The cat's whiskers : New Zealand writers on cats / edited by Peter Wells.

Essays, poems and short stories.

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Poems. Kitten / Hone Tuwhare. Blessing in disguise / Paula Green. Familiar ; Brute instinct ; Fever / Emma Neale. The cat on the mat and the man watching / Vincent O'Sullivan -- Cats I have known. Cats I have known / Peter Bland. Letter extracts / Katherine Mansfield. Monkey / Martin Edmond. Alcatraz : marital property / Barbara Else. Landing on their feet / Graeme Lay. Small / Shonagh Koea -- Poems. The cat of habit ; A golden cat / Janet Frame. Catsitting / Diane Brown and Philip Temple. The cat climbs / Fiona Farrell. Night poem / Jan Kemp. Mastersinger / Bernard Brown -- Short stories. The cat who became a poet / Margaret Mahy. Waiting for Rongo / Vincent O'Sullivan. Sale day / Frank Sargeson. Q : so where do all the cicadas go? / Sarah Quigley. My dear Gabrielle / Peter Wells. Thinking of Bagheera / Owen Marshall. The cinematic experience / Vivienne Plumb. The couple who barbecue cats / Gary Langford. Cat house / Stephanie Johnson -- Poems. Garden cat ; Crisis ; Admonition / Ursula Bethell. Lives and lives -- the overlap cats / Janet Chapman. Cat / W.H. Oliver. Morning delivery / Brian Turner -- Cats I have known. Extract from 'Love' / Jeffrey Masson. Fred and Daisy and Jodi and Lola / Fiona Kidman. The human miaow / Douglas Wright. Cat as memoir / Beryl Fletcher. Extract from 'Cats and dogs' / Brian Turner. On attending the death of a cat / Peter Wells -- Poems. A cat called Straus ; Listening to Handel with a cat ; Sleeping cat ; Straus after general anaesthesia, dental extraction and paw examination / Elizabeth Smither. Sufficient pussy / Bernard Brown. King canary, queen cat / Kevin Ireland. Tomcat / James K. Baxter. Cat/ullus / C.K. Stead.

New Zealand writers celebrate their feline friends in articles, poetry and short stories. Tender, humorous, enlightening and lyrical, this is the perfect book for every cat lover.