The imagery of milking the cat brings a vision of a feline hanging helplessly beneath the udder of a cow with a frantic milkmaid. This suits Avery’s humour in this novel.
Beginning to explain milking the cat is beyond the consortia of animals, but more on the interrelatedness with humans and amongst themselves. For instance, one of the few things that struck me cold was the information on juvenile monkeys that formed mobs and went about with bloody assault of other juvenile gangs from different groups of monkeys and I didn’t know that parrots could live for such a long time as well as goldfishes.
In addition, did you know that Bengal cats’ pee is double the concentration of other cat species?
I have always imagined having a cat one day, despite being a canine lover and meaning to name it Mastani from a heart-rending Hindi movie I loved so much.
She doesn’t mince words and tells it all as it is, so that it’s not only like sitting across from Theophanes Avery and roaring in laughter from her escapades, but sitting through the nitty-gritty of the degree of smells you are signing yourself up for when relating with different degrees of animals or when uninvited animals find their way into your home and you never know, she could tell you a secret or two on how to get rid of dead squirrels from hard to reach places in your house so that your house is not infested with the stench of death.
Avery isn’t just someone who is enthusiastic about animals; she is someone who understands them. This is rightly depicted in her novel “Milking the cat”.
The book is a flipping encyclopaedia on animals, including common ones like cats and mice, dangerous pets like lions and bears and the extremely bizarre. You see how tenacious tiny animals can be and how to get yourself imaginary ones, if the humour crawls through your blood. She gives them life and at first you may swear off pets with how distinctively similar they are with people, but you come to appreciate your choices as well, whatsoever you stick with because this book is all about an experienced woman relating her adventures with animals that shared a journey with her and the ones that made one or two marks, leaving a variety of impressions whether it be a nerve dead finger or ghastly holes of affectionate longing from long term companionship.
If you are ever curious about animals with a light mood, this is the book to set you in the right path. This is a book I will recommend to pet owners and those curious about getting one.