Catification: Designing a Happy by Jackson Galaxy, Kate Benjamin cover

Catification: Designing a Happy

by Jackson Galaxy, Kate Benjamin

A cat behavior and home design guide by Jackson Galaxy and Kate Benjamin showing how to redesign living spaces to meet feline territorial and psychological needs.

$15.22 on AmazonRead our full review

At a glance

First published2014
AudienceAdult
ISBN0399166017

About the Author

Jackson Galaxy, Kate Benjamin

1 book reviewed

Catification

Designing a Happy

by Jackson Galaxy, Kate Benjamin

LuvemBooks Verdict

Best for

Design-conscious cat guardians who own their home and are frustrated that conventional cat furniture clashes with their interior aesthetic — and want a visually rich, actionable guide to resolving that tension.

Worth it if

You want to enrich your cat's environment without sacrificing your home's look, and you'll benefit from over 400 photographs, real-world submitted projects, and DIY tutorials pitched at a range of budgets and skill levels.

Skip if

You're primarily seeking deep behavioral science or clinical feline psychology, or you rent and cannot make structural modifications — the book's more ambitious built-environment projects may simply be out of reach in those circumstances.

Barnes & Noble's listing records critical coverage naming it "Best Interior Design Book of 2014," signalling crossover appeal well beyond pet-care shelves. Fully Feline praised the real-world input from cat guardians around the world, concluding it is "definitely worth the investment," while Covered in Cat Hair highlighted the book's emphasis on responsible pet ownership and the wealth of ideas it provides.

Sources: Barnes & Noble, Fully Feline, Covered in Cat Hair
4.7from 1,073 Amazon ratings— reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score

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Catification: Designing a Happy and Stylish Home for Your Cat (and You!) is a New York Times bestselling home design guide co-authored by Jackson Galaxy — host of Animal Planet's My Cat from Hell — and Kate Benjamin of Hauspanther.com, pairing Galaxy's behavioral authority with Benjamin's design expertise to show cat guardians how to enrich their cats' environments without sacrificing their own aesthetic. Illustrated with over 400 color photographs, DIY tutorials, and real-world projects from cat guardians worldwide, the book earned Library Journal's Best Interior Design Book of 2014 and praise from critics for its accessibility across budgets and skill levels. The book is essential for design-conscious cat owners frustrated by clunky, utilitarian cat furniture — though readers seeking deep clinical feline psychology, or renters who can't make structural modifications, will find certain limitations.
Is it worth reading?
For cat owners who maintain design-conscious interiors and are frustrated by conventional cat furniture — carpeted towers, utilitarian litter enclosures — Catification is a genuinely useful and well-produced resource. Its New York Times bestseller status and Library Journal's Best Interior Design Book of 2014 designation reflect strong crossover appeal beyond the pet-care shelf. The main caveat is that readers hoping for a clinical deep-dive into feline behavioral science will find the book prioritizes design solutions over behavioral theory; Galaxy's behavioral insights are present but serve the design framework. Renters who cannot make structural modifications may also find some of the more ambitious projects impractical for their situation.
Similar books
Readers who enjoy Catification will find strong companions in other titles focused on feline behavior and cat-guardian relationships. Jackson Galaxy's own Total Cat Mojo: The Ultimate Guide to Life with Your Cat goes deeper into behavioral theory, making it a natural next step for readers who want more of Galaxy's behavioral framework beyond the design context. For science-grounded insight into how cats think and feel, John Bradshaw's Cat Sense: How the New Feline Science Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet is a well-regarded resource. Pam Johnson-Bennett's Think Like a Cat: How to Raise a Well-Adjusted Cat — Not a Sour Puss and Mieshelle Nagelschneider's The Cat Whisperer: Why Cats Do What They Do — and How to Get Them to Do What You Want both offer practical behavioral guidance. For readers who appreciate the human-animal bond angle, Arden Moore's The Cat Behavior Answer Book rounds out the shelf.
Who should read this?
The book's clearest audience is cat guardians who already care about interior aesthetics and feel frustrated that conventional cat products — carpeted towers, utilitarian litter enclosures — clash with their home's design. It is also well-suited to DIY-inclined readers across a range of budgets and skill levels, as the publisher and multiple reviewers note the book presents ideas accessible even to those who are 'DIY challenged and on a very tight budget,' per Adopt-a-Pet.com. Readers seeking clinical behavioral science or who rent and cannot make structural modifications will get less from it than those who own their homes and want actionable design inspiration.
Is it more design or cat behavior?
The balance firmly favors design. Galaxy's behavioral insights are woven throughout — his background in diagnosing cat behavior problems informs which environmental features cats actually need — but those insights serve the design framework rather than the other way around. The book's recognition as Library Journal's Best Interior Design Book of 2014 (rather than a behavioral science title) reflects this orientation accurately. Readers wanting clinical feline psychology or a deep behavioral science resource should look to a title like John Bradshaw's Cat Sense or Galaxy's own Total Cat Mojo.
How hard are the DIY projects?
The book explicitly covers ideas across every budget and skill level, according to both the publisher and multiple reviewers. Adopt-a-Pet.com noted that 'even if you are DIY challenged and on a very tight budget, there's such a range of ideas for all types of people, cats, and homes.' The step-by-step tutorials and real-world project examples from cat guardians worldwide are designed to translate inspiration into action for a broad audience — though the most ambitious built-environment projects may require structural modifications that aren't feasible for renters.
How was it received by critics?
Critical reception at publication was notably strong. Library Journal named Catification the Best Interior Design Book of 2014 — a designation that signals crossover appeal well beyond the pet-care category. Examiner.com described it as 'a must have' for households with one cat or ten, and Adopt-a-Pet.com highlighted its inclusivity for readers of all budgets and skill levels. The book became a New York Times bestseller, reflecting reach well beyond the core cat-enthusiast audience.
Summarize this book

Summarize this book

Catification: Designing a Happy and Stylish Home for Your Cat (and You!) is a home design manual co-authored by Jackson Galaxy (host of Animal Planet's My Cat from Hell) and Kate Benjamin (founder of Hauspanther.com). The book walks cat guardians through a step-by-step process of creating environments that serve a cat's behavioral and physical needs — vertical space, territory, enrichment — while remaining visually attractive for the humans who live there. It draws on over 400 color photographs, DIY tutorials, and projects submitted by cat owners from around the world to ground the concepts in real homes rather than idealized showrooms. It became a New York Times bestseller and was named Best Interior Design Book of 2014 by Library Journal.

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Age & Reading Level

Recommended age

Adult

Reading level

Adult

Skip if you're looking for a clinical deep-dive into feline behavioral science rather than a design-forward enrichment guide

Editorial Review

Co-authored by Jackson Galaxy, star of Animal Planet's *My Cat from Hell*, and Kate Benjamin, founder of the cat design website Hauspanther.com, *Catification* is a New York Times bestseller that doubles as both a feline behavior primer and a practical interior design manual — earning praise from *Library Journal* as its Best Interior Design Book of 2014.

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Catification: Designing a Happy by Jackson Galaxy, Kate Benjamin | LuvemBooks