Cat Daddy: What the World's Most Incorrigible Cat Taught Me About Life, Love, and Coming Clean

So, I ordered this on Friday night, chose two day shipping for 'el free-o since I'm a prime member. BAM shows up without a hitch. The packaging was nice and I did read about the theme of the book.While I haven't read this book just yet, I bought it as a Mother's Day gift (2014) for my mom. We get together once a week and marathon a few episodes of My Cat From Hell, and then catch up on the kitteh's on the web series of My Cat from Hell, How Do You Like Meow. What's amazing is how well that show captures the humanity in a lot of the owners, and in 90% of the episodes you're left teary eyed if not crying at how happy the stories make you.Being a cat owner myself and sharing a similar story to Jackson's I can relate.For me in 2010, I was let go from a job I had worked so hard to obtain. Great pay, good people and in the field I absolutely love. After a fellow employee decided that they just didn't like that my position allowed to dictate rules and changes that they weren't used to they, through a series of unconnected events, were able to get their wish and have me terminated for a grey area in our recently changed handbook a few days earlier. I had just moved into a bigger place and out of my parents at the time, the prior year I had a huge surgery and since a doctor had marked my condition as "pre-existing" insurance didn't cover a dime. After I was terminated I looked up and down for a job in the market I'm in, which lead to a lot of stress. I ended up having hypertension as the hospital called it, which lead to severe panic or anxiety attacks. It got so bad, and lasted so long I lost so many friends and relationships because nobody actually knew what it was like. You often get replies from people like "oh I have a panic attack and I just think it away and im fine" to which I used to reply, that's NOT what I'm experiencing. It's as if you're stuck in some malfunctioning body and your brain is telling you everything is fine, but your body just won't move.I was terminated two days after Christmas, and 3 days after being terminated a cat that I had had since Childhood had passed away. He was 18 and we loved him more than anything. A woman I worked with happened to have an almost identical in looks and personality cat. While my other one was alive we would often send video/pictures of both our cats doing similar things and comparing about how much we loved them. I get a call one day while I'm frantically trying to manage anxiety and filling out tons of resumes online asking if I could take this cat in since it was decided she had way to many cats/animals at their place. I stated that I had absolutely no money to pay a pet deposit at my place and she agreed to cover that and the first few months food bills. It wasn't long after she dropped him off that me and the cat hit it off. He sat on the edge of the bath tub as I sit trying to relax my body in a hot epsomsalt bath, he'd follow me around my place and sit with me wherever I was, always meowing at me to make sure I was okay. He even went out and would bring animals he caught in through the window I would leave open in the bathroom so he could go in and out when I was home.I would go on to have a few interviews and panic attacks in the middle of them, some I had to call on a friend or family member to drive me home, and once I got there he was waiting for me. I'd lay down on the bed or couch and he would just come lay on my chest and purr until I fell asleep or I wasn't feeling so tense.When we were hit by the EF-5 Tornado of 2013 and me and my family stepped outside to see our entire neighborhood destroyed, houses, vehicles and the local elementary school where my niblings went and I eventually drove to to help pull kids from the rubble, I would return to find that he was missing. My heart began pouring out for him, I broke down in the middle of our street with debris all around, sobbing like a young child that had lost his mother. My neighbor and father had believed it was from the trauma of seeing the things with the children and perhaps it was, but in the end it was the thought that I lost my best friend.In almost an instant of clarity, my neighbor said "is that your cat right there?", I looked down the street and saw a white plastic bag flying across the street, I explained "that's not a cat, it's a plastic bag". "not that" he replied, "Right there", I looked down once again and saw my buddy running low to the ground and scared. I yelled for him and he came running to me, I held him, and dried him off, felt him shivering. So glad he survived.3 years have gone by and my anxiety is pretty much a thing of the past and I'm almost 100% back to the person I was before. I don't know how I could have done it without him and I can't think of any other cat I'd rather have. It's so hard to walk into the pet stores and see cats up for adoption that are 2-8 years old. I almost cry just walking by thinking how somebody took them to the shelter after loving them for years, only to abandon them. I want to love each and every one, although I know I cant. I hope each and every day they get a good home where they too can be loved as much as I love my cat.With Jackson Galaxy's help, I've been able to play with and connect with my cat even more with his advice and techniques.Thank you so much Jackson.

Let me just preface this review by saying that I'm a twenty year ferret caretaker. I never had cats until I recently adopted a feral from my yard last August who we had been working with and caring for for six years. He eventually wanted to come in, so we let him. Cat guardianship is all new to me, but animal guardianship, in general, is not. I've been a lifelong animal lover and caretaker, so I devoured this book in a weekend. Galaxy is a kindred spirit, and I could not put this book down from the time it came in the mail until I finished in two days, and while it's not a light read, there is enough self-deprecating humor sprinkled throughout that the reader won't feel bludgeoned by the subject matter, and Galaxy touches on some very dark, disturbing, and controversial subject matter with regards to the animal welfare and shelter system currently operating in the US.Most of the book is the autobiographical account of Galaxy's ascent out of the hell we know of as addiction. Galaxy was addicted to everything pretty much: pills, booze, pot, prescription drugs, and food, which were really only symptoms of a greater addiction: Galaxy's neurotic fear of being a fraud and a failure -- a fear most of us have had at some point in our lives, more so painfully felt if you are a creative type -- but Galaxy was at least self-aware enough to understand that fixating on himself wasn't going to improve his situation. People always like to tell addicts to "get over themselves," and in reality, that is wise advice when put in the proper context.Galaxy did attempt to get over himself, hoping that if he focused his energy on helping shelter animals that somehow he would be able to manage his own demons and get himself some direction in life. He was right, but he didn't go in clean, so the physical and emotional pressures of working in the shelter system simply made things worse. Galaxy did find his calling as a cat behaviorist, but not without tripping, stumbling, and falling on his face along the way. Galaxy's life was a train wreck waiting to happen, and the carnage he left in his wake affected everything and everyone around him, including his cats. You can't have a good relationship with an addict. It's just not possible, and that is the truth of the story. How could Galaxy possibly have a healthy relationship with these troubled animals if he couldn't even have one with himself?Benny the cat's story is also sad but not uncommon. In our throw away society, animals are nothing more than a commodity: something to own like a designer handbag. Most people, including Galaxy at that time, are woefully ill equipped for animal guardianship, and sad to say, most people are way too self-centered to give what takes when it comes to loving and caring for an animal properly. Most people buy and/or adopt an animal because "they the human" need something. They put their human need first. Who the animal is and what the animal needs are often marginalized if not downright ignored. Animal guardianship is a commitment. It's work, and it's for life.Now I don't want to spoil the book, it's such a wonderful and inspiring read. It's about hope, and faith, and the struggle to find it and keep it - with a few helpful cat care tips mixed in a long the way -- so I'll just say: if you've worked in the shelter system, you'll get it. If you've screamed, cried, and felt hopelessly impotent while caring for a disabled and/or sick animal, you'll get it. If you've ever struggled with addiction of any kind, you'll get it. If you understand that "you" directly affect how your animal companion understands and behaves in its/your world, then you'll get it, and, lastly, if you are the sort of person who understands that people don't own animals, that they share their lives with us, and that they are unique sentient beings who deserve our respect and understanding, so much so that you are the sort of person who is willing to spend endless hours educating yourself so that you can provide the most enriching and healthy quality of life possible for your animal companion, then you will totally get it. I could rant here about the pet industry, but I won't. Jackson Galaxy does plenty of ranting in the book. We just need to support the cause.I've gone from ferret person to cat person in a very short span of time. When my last ferret passed away of old age, I could have wallowed in it, but I had a cat to care for. A cat who had had a hard life on the street; a cat who needed reassurance and comfort during the difficult transition it had decided to make. It decided to put its life in my hands the day it walked into the house on its own for the first time, and I could not have succeeded in rehabilitating my Moon kitteh without the helpful advice of people like Jackson Galaxy. If you are looking for a "How-to" manual for cats, this isn't the book. I would think of it as a "How I made myself a better person and a better guardian" sort of book. If that's your cuppa tea, then you'll get it.

First off, don't expect this book to just be about cat behaviour; while there are a lot of tips and insights into why cats act the way they do, and how we can better understand them, this is more about the (at times very troubled) journey that Jackson took to get to where he is today.Jackson is totally up front and honest about where he came from, his feelings, his addictions, and the amazing animals and people that helped him through it all. Even if you aren't a "cat" person, but maybe are struggling with demons of your own, this is a great read, but it is also an emotional roller coaster, with down to earth language (a lot of expletives, but needed for Jackson's story), complete honesty, and some hard truths. Please don't let this put you off reading this book though!If like me you have seen "My Cat From Hell", and have total respect for Jackson and the wonderful work he does, this book will help you to understand where it all came from, and why he is as passionate as he is about animals. It also helps to reassure that dreams can come true, with hard work and perseverance! If you believe strongly enough in something, then it can become a reality.Hats off to Jackson for being this honest and open about his life.

Fantastic read, it is almost unbelievable what Jackson Galaxy has been through to become the man everyone knows of today, but after reading Cat Daddy you realise that is exactly why he is who he is.Bailed my eyes out at the last chapter as I could totally empathize with it and the emotions he was feeling and describing.Loved the cat mojo 101 bits dotted throughout and have even found myself trying out some of them.A must read for all Jackson Galaxy fans.

I enjoy the "My Cat from Hell" programme on Animal Planet. So I got this book to see what Jackson has to say.It is the moving story of his relationship with animals, Benny the cat in particular. It is the story of a person who was quite broken finding their feet, the story of a condemned cat making good. Having said that, the journey is described warts and all, so it's no saccharine animal tale with a happy ending.Jackson's Kitty Facts along the way provide a guide for cat owners on important aspects of common cat behaviour.He makes it clear that the only qualification he has is empathy (with animals & people) but that goes a long way for him.

As well as lots of tips for understanding your cat and how to communicate and live together, the book also tell Jacksons life story - so far. Rather brave of him as he wasn't the type of person you'd want as a neighbour at certain points in his life.Got a copy for my sister's birthday present, just after her 19 year old cat died, she was devoted to her cat and I was sure she's never have another cat. within a week of reading Jackson's book her husband and her were down at their local rescue centre and have given a lovely home to a brother and sister tabby moggies. For that I'm forever grateful.

As I write this review my cat is under the covers on my chest so I'm holding my iPad above so as not to disturb. She shows me unconditional love beyond anything a human has ever showed me. She is my benny beyond any doubt, she has showed a bond beyond anything I expected and her name is bunny. She ran off once when I was hospitalised suddenly and with the promise my dad would feed her but he didnt I was gutted as when I got home she had disappeared, I shouted her name and within 45 mins she turned up howling in cat and distressed I know she was worried for me and she even let me pick her up, she clung to me fir weeks, I also had to b hospitalised again this week and as they were taking me away she was making the same sound marking me and I made a speedy recovery as I new I need to get back to my bunny, this time she was fed by a neighbour and very calm. It starts with her now the ego is out of it, I am loved consistently by her, I'm working on her nervousness around others and I've learnt so much from this book, also I'm going to push her a little out of her comfort zone starting with the hairdryer and treats to see if she can learn to not freak out :)