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3 min read
Reader ratingreader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score
4.7
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Catification: Designing a Happy and Stylish Home for Your Cat (and You!) by Jackson Galaxy & Kate Benjamin Review: A Practical, Photo-Rich Home Design Guide
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.
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.
What readers & critics say
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 Hair4.7from 1,073 Amazon ratings— reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score
In This Review
- What Works & What Doesn't
- What the Book Actually Is
- Scope, Structure, and Visual Presentation
- Credentials Behind the Collaboration
- Reception and Reach
- Who Will Get the Most From It — and Where It Has Limits
What Works & What Doesn't
What Works
- Named Critics Book of 2014, demonstrating crossover appeal beyond pet-care shelves
- Features over 400 color photographs alongside DIY tutorials, giving readers concrete visual and practical guidance
- Covers ideas across every budget and skill level, making it broadly accessible according to the publisher and multiple reviewers
- Co-authored by two complementary experts — Galaxy's behavioral authority and Benjamin's design expertise at Hauspanther.com — lending the book dual credibility
- A New York Times bestseller with strong multi-outlet critical praise at publication
What Doesn't
- Readers seeking in-depth behavioral science will find the book prioritizes design solutions over clinical feline psychology
- Cat guardians in rental homes who cannot make structural modifications may find some of the built-environment projects difficult to execute in their living situations
A New York Times bestseller co-authored by two of the most credentialed voices in cat-friendly design, Catification makes a persuasive case that a home optimized for a cat's wellbeing does not have to look like one.
What the Book Actually Is
Catification: Designing a Happy and Stylish Home for Your Cat (and You!) is a home design guide aimed at cat guardians who want to enrich their cats' environments without sacrificing their own aesthetic sensibilities. Jackson Galaxy — widely known as the host of Animal Planet's My Cat from Hell and as the author of the memoir Cat Daddy — teams with Kate Benjamin, the founder of Hauspanther.com, a destination for cat-friendly design. Together they walk readers through a step-by-step process of designing an attractive home that is also an optimal environment for cats, drawing on design strategies for solving what the book describes as even the most daunting kitty challenges. The book features projects submitted by cat guardians from around the world, grounding the concepts in real homes rather than idealized showrooms.
“without wrecking a room's aesthetic”
Scope, Structure, and Visual Presentation
The book is illustrated throughout, deploying over 400 color photographs to document the breadth of cat-friendly design possibilities. It includes DIY tutorials, tips for understanding a cat's specific needs, and a wide range of examples intended to provide inspiration. Critics called it the Best Interior Design Book of 2014, a designation that signals its crossover appeal beyond a strictly pet-care audience. The publisher describes the book as presenting design ideas for every budget and every skill level, making it accessible to households with varying resources and varying degrees of DIY confidence.
Credentials Behind the Collaboration
The pairing of Galaxy and Benjamin is deliberately complementary. Galaxy brings behavioral authority — his background is in diagnosing and addressing cat behavior problems, and his television work has made him the most recognizable name in cat advocacy in the United States. Benjamin contributes the design expertise: Hauspanther.com has long been a resource for readers who want cat furniture and home modifications that align with modern interior aesthetics rather than clash with them. The result, as the New York Daily News noted in its coverage, is guidance on how to transform a home into a cat-friendly space "without wrecking a room's aesthetic" — a tension the book positions itself explicitly to resolve.
Reception and Reach
Critical reception was notably strong at publication. Library Journal named it the Best Interior Design Book of 2014, and Examiner.com awarded it five out of five stars, describing it as "a must have" for households with one cat or ten and praising its range of ideas across budgets and skill levels. Adopt-a-Pet.com highlighted its inclusivity: "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 book went on to become a New York Times bestseller, a marker of its reach well beyond the core cat-enthusiast audience.
Who Will Get the Most From It — and Where It Has Limits
Readers who already maintain stylish, design-conscious interiors and are frustrated by conventional cat furniture — carpeted towers, utilitarian litter enclosures — are the book's clearest beneficiaries. The step-by-step tutorials and real-world project examples are structured to translate ideas into action. However, readers seeking deep behavioral science or a clinical approach to feline psychology will find that the book's emphasis is weighted toward design solutions rather than behavioral theory; Galaxy's behavioral insights are present, but they serve the design framework rather than the other way around. Similarly, cat guardians who rent and cannot make structural modifications may find that some of the more ambitious built-environment projects are beyond what their living situation permits, even with the book's stated attention to budget range.
Frequently Asked Questions
is Catification: Designing a Happy by Jackson Galaxy, Kate Benjamin worth reading if i already have a stylish home
This is actually the book's clearest sweet spot — the review specifically calls out readers who "maintain stylish, design-conscious interiors and are frustrated by conventional cat furniture" like carpeted towers and utilitarian litter enclosures as the ones who benefit most. The whole premise, as the New York Daily News noted in its coverage, is transforming your home into a cat-friendly space "without wrecking a room's aesthetic."
what is Catification: Designing a Happy by Jackson Galaxy, Kate Benjamin actually about
It's a home design guide co-authored by Jackson Galaxy (host of Animal Planet's My Cat from Hell) and Kate Benjamin (founder of Hauspanther.com) that walks readers through creating a home that looks great for humans while genuinely enriching a cat's environment. It includes DIY tutorials, over 400 color photographs, and real-world projects submitted by cat guardians from around the world — so it's grounded in actual homes, not idealized showrooms.
does Catification: Designing a Happy by Jackson Galaxy, Kate Benjamin have good diy projects for beginners
Yes — the book explicitly targets every budget and every skill level, and Adopt-a-Pet.com highlighted 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." That said, renters who can't make structural modifications may find some of the more ambitious built-environment projects out of reach, even with the budget-range caveat.
is Catification: Designing a Happy by Jackson Galaxy, Kate Benjamin good for learning about cat behavior or is it mostly design
Be clear-eyed here: the review notes that Jackson Galaxy's behavioral insights are present, but they "serve the design framework rather than the other way around." Readers looking for deep behavioral science or a clinical approach to feline psychology will find the emphasis weighted toward design solutions, so if that's your primary goal, this may not fully satisfy.
is Catification: Designing a Happy by Jackson Galaxy, Kate Benjamin any good — what did critics say
Critical reception was strong: Library Journal named it the Best Interior Design Book of 2014, Examiner.com called it "a must have" for households with one cat or ten, and it went on to become a New York Times bestseller. That NYT bestseller status is a telling sign of its crossover appeal well beyond a core cat-enthusiast audience.
should i read Catification: Designing a Happy by Jackson Galaxy, Kate Benjamin if i rent and can't renovate
It's worth a look for the ideas and inspiration, but the review flags a real limitation: renters who cannot make structural modifications "may find that some of the more ambitious built-environment projects are beyond what their living situation permits." The book does claim to address a range of budgets and skill levels, so lower-commitment ideas are in there, but go in with tempered expectations.
what makes Jackson Galaxy and Kate Benjamin a good team in Catification: Designing a Happy by Jackson Galaxy, Kate Benjamin
The pairing is deliberately complementary — Galaxy brings behavioral authority from diagnosing cat behavior problems and his work on My Cat from Hell, while Benjamin contributes design expertise through Hauspanther.com, a resource for cat furniture that aligns with modern interior aesthetics. The review describes the collaboration as resolving the core tension between what cats need and what looks good in a home.
Sources & Further Reading
The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.
- Cited in this review
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- Further reading
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