First of all, I would like to formally apologise to Ellen Whyte the prolific writer, for the awfully long delay of this book review. Also, I haven’t done much book reviews, so please pardon me if it reads choppy!
Katz Tales: Living Under The Velvet Paw by Ellen Whyte
The book’s origins came a long way from its previous incarnation – Ellen’s column in The Star, news publication from Malaysia. It must have been quite a column, if not it wouldn’t have gotten published as a novel, isn’t it? While this doesn’t contain any glitz like the Sex and The City book or the like, it’s filled with a fluffy, warm goodness that might even convert non-cat-people into the furriness of catty love!
Ellen’s observations of the behaviourial characteristics of the 3 felines in her life – Scoop, Au and Target, were logged carefully in this charming, little book. All the cheeky anecdotes reminded me of my own cats’ shenanigans, although they did not get the freedom of roaming the neighbourhood like her cats.
However, as ex-President of Singapore’s Cat Welfare Society, I would like to reiterate something that is close to my heart: don’t let your pet cats roam! Some Singaporeans are less than tolerant of our favourite felines and in our highly urban society, cats are in constant danger from cars and intolerant people or even abusive ones! Well, cats make great apartment pets, and I am sure my Latte and Cookie loves being home!
But I digress.
Despite my views on not letting pet cats roam, I am pretty sure Ellen’s neighbourhood in Subang, Malaysia is a rather idyllic one, with neighbours who are very cat-friendly and kind. That is definitely a good thing, as the cats get to explore the area, doing stuff cats should be doing, in relative safety – which was my concern when I first started reading. Fortunately, the stories about how Scoop became such an integral part of Ellen’s life drew me in.
I’d love to have such an intelligent and loving boy cat as my own pet! No spoilers here… but there was a part which brought tears to my eyes. 
This is a must-read for all cat people and I am waiting for more stories about Au and Target! I also highly recommend the tips in the next half of the book for potential cat owners – it’s concise yet informative as a Quick-Start Guide to Meowdom!
Katz Tales: Living Under The Velvet Paw by Ellen Whyte is now available in Singapore at all good bookstores (you’ll never go wrong with Kinokuniya and Times bookstores!). If you love cats, you’ll love this book. 
Thanks for this. We live in a quiet, dead end road now and used to live in Sarawak – not at all like Singapore! So our cats go in and out during the day, and are in at night. It’s a nice arrangement for all of us.