James Herriot's Cat Stories

Rating:
Summary: Ginny and Olly
Review: I have read his All Creatures Great and Small series and his Dog Stories collection and enjoyed all of them thoroughly. Cat Stories doesn't disappoint. Besides his delightful writing style, the book is illustrated with lovely water colors that bring the stories to life. The stories of Ginny and Olly remind me of feral kittens who grew up in my backyard. They just adopted us. We eventually befriended all but one and found homes for them. Then there's the story of Oscar. We had another cat adopt us whom we called Brick because of his brickish colored fur and that he was as strong as a brick. He was a cat about town but always seemed to come home to us after his walk about the neighborhood.

Rating:
Summary: Heartwarming Stories
Review: In this book we meet Olly and Ginny, feral kittens who disdained indoor life. Frisks's ``spells'' were a puzzle until Herriot learned that the cat licked the medicine saucer of its owner, a terminal cancer patient. Oscar, an injured stray was notable for attending public meetings. Moses, a black kitten, joined a litter of pigs and was accepted by the sow. These heartwarming stories should make an ideal gift for cat lovers.

Rating:
Summary: . . . It's A Super Cat
Review: Is there species discrimination afoot in the persistent belief that cats are not loving, loyal, understood? Well, James Herriot in his delightfully insightful, poignant Cat Stories gives convincing, witty accounts that cats can and do live a dog's life. Case in point is Buster, a feline retriever who loves to play catch. Want heroics worthy of Lassie and Rin-Tin_Tin? Read about Debbie, a stray cat who assures her offspring a good home as a Christmas president to the kitten and the human who adopts it. Herriot's relationship with his own cats-Olly and Ginny-is a heart-warming leitmotif of the book as he utilizes all of his skills as a compassionate veterinarian to provide for this wild duo.

Rating:
Summary: . . . It's A Super Cat
Review: Is there species discrimination afoot in the persistent belief that cats are not loving, loyal, understood? Well, James Herriot in his delightfully insightful, poignant Cat Stories gives convincing, witty accounts that cats can and do live a dog's life. Case in point is Buster, a feline retriever who loves to play catch. Want heroics worthy of Lassie and Rin-Tin_Tin? Read about Debbie, a stray cat who assures her offspring a good home as a Christmas president to the kitten and the human who adopts it. Herriot's relationship with his own cats-Olly and Ginny-is a heart-warming leitmotif of the book as he utilizes all of his skills as a compassionate veterinarian to provide for this wild duo.

Rating:
Summary: Cat Stories
Review: Jarrod Hawk 11/4 Cat Stories review

Dr. James Herriot, a veterinarian in North Yorkshire, England, wrote Cat Stories. He lives in a beautiful estate on a hill with a large wall around it. He visited many animals and is well known by many people for his many adventures and his style of storytelling. Cat Stories is an autobiographical book, so Dr. Herriot is the main character in most of the stories. He has written several books including All Creatures Great and Small, All Things Bright and Beautiful, All Things Wise and Wonderful, The Lord God Made Them All, Every Living Thing, and James Herriot's Dog Stories. He retired after 50 years of treating mostly domestic farm animals. The conflicts in most of his stories are man to self or man to nature, because he tries his best to try to think of what to do for the animal and has to remember something. He helps all kinds of people, from young farmers, to wealthy old ladies. Dr. James Herriot is a good man with a large heart. In one of the cat stories, He visits an old lady, Mrs. Ainsworth who owns two basset hounds. She calls Herriot whenever one of her dogs does anything unusual. In the story there is a stray cat that comes to visit Mrs. Ainsworth. The rising action started when Herriot saw the cat and inquired about her. The Mrs. Ainsworth told Herriot that the cat was a stray and she had named her Debbie. The climax comes on Christmas Day, when Dr. Herriot gets a call from Mrs. Ainsworth about Debbie. He then proceeds to her house to check on Debbie. She was stretched out on the floor and motionless. However, she had brought a kitten in with her because she knew that it would be well cared for in the house. In the falling action this kitten grew into an energetic cat, which Mrs. Ainsworth called Buster. On one of his later visits, Herriot finds out that Buster would chase a rubber ball and bring it back to whoever threw it. He was a Feline Retriever! Mrs. Ainsworth said that Buster was the best Christmas present she had ever received In another story, Olly and Ginny, the Herriot's adopted cats, are fed and cared for by Mr. and Mrs. Herriot. He has to treat them, so they think of him as the bad guy. Later, He tries to make friends with Olly, and succeeds. Days later, however, Olly dies. The Herriots were devastated. Mr. Herriot then decides to try to make friends with Ginny, although she was the more skittish of the two cats. He slowly makes progress and begins to make friends with Ginny. After several months, He starts to pet the cat from head to tail. The two were finally friends. Mr. Herriot considered this one of his greatest triumphs. In conclusion, as you may see Mr. Herriot does many great, and strange, things. I believe this is why so many people love his books. His books seem to be larger than life, but they are actually true. I feel that his many adventures capture and mystify many people, and that is why his books are so well known. Dr. Herriot died unfortunately in 1995, but I believe he had a great life.

Rating:
Summary: Heartwarming, with beautiful watercolor illustrations.
Review: This is a great book to give as a gift. It's small and compact, hardcover, with very nice thick glossy pages and full-color watercolors of cats. I gave it to my grandma when she couldn't read long books anymore. Each story is about a cat that the famous vet James Herriot knew and loved.

Rating:
Summary: (4.5) A loving tribute to James Herriot's favorite creature.
Review: Yorkshire veterinarian James Alfred Wight, better known to his readers as James Herriot, long delighted animal lovers of all ages with his heartwarming stories of his most interesting, inspiring, and sometimes simply mysterious cases. I grew up reading about and falling in love with the dogs, cats, horses, and numerous other animals he treated and immortalized in writing. He had a knack for storytelling that makes his tales lively, engaging, and easy to follow. Many mourned his passing in 1995, at the age of 78.

This short collection of stories concerns Herriot's favorite animal, the cat. In his introduction, he reminisces on his choice to become a vet, inspired by his love for cats, and how he soon found that, at the time, there were very few veterinary texts on the species and few veterinarians that practiced on them. Cats were only beginning to be treated as pets and companions rather than simply a replaceable implement to catch barn mice. This, of course, changed over the course of Herriot's career, and though he primarily treated livestock animals he was often called upon to tend to the village's feline population as well.

The stories here are some of the cream of the crop of Herriot's writing. First we meet Alfred, the large tom who was a daily fixture in the Yorkshire village's most successful confectionery, and then Oscar, the remarkable cat that attended all manner of meetings and social gatherings in town. Next we are introduced to Boris, an ornery and strong-willed individual who isn't afraid to give Mr. Herriot a piece of his mind.

The fourth story brings us to Olly and Ginny, two stray siblings that adopt Herriot and his wife, and actually appear in three of the book's stories. Spaced throughout the book, they actually take on a status as a sort of centerpiece. Undeniably feral, the two are stricly outdoor cats, and it's all Herriot can do to trick them into allowing his occasional veterinary ministations. And they, Olly in particular, clearly express their displeasure. They won't let the well-meaning vet anywhere near them if they can help it. Herriot makes it his mission to win them over, and takes over the job of feeding them every morning in hopes of gaining their trust and respect. He finally manages to befriend Olly, briefly, before tragedy strikes. Happily though, a sad loss leads the vet to share an even closer bond with Olly's sister, Ginny.

The other stories concern Emily, the beloved companion of a kindly, solitary man; Moses, a tiny black kitten found among the rushes one icy winter day, and who is ultimately adopted by the strangest of surrogate mothers, a laid-back and accepting sow; Frisk, the cat who has mysterious, recurring, rapidly-developing episodes of coma that vanish almost as quickly as they happen; and finally Buster, the Christmas Day gift from a dying mother who delights his new owner amazing dog-like antics.

With ten heatwarming feline tales (or tails, if you prefer), this book is a sure winner for any cat lover. If you're already familiar with Herriot's work, you won't be disappointed (you may even have come across a couple of these stories before), and if he is a new author to you, you may very well go on to seek out his other books. My one teensy-tiny criticism is the the editting could have been just a little bit better. It wouldn't even really be a problem except for the fact that, in one story, a cat is once inexplicably referred to with the wrong name. Other than this the book is perfect. The illustrations are beautiful and the stories delightful. A perfect read for a cozy evening by the fireside.

And if you like this, I recommend his other short-story anthologies: "All Thing Bright and Beautiful," "All Creatures Great and Small," "All Things Wise and Wonderful," "The Lord God Made Them All," and "Every Living Thing" (these titles are based on a poem with the same title as the last book), as well as "James Herriot's Dog Stories." He also wrote a variety of very nice short children's books.