Though I love cats and kittens, I never thought I could fall in love with a mother cat (Oona) and her three kittens sight unseen. But that is exactly what happened when I read Heather Green’s book, To Catch a Cat. The book interweaves the story of Heather’s and boyfriend Matt’s first foray into kitten rescue and socialization and Heather’s memoir. You learn the intimate details of Heather’s fears, foibles and perceived shortcomings all while meeting and falling head over paws for kittens, Zero, Two Spot and Number Three.
The story begins when Matt and Heather discover three tiny kittens living in Matt’s neighbor’s backyard in Union City, New Jersey. Manhattanite and workaholic Heather and laid-back architect Matt take on the task of rescuing these kittens. First Matt builds an outdoor shelter for mom and babies. Then the waiting for the right time to capture the kittens begins. Once the kittens become indoor residents, the socialization process starts and continues until just the right homes are found for the three. During this process, Matt and Heather learn about feral cats and trapping and Heather learns about herself.
This is a book you don’t want to miss. It is definitely for anyone who has ever loved or rescued a cat, but it is also for every animal (regardless of species) fan or caregiver. This uplifting story of discovery, love, devotion and emotional growth will touch your heart.
My only complaint was the lack of photos in the book. But do not let that keep you from reading To Catch a Cat. Head over to @ToCatchaCat on Facebook to see photos and videos of these darlings as well as photos of other kitties saved by Heather and Matt.
Heather Green and mom cat Oona
Heather Green is an award-winning journalist and free lance writer. For 12 years she covered the Internet and digital media for BusinessWeek and has appeared on CNN, CNBC and BBC. This is her first book.
The best part of this post comes in the way of a giveaway for this gem of a book. I have three copies to give to our readers. As I am doing the mailing, I will ship worldwide. That means, everyone can enter. To do so, please leave a comment on this post no later than 5 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 16. Winners will be selected using Random.org.
10:30 AM Update
I just received these adorable photos of the kittens and wanted to share with everyone.
Clockwise from upper left: Zero, Two Spot, Number Three, Number Three, Two Spot.
I’m waiting for your book. I believe it will be great.
This sounds like the kind of book we like read to us at story time. Can’t wait.
Timmy and Family
They are all so cute. We will grab a copy and read the adventures. Purrs Kitties
Sounds like an excellent book, Janet. Thank you for bringing it the attention of your readers. Living between 2 feral colonies and a number of them are residents here now, I can certainly relate!
Thanks for the chance to win this lovely book!
We would love to have a copy of this book please.
Since I’m a cat lover. I really love your book. Sound interest. And also the picture, aww so cute!
This book sounds fabulous! We definitely want to read it. Sweet Swizzle says hi, and sends lots of snuggles, headbonks and kisses. 🙂
Fantastic review. This book is definitely on the list for Story Time. The updated pictures of the kittens was an added bonus.
Shoko
This was a great book! Please don’t include me in the giveaway as I was already lucky enough to get to review it.
Oh! I have to get this book!
The comment went in before I was done…this reminds me of my stray matriarch, Echo. She was amazing. I definitely want to read this book. Thank you, as always. HUGS!
Great review. Fanks fur your question ’bout Service Cats. As we’ve already posted da furst lesson, we won’t be repeatin’ it next week, but we will be talkin’ further about massage in future posts. You can read da fust lessons here. https://dezizworld.com/2016/07/06/service-cats-how-to-train-kitty-to-massage-without-claws/
Luv ya’
Dezi and Raena
That does sound like a great book!
I would’ve to read this book, sounds inspiring
I would love to give this book to my husband. He did TNR and rescue, adoption for over a dozen years in our small town. No kittens in 6 years! Bless them for stepping up!
Thanks for updating with those adorable kittens! This sounds like a worthwhile read, for sure!
That does sound like a very good book!
Mommy has this book to review, so we won’t enter, but we loved your review! She can’t wait to read it now.
Sounds like an interesting and heartwarming book. Good to know there are photos online (I would have wanted some in the book too).
What a lovely story and that book sounds really good!
Reminds me of my first foray into kitties. I told a vet tech friend that hubby and I would help bottle feed three kittens that were dumped on her doorstep. That was 15 years ago and one is still with me. Prior to that, I had never been around cats in my entire life. Now I can’t imagine being without! Go figure! LOL! 😀
This sounds like a great book! The mom has added it to her very long reading list. 🙂
That is so cool! And it’s a great way to learn too!
This book sounds like such a great, endearing journey. My family and I rescued Thimble and her brothers when they were 3 weeks old, and ever since then I’ve become addicted to animal rescue. Thank you for this wonderful review, and for giving us the chance to win a copy! Purrs! (We’re still sending lots of purrs and prayers Fiona’s way!)
This sounds like a very sweet book. Rescuing kitties for the first time is always a learning experience for everyone!
Sounds like a very sweet book…….we agree though that photos always bring a story to life. Love the name Oona….
Hugs, Sammy
That sounds like a terrific book. And we agree they needed pictures.
We are so sorry we forgot to put your cute badge on our Sunday post, we have included it now. We love your badge it always makes us MOL, cause we loves to get on our Mommy’s head, and we point to it and say see Mommy we belongs there.
That sounds like a lovely book.
Yayyy!!! WP is accepting my comments today 🙂
Great review ! That sounds like a good read ! Purrs
Such a wonderful review. Sounds like a great read for the summer. 🙂
This sounds like such a charming book!
We have several feral cats in our neighborhood (down from more, thanks to a rescue being able to TNR some of them). However, one managed to have some kittens under the neighbors’ shed and I had heard meowing on the other side of our fence. Unfortunately, an animal or something managed to kill two of the kittens, but when I went to check, there was one little calico kitten just sitting in the area between the shed and our fence. I reached out and she let me pick her up. That was on Wednesday. We’ve named her Kotoha (from a Japanese manga/anime my daughter and I like) and I’ve had to learn how to feed kitten formula to her. She’s the most precious little girl – only 2-3 weeks old. We lost our senior Maine Coon boy, Koneko, in February (and also lost two dogs over the past 15 months). We’ve been talking about adopting another dog and cat, but just hadn’t found the right ones. I feel almost like it’s fate. Even one of our other cats, who typically doesn’t like other cats, it doing great with her!
What an incredible story … can’t wait to read the book!