, noisy spell. I guess my own cat has trained me well. I remember one time we had a bunch of little kids over and I spotted the cat being chased by a very robust four-year-old brandishing an adult-sized guitar. I guess he escaped because I didn't see him until noon the next day. If I could have gone with him, I would have.

Overall, sweet book by cat ladies in Potrero Hill, which is where I live (currently sans cat, who is living out his golden years with my parents in a warmer climate).
Profile Image for Maxine.
Maxine
1,250 reviews42 followers
November 25, 2012
Lost Cat is a funny and heartwarming tale of the extent to which people will go where their pets are concerned. After author Caroline Paul is injured in a plane crash, she is depressed and on pain killers. She feels that things couldn't get worse until her shy and easily frightened cat, Tibby, goes missing. She is devastated but five weeks later, he saunters home none the worse for wear - if anything, he seems healthier than when he left. At first, Caroline is thrilled to have him back but then some other emotion sets in - jealousy maybe, a touch of bitterness. After all, she has loved and taken care of Tibby since he was a kitten - how could he abandon her like that? Worse, he now won't eat at home and heads off daily for parts unknown without so much as a wink or a wag of a tail to her. She conjures up all kinds of explanations for this new cavalier attitude he has developed - he went walkabout, he went on an important and secret expedition to Antarctica, he's a pirate.

With the help of her partner, Wendy McNaughton who also illustrated the book, Paul tries to discover where Tibby goes when he leaves each day. They attach GPS and a cat cam to his collar; they contact a pet psychic and a pet detective (yes, they do exist outside of Jim Carrey movies); and they tack leaflets to every tree and post. Nothing works until McNaughton convinces Paul that perhaps actually getting out and talking to their neighbours might be the best solution. At first Paul resists, after all, who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of the people living in this quiet upscale neighbourhood in San Fransisco. Finally, though, in desperation she agrees and soon she learns, like Tibby did before her, that there's a great big wonderful world to discover if she is willing to take that first cautious step outside her door.

Thanks to Paul's great self-deprecating sense of humour and McNaughton's wonderfully tongue-in-cheek illustrations, Lost Cat makes for a fun and funny read. Pet lovers everywhere will recognize themselves in some of the insanity and cat-haters will enjoy seeing their own 'crazy kitty lady' aunt so well and lovingly depicted in Paul.
Profile Image for Sarah.
Sarah
395 reviews16 followers
April 28, 2013
This book isn't what I thought it would be (based on the reviews I've read, and some preconceived notion I made up in my head, I guess). First, it has a lot more words than I expected -- having come to it via my semi-obsession with Wendy MacNaughton, I was imagining it as a picture book, more or less. Also, I thought it would be sillier. But, it's actually serious, and sweet, and sad, and heartfelt, and inspiring. Even the goofy parts also have deeper implications.

The illustrations are stunningly perfect, insightful, funny, and beautiful. But the story is also wonderful. Not just from a cat-ownership perspective, but also in terms of being part of an urban community, and thinking about life's fragility.

In fact, in thinking about it again, I've just upgraded this from 4 stars to 5 stars.
Profile Image for Peter Tillman.
Peter Tillman
3,638 reviews330 followers
February 27, 2019
Here's a really cool writeup of "Lost Cat" at the Atlantic:
The Secret Life of Cats: What You Can Learn by Putting a GPS on Your Kitty:
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology...

Caroline (the author): ....He [Tibia, the lost cat] was cheating on me. So Wendy and I decided to follow him using GPS.

Wendy (illustrator, and C's partner): No, *you* decided to follow him using GPS.

Caroline: Okay, true. I became obsessed with discovering his secret life. Partly this was the vast amount of painkillers I was on. Partly this was a normal cat owner reaction.

Wendy (using exaggerated air quotes): "Normal Cat Owner Reaction."

[quote from Atlantic:]
There are twists and turns along the way (including a brilliant setpiece in an animal communication class), but a sly allegory emerges from all the drawing and writing: Technology can do many amazing things, but no GPS unit or CatCam can tell us what questions we should be asking in the first place. ....

"I didn't need to turn on the computer and re-analyze the maps. I didn't need to scour the photos. I didn't need to have an animal-human conversation," Caroline writes. "Clear and bright as the pink of a kitty trail on a satellite map was this final truth: Tibby had just not wanted to be at home."

Not to be missed, if you have any interest in the book. And what cat-lover wouldn't?

An actual review of the book would be superfluous: this will be #516 here. OK: It's a very short read, maybe an hour or two, but pretty entertaining, especially the illustrations. I liked it: 3.4 stars. You may just want to check out a library copy.
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Licha
732 reviews104 followers
August 29, 2013
I didn't want to be mean and give this one star because in all honesty it's not that bad of a book to deserve one star but it also is not that great. Actually, I'm wondering how this ended up being published. I thought I was going to get a quirky story about a straying cat's romps but the story was more about the hysterical owner and her overboard, pet-smothering ways.

Initially, the story reminded me of something I read/heard/watched on TV--I cannot quite remember- about a couple who had a ceramic frog stolen from their front porch. This couple starts receiving random postcards from different places on the globe with their beloved ceramic frog standing in front of well known structures from around the globe. It became an event they looked forward to, especially since they still didn't know who had 'borrowed' their frog. One day, their frog landed right back on their porch. I don't remember if they ever found out who the culprits were or not, but I always found it an amusing story. Hence, my interest in this book. Sadly, this was not that.

It was basically a picture book for adults, which I feel would have been better suited for a magazine article. It tried to be funny, but somehow the jokes never panned out. Maybe if it had been about a hundred pages shorter, I may have appreciated this as an adult picture book.
Profile Image for Carolyn.
Carolyn
108 reviews
April 26, 2013
This little book is the cat's meow!

CAUTION: If you are not a kitty person, this book may turn you into one! Catnip for humans! Even without the cat, I'm a sucker for tiny, quirky books and adorable pen and watercolor drawings. Around 175 pages, the book is a quick read yet just right. The reader is totally drawn into the story of Tibby, a 13-year old cat, who mysteriously disappears and then reappears five weeks later, waltzing into the bedroom late one night, fatter with "a silky coat...and a youthful spring in his step." But when the joy of relief that Tibby is back begins to fade, the author is left with her darker emotions: jealousy, betrayal, rejection. Depressed and couch bound with a broken leg and nothing much to do, she becomes obsessed with finding out the answer to the question, "Where did Tibby go?" Thus begins "Operation Chasing Tibby" (Hitchcock's "Rear Window" meets "Inspector Gadget.") I'll say no more. This is a true love story, filled with laughter and some sadness--a story about all relationships. You will purr with contentment at the emotionally satisfying ending.


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Philip
1,389 reviews72 followers
December 11, 2020
Should state up front that I don't particularly like cats - to me, they're the feline equivalent of chihuahuas,* the embarrassing end result of an otherwise proud evolution. Big cats (panthera), great. But little cats (felis), not so much.

That said, however, this was a thoroughly entertaining and even (mildly) suspenseful story, with a nice balance between words and wonderful illustrations, (which as a former graphic designer, I always enjoy - hence my love of DK books). The author has a lot in common (in writing style at least - hopefully not in psychological issues) with Jenny Larson, which is high praise indeed; and in fact, if this had been a similar story about horses or dogs, it would have probably been 5 stars. But unfortunately, you know, cats. Still, if cats are your thing, then I'm sure you would definitely enjoy this unique addition to the cat owner's bookshelf.

Cute interview with the authors in The Atlantic here: https://www.theatlantic.com/technolog...

* Ron Swanson: "Any dog that weighs less than 50 pounds is a cat, and cats are pointless."
Profile Image for Marty Selnick.
Marty Selnick
68 reviews20 followers
April 15, 2013
If you love a cat, might love a cat someday, or just plain like cats you will enjoy this quick easy read. Whimsical illustrations are a bonus. There are laughs, there are tears.
It's very entertaining.
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Amy Beth
247 reviews
April 6, 2014
The author of this book was way, way too whiny. I was so annoyed with her I skimmed the second half. Most of the problem was she wasn't viewing her situation with any self-love and this got turned outward into ridiculous bouts of jealousy and obsession. The illustrations were super cute, though.
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Mehsi
11.9k reviews361 followers
March 4, 2020
A missing cat who returns has the owner try to find out where the cat has been. A hilarious and fun book.

I read this book in Dutch but I decided to write the review in English.

I think I have heard about this book before I found it at the library as the blurb seemed familiar. I just had to bring it with me from the library. It sounded hilarious. A woman gets an accident (though I am still quite confused as to what the hell happened) and we see her try to recover from several broken bones (including two bones who have the names of her cats). You can imagine that it isn't a lot of fun to just lie on the couch and it gets less fun when one of her cats just disappears. A lot of stress is added, but this also becomes a fun project of hers when the cat returns. Where did he go? What happened to him? Why did he stay away? And why is he still leaving so often? Does he have a house somewhere else with people feeding him? While I don't have a cat, I could very much understand her feelings, I would have been the same as her. What happened to my cat, why is he leaving me?

I had such a big laugh at all she tried to figure out what had happened to her cat and what it was doing. We see her try out GPS (there are apparently special things for cats which I had not expected, though given how excited people are about cat it shouldn't have surprised me), cameras, consult with fortune tellers and people who can look in the future and detectives. In the mean time she gets more and more over the top with her efforts and I had a big laugh at how her girlfriend, who isn't that much into cats yet, was sceptical and a bit weirded out. I could totally understand that.

I loved seeing what happened to the cat and the conclusion to the story. I did think it was strange how people reacted to whole thing and how the neighbours acted. It was just very weird and unnatural. Sure, it happened when I lived in a flat, but whenever I have been in a normal house, neighbours are friendly and open.

I loved reading about the cats and seeing all the cute illustrations featuring them. I was crying at some points, I won't spoil anything, but dang. *sniffles*

I was also delighted to see how the girlfriend changed with the story. In the beginning she wasn't such a fan of cats, but as the story continues we see her love grow for the cats. It was wonderful and sweet and at the end, what she asked there, had me so happy (but also again with some tears).

All in all, if you are looking for a book about a dedicated catlover and are also curious what her kitty is up to, be sure to read it. It is funny, adorable, sweet, and motivational.

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
Profile Image for Holly.
Holly
296 reviews
January 10, 2019
Charming, witty, and quick. Its tone is terribly funny at times; it made me laugh out loud to myself a number of times. And I love the illustrations. And my eyes got teary at one point.

The plot petered out a bit toward the end, possibly inevitably given that a cat was the engine of the whole thing, but still a book I'm recommending to all my cat lady friends.
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Mary Mojica
219 reviews30 followers
September 6, 2021
A missing cat is the nightmare of every cat "owner". Although the story is entertaining, I didn't find it engaging. I liked the illustrations.
Profile Image for Inne.
Inne
73 reviews
March 17, 2020
A nice and humorous book about what it means to have a cat, an animal which you can't control. It was a fun, quick read through help you Corona lockdown evenings :)
Profile Image for Chaitra.
Chaitra
3,402 reviews
December 2, 2012
Being a cat owner (or slave - same difference) from the past year, and having anxiety issues every time I leave my cat to go somewhere, I thought I would enjoy this book. I did, but not as much as I had hoped.

My cat, Loki, is an indoor-only cat. He came to us (my husband and me) when he was very young, and to an extent we've managed to teach him to be scared of outdoors. We don't have a yard, and it isn't feasible for us to install a cat flap in our rental apartment. But, it doesn't stop me from worrying that he'll run out one day (he has tried), and I'm always ready to catch a flying projectile when I open the door. So, I understand the author's desperation and sense of betrayal when her cat Tibby wandered off for five weeks, and then coolly walked right back into her life. Not only is he not scratched, mauled or harmed in any other way, he's actually fatter than he used to be. Shock! Betrayal! Worse, he doesn't eat at home anymore, because he must have a food supply somewhere else! I'd be doing the exact same thing. Well - maybe not the psychic cat finder or the talk to your pets thing. But, I get her sense of purpose, her determination to get to the bottom of this thing.

The writing is hysterical, the illustrations wonderful and the subject is obviously something I care a lot about. I loved Paul's descriptions of her methods to find Tibby's lair. I also liked that Tibby is the reason she starts to connect to her neighbors. I can attest to that fact - kids and pets are great conversation openers - I find that people are more likely to talk to me if I'm walking around with a cat carrier with the cat in it. My quibble is the way the other cat, Fibby, was handled.

In summary, not as great as I'd hoped it would be, but still a fun and good book for cat owners to read and identify with.

P.S.: I like cat better than kitty. Although, I call my adult cat "little cat", "baby cat", etc, so I'm not one to complain.

P.P.S.: Tibby has lovely whiskers.

I received a copy of this via NetGalley for reviewing.
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Bookaholic
802 reviews710 followers
Read
November 27, 2015
Miau, eu sunt Xenu. Nu chiar Xenu, extraterestrul nebun, stăpânul Universului din scientologie (aș vrea eu niște adepți cu bani și cu priviri mieroase de Tom Cruise), dar de acolo mi se trage numele. Cică aș avea față de extraterestru și n-aș fi chiar cu toate mustățile pe cap. E doar o părere. Oamenii greșesc mereu. M-ați văzut pe pagina de Facebook a bookaholicilor sau pe pagina personală de star, împreună cu prietenul meu mai frumos, dar mai prostuț încet, Farsi. Am fost rugat cu o conservă de ton să zgârii ceva despre cartea Pisica Pierdută. De ce eu? Pentru că, hmmm, mă identific prea bine cu subiectul. Și eu, ca Tibby, motanul din carte, am fugit de-acasă și cei doi sclavi care mă mângâie pe burtă și-mi schimbă litiera au recurs la gesturi necugetate și au luat-o razna complet. E normal, cum să nu mă adore? Și pentru că sclava care a ilustrat cartea, doamna Wendy MacNaughton, vine la conferința aia faină, The Power of Storytelling. Sper că va vorbi despre pisici, cel mai inspirațional și superb subiect din lume și de pe Internet.


Tibby a fugit de-acasă după ce sclava lui a făcut un accident aviatic. Eu am fugit de-acasă cu câteva zile ca sclavii mei să dezerteze în vacanță în Cuba. Spre deosebire de Tibby, care s-a întors fericit după cinci săptămâni, eu m-am întors după trei zile. La fel de fericit, mâncat, relaxat, cu o privire pierdută în zare și cu un dor de ducă trezit la viață.


Ce-au făcut sclavii în cele trei zile și jumătate? Au umplut cartierul de afișe, au escaladat poduri, balcoane, acoperișuri, au bătut străzile cu prietenii lor mai nebuni ca ei strigând Xeeeenuuu, Xenuuu (îi auzeam, firește. Mă durea sub coadă), au intrat la oameni în case, au dat telefoane peste telefoane, sclava s-a reapucat de fumat compulsiv, sclavul era să-și rupă un picior sărind un gard, au plâns când un vecin le-a spus că a văzut o pisică cu semnalmentele mele probabil omorâtă de un câine (era doar să nu-i mai audă strigând Xeeeenuu, Xeeeenuuu sub geam). Au dat-o și pe tehnologie, defect profesional: Google Ads targetate pe străzile din jur pe toți termenii posibili cu pisică, pierdut, motan, mâncare, mi-au făcut pagină de Facebook, au scris la ONG-urile cu animale. Delir. După ce m-am întors, au vrut să-mi pună GPS, poate mai plec. Și-i tot auzeam smiorcăindu-se: dar de ce a plecat, dar unde a fost, dar unde am greșit, dar unde a stat el, dar ce-a mâncat de nu-i e foame?

(continuarea cronicii: http://www.bookaholic.ro/pisica-pierd...)
Profile Image for Audrey.
Audrey
371 reviews88 followers
March 10, 2013
I’m a cat lover. I’m currently wearing a necklace of a cat. I have owned dozens of cats in my life, and I’m only 30.It’s painful for me to think of the thousands of dollars I spent in the last couple of years on my now deceased geriatric feline. This book was an absolute perfect fit for me (I bet you thought I was going to say purrrfect, right!?).

While not a long book, there was a whole lot of emotion and love packed into every page of Lost Cat, making this a very satisfying read. The author, Caroline Paul, was in an accident and severely injured, causing her to stay at home and on some serious medications. At least she had her two cats, though. That is, until her skiddish boy cat, Tibia, disappeared for weeks. Fortunately, he returned to her, but Caroline couldn’t get the idea out of her head of finding out where he had been. It became an obsession, complete with a cat-cam and a collar GPS unit.

What kinds of lives do our pets live without us? It struck home for me, because my own cat, Willow, wound up being adopted by a family down the street. They probably thought she was homeless. Eventually, they moved away and took her with them. It still hurts. It’s a bit ridiculous how much we love our pets, but they’re family. This book captured all of those feelings completely. Caroline also writes about the trauma of having to put a pet to sleep, and always questioning if there was something more you could have done, and whether it was the right decision. You know in your heart that it was, but it’s still so painful.

Not only is the writing heartfelt and truthful, but the illustrations by Wendy MacNaughton, Caroline’s partner, are hilarious. My favorite was one of Tibia dressed as an Amish cat on Rumspringa. The illustrations play nicely with the story, creating something that isn’t a graphic novel, but is certainly a novel with a strong graphic element.

I think this is a must-read for cat lovers. It’s pretty lightweight, so you won’t be making a huge commitment to the book, but you’ll find yourself smiling and nodding along, agreeing with everything being said and shown. Where do our cats go at night? Find out here.
Profile Image for Diane.
Diane
2,030 reviews5 followers
April 9, 2013
Calling all cat lovers -- Lost Cat: A True Story of Love, Desperation and GPS Technology is at times a quirky book, but one that I think will appeal to feline fanciers everywhere. Are you one of those people who couldn't imagine your life without a cat or two or more? Do you proudly display cat fur on your dark colored clothes? Have you ever searched for a beloved cat? If you've answered yes, to even one of these questions, then I am pretty sure you'll enjoy this short book (fewer than 175 pages).

The author of this book has (2) cats very different cats from the same litter, Tibula (Tibby) and Fibula (Fibby). She's also in a new relationship with Wendy, the illustrator of this memoir. While Caroline is recovering at home from some severe injuries to her legs resulting from a plane crash Tibby, an indoor/outdoor cat, goes missing. Caroline becomes obsessed with finding her cat. Just when she thinks that her cat is gone for good, it returns home as if nothing had been amiss some 5 weeks later. It's obvious he didn't go hungry, but just where was he for all that time?

Caroline is determined to find out where her cat went for all that time and what exactly does the cat do when he leaves the house. With Wendy's help, they acquire a tiny GPS device to attach to Tibby's collar, hoping to monitor his activity --surprises result.

This tiny book has such fun illustrations and the story had me laughing out loud as I read. There are also a few touching moments that might bring a brief moment of sadness or reflection to readers who have experienced the joy of loving a cat. Enjoyable. 4/5 stars
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Melissapalmer404
1,056 reviews28 followers
February 24, 2013
Book #22 Read in 2013
Lost Cat: A True Story of Love, Desperation and GPS Technology by Caroline Paul

Caroline is a cat person. She has two sibling cats--Tibula and Fibula or Tibby and Fibby for sure. Caroline injures her leg which causes her to be couch bound and this lack of moving ability spirals her into a depression. That depression really begins to rage when Tibby, an indoor/outdoor cat, takes off to parts unknown. Caroline launches a search for him, consults pet psychics, pet detectives and put flyers all over the neighborhood. Mysteriously, five weeks later Tibby shows back up, none the worst for wear. Caroline then becomes obsessed with finding out where Tibby went and used technology such as GPS and a pet camera to try to figure it out.

This was a cute, quick read. Cat people will get the obsessive nature of Caroline's search. Tibby and Fibby were distinct feline personalities and that was shown well through the writing.

I received a copy of this book from the Amazon Vine program in exchange for a review.

http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com
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Kayla
1,581 reviews65 followers
December 22, 2012
I love books about cats. Whether they are fiction or non-fiction, it doesn’t matter. When I saw a book about a woman whose cat has gone missing, I knew I had to read it. I love my cat and I would be heartbroken if anything were to ever happen to him. I could definitely identify with most of the things the author was saying. Attaching a camera to her cat may have been a little over the top, but I can understand why she did it. I also liked that the book had lesbian characters in it. I know that wasn’t the point of the book and it didn’t impact the story in any way. I just like seeing LGBT characters in books. The book made me chuckle at things that only a "crazy cat lady" would understand. I also felt heartbroken when something tragic happened to one of her cats. Just feeling the authors pain and knowing what she was going through made me cry. I loved this book. I hope to find more like it. I recommend Lost Cat for cat lovers everywhere.
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Juushika
1,553 reviews163 followers
January 6, 2014
While recovering from a serious accident, the author is revitalized by the search for her beloved missing cat. Lost Cat is frequently humorous and occasionally poignant, and unremittingly cute--too cute, a little frivolous, light rather than robust; it's not a novel but an illustrated story, and takes about an hour to read. That hour passes quickly: the voice is unpracticed and its humor repetitive, but it has its moments and the pacing never drags; it's predictably resonant at all the right places, even if it seems saccharine in retrospect. The illustrations are often indispensable; their character is more distinctive and effective than the text itself. Ultimately, it's a simplistic story with a romanticized view of cats--and of course fundamentally flawed: just keep them inside, please--and I don't recommend it but it's harmless, although it's certainly not worth the original $20 list price.
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Angie
745 reviews12 followers
November 24, 2015
A cat lady is laid up from injuries and gets bored and depressed. Cat 1 of 2 runs away. She is more depressed. 5 weeks later cat #2 comes back fat and happy. Lady is jealous. Lady and her girlfriend use GPS and cameras tied to her cat to track its movements. Comedy ensues as cat roams all over the damn place. Mystery is presented: where is kitty getting delicious foods? Attention brought to cat #1 briefly. Cat lady learns to talk to neighbors and begins to develop social life. Cat #2 has been mooching off friendly hippies down the street. Depression cured. Social life leveled up. Everyone is a crazy cat person. There, that's it. Cute artwork by author's girlfriend.

As far as nonfiction goes this is the best I've read, but has also enforced my opinion that animal people don't know how to write an intriguing nonfiction story. Again, I'll stick to fiction.
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Lisa
598 reviews42 followers
September 25, 2015
It always seems slightly condescending to call a book "charming," but this one really was. I was looking for an undemanding, shortish bedtime read over the weekend and this off the bookshelf pretty much at random as I drifted by—I gave it to Jeff a couple of years ago, but had never read it myself. The book, by Caroline Paul, tells of her mission to discover where her beloved cat Tibby disappeared to for five weeks—and then came home well-fed, smug and sleek, with newfound kitty confidence. It’s illustrated by Paul’s partner, Wendy Macnaughton, who’s a favorite artist of mine—she did a wonderful graphic essay on the San Francisco Public Library—and the book is, yes, utterly charming, not to mention full of cat surveillance tips.
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Caitlin
2,391 reviews32 followers
April 23, 2013
The narrator and author, Caroline, was recovering from a bad accident, healing broken bones and sinking into depression when her 13-year-old cat, Tibia, disappeared. Frantic, she searched for him, putting up posters and contacting a pet psychic. Five weeks later, he returned, happy and well-fed.
She becomes obsessed with where he was all that time, and who was feeding him. Each attempt to figure out where her cat wanders grows more outlandish, the humor added to by the many illustrations.
Cat owners, or as Caroline calls them, 'kitty people' will relate to much of this book. A quick, funny read, the story balances the joy of pet ownership with its inevitable sadness.
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Teresa Owens
185 reviews
December 30, 2013
In the less than 2 hours it too me to read this little gem, I laughed out loud, I cried, and I sighed in agreement. Ostensibly about a cat that disappears for a few weeks and returns, this is actually a memoir of a woman's journey out of situational depression and into recognizing wonders in the world around her. Probably over sentimental for some, it was exactly what I was looking for.

The whimsical illustrations perfectly accent the text. Bought it as an ebook. Almost wish I had purchased it as a hard copy book just for the ability to loan it out.
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