When you're looking for nonfiction reference books, it's useful to have a test question or concept to look for. Basically, "if it includes x, it's probably got decent information; if it includes y, it's no good." (For dictionaries, I like the word "chthonic".)

One such test for cat care books for me is the question of vaccinations. If a book says "revaccinate annually" and doesn't even mention that there are questions about whether that's safe, much less necessary, it's giving dangerous and outdated advice.