"Cat Care for the Responsible Owner"

"Cat Fancy" is a great monthly magazine for cat owners. It's very informative and entertaining, with indispensable articles and tips for caring for your cat. My favorite part would have to be the humorous reader photo gallery at the end, where people send in pics of their cats doing strange/funny things. I always turn there first.

However, my least favorite thing about "Cat Fancy" is that about half of it (approximately 50 pages) is just devoted to advertisements, like for shopping (sure, the items are cute, but they're mostly frivolous), an extensive breeder directory (which I'm against; there are too many "regular" cats needing homes as well), and miscellaneous classified ads.

Overall, this is a very good magazine, particularly if you're a cat breeder. But if you're just an average cat owner looking for a little more substance rather than directories and ads, then I'd recommend looking elsewhere. Or you could do as I do and just borrow the magazine and/or buy it used. After reading a few issues, and if you like it, then I would recommend subscribing to "Cat Fancy".

Spoil Yourself and your Feline Companion(s)!

I recently subscribed to Cat Fancy after bringing two amazing kittens into my life. I previously owned another cat, now deceased, and I regret not having subscribed to this magazine for the seventeen years that I owned him as well.

The articles comprising Cat Fancy include a featured (centerfold) breed, "Ask the vet," "Humane Matters," and various other articles including topics such as how to know what various cat noises mean, and how to handle cats when you have allergies. The articles never go too in depth, but merely give the reader a taste of the subject matter, to be researched further should an interest be generated. Cat Fancy is also full of gorgeous photos, some of which are taken by readers and sent in to the magazine. The "Feline Bookshelf" section highlights more in-depth reads, as well as children's cat books. There is also an event calendar in which you can look up feline-related events in your area.

One of few things I really don't like in this magazine is all of the advertisements, as well as the huge directory included in the back. The directory may be useful if you are searching for purebred cats, perhaps for showing, but the majority of cat owners out there probably aren't. Furthermore, the magazine tends to be rather short.

Nonetheless, I find Cat Fancy to be a useful resource and an interesting read. It's a great way to stay current with kitty-related issues and items without constant visits to the vet. As with any magazine, certain articles are going to be more intriguing to certain people than others. However, at a price like this it really is worth the money for a year-long subscription!

A little disappointing

I received a subscription of Cat Fancy as a gift from a friend who knows I'm a cat lover. More often than not, though, I find myself disappointed with the magazine, especially after I've finished reading it. The magazine mainly consists of a heartwarming story or two, a page of new products for cats or cat lovers, a breed profile, and a couple feature stories about selected topics (e.g. kittens, older cats, some medical condition). About a quarter of the magazine is comprised of ads for breeders.

Most of the time, the articles don't relate to my cats, and when I do see something interesting, the article turns out to be pretty vague. For example, there was an article on alternative/natural cat litters. The article listed a few different types of litter, but there was no information on the benefits or drawbacks of each kind. The gist of the article was pretty much: X, Y, and Z are different litters, look them up and see what's best for you. Most of the information in the magazine is either too general or too specific. I won't be renewing my subscription, but I would probably buy off the newsstand if I saw an article that applied to my cats.

As a cat magazine it's OK, but compared to magazines in general, it's not that great.