Could use some help...

[lagcam]

When I was a kid - maybe 2nd or third grade - I read a book that affected me deeply. Now it's been at least 100 years (ok, 30 years) since then, and lately I've been motivated to find it.
It's about a child that lives as a cat and has many adventures. I remember something about his finally being forced to try eating a mouse, and finds to his surprise that he likes it. I also think he spent some time on a ship, but I may be remembering that wrong. It's been a long time ago!
In the end he wakes up and finds out he has been in an accident and has probably dreamed the whole thing. Hmmm, sounds a little like Wizard of Oz.
Anyway, the only memory I have of the title is that The Calico is part of it. This may or may not be true, but it's all I have.
Any help would be appreciated! TIA

 

[dele]

It sounds like Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander.

Amazon.com: Time Cat (Puffin Modern Classic) (Puffin Modern Classics): Lloyd Alexander: Books

 

[lagcam]

It doesn't look like the boy in Time Cat actually lives as a cat. Otherwise it does seem close. I'll have to get a copy and find out for sure. Thank you for the suggestion!

 

[Libra]

The Daydreamer by Ian Mcewan

From Publishers Weekly
"Most grown-ups think Peter Fortune is a difficult child because he is so quiet: they "knew that something was going on inside that head, but they couldn't hear it or see it or feel it. They couldn't tell Peter to stop it, because they didn't know what it was he was doing in there." Actually, he is involved in one of his great adventures: exchanging bodies with his ancient pet cat, battling a troop of dolls come to life, making his parents disappear with a vanishing cream or discovering what it is like to be an adult falling in love. Through his daydreams, Peter learns to see the world from numerous points of view. He is the only boy at school, for example, who can recognize the weaknesses of a bully and feel compassion for him. In his first book for children, McEwan ( The Comfort of Strangers ; The Child in Time ) dextrously presents a series of strange and wonderful metamorphoses. His vivid and poetic writing, celebrating the creative abilities of a gifted 10-year-old, reveals a profound understanding of childhood.

This is the closest I have come up with.

Calico is also a "kind" of cat, if that helps at all.

 

[meredithgreene]

When I was a kid - maybe 2nd or third grade - I read a book that affected me deeply. Now it's been at least 100 years (ok, 30 years) since then, and lately I've been motivated to find it.
It's about a child that lives as a cat and has many adventures. I remember something about his finally being forced to try eating a mouse, and finds to his surprise that he likes it. I also think he spent some time on a ship, but I may be remembering that wrong. It's been a long time ago!
In the end he wakes up and finds out he has been in an accident and has probably dreamed the whole thing. Hmmm, sounds a little like Wizard of Oz.
Anyway, the only memory I have of the title is that The Calico is part of it. This may or may not be true, but it's all I have.
Any help would be appreciated! TIA

May I suggest that you perhaps are confusing two books, one of content, the other of title. 'The Calico Cat' made me think of this.

The following is one book which matches somewhat your description, yet the boy does not become a cat...

The Calico Cat, By Charles Miner Thompson, Illustrated by Frederic Rodrigo Gruger,Published by Houghton Mifflin Company, 1908

Link to view it online (digitized and readable):

The Calico Cat - Google Book Search

I hope this helps.

 

[abecedarian]

This sounds something like The Abandoned by Paul Gallico. Looks like this is reprinted. My copy looks like this. However, I don't think The Abandoned is a children's book..certainly no pictures!