Ingrid King Buckley's Story Review

Ingrid King has written a remarkable book, Buckley's Story, a title that is a little misleading. The touching, informative memoir of a loving person's insightful relationship with a delightful tortoiseshell cat, both her teacher and "little girl," could just as easily have been called "Ingrid's Story," as these two original characters mix and mingle in each others' worlds.

We are fortunate that one person in this pair was generous enough to write about it and create an unforgettable record of their relationship. King's generosity should not be taken lightly nor should the emotional courage it must have taken to write such a clear-eyed and honest account.

Ingrid King Buckley's Story Review

Ingrid King is the author of The Conscious Cat, one of the finest blogs about cats on the web, as well as Healing Hands, a professional guide to Reiki healing and well-being with a slant toward cats and their human companions. She knows how to write and does so with wisdom and even a little daring. The conventions must earn their respect when this woman is in the room.

If King had written a less personal and instructive book about her experiences with Buckley, who could blame her? She'd have taught many of us a great deal about our feline friends and aided us in supporting their health and happiness. Instead, along with all of that, she's given us a warm, loving, dramatic and direct account of the joy Buckley brought to her life and that she, by implication, must have brought to Buckley's. As a bonus, she introduces us to her other resident and more reserved cat, Amber, who finally learns to accept and appreciate the rambunctious and high energy, Buckley.

Buckley first makes a trial adoption of Ingrid (I know, we see it the other way around, but cats don't.) when she shows up as a stray at the veteranarian offices where King is office manager. This little tortoiseshell with a hobbled hind leg she refuses to let disable her applies for and gets the job of office cat, ignoring the fact that there already is one and winning a new position through charm and uninhibited affection. Buckley shows signs of having a tough life before this but is unwilling to let that track record inhibit her relationship building with the busy office manager and others.

Readers who have experience with cats will recognize Buckley's ability to get away with whatever antics she gets into, even when they lead to extra work for professionals on the staff. It really is uncanny how the cleverest of cats can get away unscathed with blunders our best human friends cannot. On the other hand, they probably let us get away with a lot of relationship errors we never even find out about–You're going away for a week without me?

As Buckley settles into the office routine and thrives, tensions arise as King makes a commitment to pursue her personal goal of beginning her own, home-based business. This means less time with each other and, eventually, a complete separation. Although the transition is painful, King honors her other commitment, to Amber, already an established partner in her home, and does not risk upsetting a sensitive cat who may or may not want to share. She is similarly reluctant to introduce Buckley into a home where she might not be able to stay.

After a good deal of transition time, which thankfully gives King the opportunity to share with readers insights into the challenge of introducing new cats into established environments, the situation is resolved, and Buckley happily completes a happy threesome. One of the most memorable accounts in the book is Kings description of finding agreeable sleeping arrangements, a challenge many of us face with less success.

King and her veteranarian friends can only make educated guesses at Buckley's age or her prior health history. When the cat begins to run into serious physical issues, they manage them with wisdom and care, never taking this delightful feline or her needs for granted, never putting her at risk for more pain or discomfort than they would for themselves in similar situations.

We see King bravely standing up to a demanding vet who has not won her confidence and, thus, into whose care she will not surrender Buckley. King languishes over her decision, but her insight and intuitions about the cat turn out to be correct. We see her exercise the consideration, love and attention she would give to a threatened relative, and remarkably, we see her do this in a way that respects Buckley's right to her individuality and honor. King puts Buckley right up there with her human contacts without pretenses about one being better or greater of more evolved than the other. As readers, we are fortunate that she has the skill to do so with style that is in no way condescending or pretentious.

And that is the most easily missed attribute of this wonderful book–that King's deceptively simple (as in Hemingway) writing style is so direct it rings bells with almost every sentence. Her genuine expressions are intensely unadorned. They are also undressed. We read and understand, but we also feel every word she has written.

Recommending this book for cat lovers is easy. You won't find better. Recommending it for others who are curious about the hold these magical creatures have over us is obvious. There are lessons about love, acceptance and humility all of us can gain from this reading, even if no cats were involved.

You can buy Ingrid King's Buckley's story on her website, Conscious Cat, or on the Amazon link included alongside this article.

Two additional cat-themed articles you might enjoy:

Happy Cats

Our Cats Travel To Paris–Without Permission