The book Cat Sense by John Bradshaw is a good read (you can probably find a free pdf thats complete, and years ago I uploaded the audiobook to audiobookbay, but this preview will do for not linking to amazon).

He got around the problem of cats not doing cat things in a lab by just, you know, having cats at home and observing their behavior. Sure, its only a look at domestic cats for the most part, but its a great read anyway.