Seafurrers: The Ships’ Cats Who Lapped and Mapped the World

Michelle Fern on Pet Life Radio

They inhabit many of our homes and hold a dear place in our hearts, but did you know that our feline friends have historically accompanied explorers into extreme climates, defended valuable cargo, and even survived battle at sea? While the daring expeditions of seafarers have been well documented, those of their indispensable mousers and companions haven’t—until now.  Michelle Fern is joined by Philippa Sandall, author of Seafurrers: The Ships’ Cats Who Lapped and Mapped the World. 

Philippa and illustrator Ad Long have dug deep into original sources—including journals, newspaper reports, photographs, and more—to explain how cats became “domesticated” and how these notoriously water-averse animals ended up on ships in the first place.

BIO:

Philippa Sandall is co-creator of seafurrers.com as well as editor of the University of Sydney Human Nutrition Unit’s GI News newsletter, which has more than 120,000 subscribers worldwide. She is also co-author, with Jennie Brand-Miller, of several books in the New York Times bestselling New Glucose Revolution series. A longtime book editor, she now runs her own editorial consulting agency, Philippa Sandall Publishing Services, in New South Wales, Australia.