Cat Play And Toys ... Cats often play with toys that behave more like fearful prey trying to escape than toys that mimic a more confrontational prey... Cats claws and mouth can contain bacteria that can lead to infection, so it is wise to clean and treat any wounds with an antiseptic solution and seek professional medical services if there is belief that the wound has become infected...
Dog ... The present lineage of dogs was domesticated from gray wolves about 15,000 years ago. Remains of domesticated dogs have been found in Siberia and Belgium from about 33,000 years ago...
Feline Vaccination ... Available vaccines Vaccines against the following diseases are available: Core Feline viral rhinotracheitis (FVR) is an upper respiratory infection of cats caused by feline herpesvirus 1 (FHV-1), of the family Herpesviridae... All members of the Felidae (cat) family are susceptible to FVR, Feline calicivirus (FCV) is a virus of the family Caliciviridae that causes disease in cats... Rabies in cats is a fatal disease transmitted by the bite of an infected mammal, such as a dog, raccoon, bat, or another cat...
Dog Health ... Infectious diseases that affect dogs are important not only from a veterinary standpoint, but also because of the risk to public health; an example of this is rabies. Genetic disorders also affect dogs, often due to selective breeding to produce individual dog breeds...
Felidae ... National Cancer Institute demonstrated that ancient cats evolved into eight main lineages that diverged in the course of at least 10 migrations (in both directions) from continent to continent via the Bering land bridge and Isthmus of Panama, with the Panthera genus being the oldest and the Felis genus being the youngest... They estimated that 60 percent of the modern species of cats developed within the last million years...
List Of Extinct Birds ... Currently there are approximately 10,000 species of birds, with an estimated 1,200 considered to be under threat of extinction. Island species in general, and flightless island species in particular are most at risk...
Cat ... Cats are similar in anatomy to the other felids, with strong, flexible bodies, quick reflexes, sharp retractable claws, and teeth adapted to killing small prey... As crepuscular predators, cats use their acute hearing and ability to see in near darkness to locate prey... Not only can cats hear sounds too faint for human ears, they can also hear sounds higher in frequency than humans can perceive...
Purebred ... The term purebred is occasionally confused with the proper noun Thoroughbred, which refers exclusively to a specific breed of horse, one of the first breeds for which a written national stud book was created since the 18th century. Thus a purebred animal should never be called a "thoroughbred" unless the animal actually is a registered Thoroughbred horse...
Castration ... Castration was frequently used for religious or social reasons in certain cultures in Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, Africa, and East Asia. After battles in some cases, winners castrated their captives or the corpses of the defeated to symbolize their victory and "seize" their power...
Cultural Depictions Of Cats ... Black cats are generally held to be unlucky in the United States and Europe, and to portend good luck in the United Kingdom... White cats, bearing the colour of ghosts, are conversely held to be unlucky in the United Kingdom, while tortoiseshell cats are lucky... Cats were seen as good luck charms by actors, and the cats often helped cure the actors' stage fright...
Canine Reproduction ... In domesticated species one of the first and strongest effects seen from selective breeding is selection for cooperation with the breeding process as directed by humans. One of the behaviors noted is the abolition of the pair bond seen in wild canines...
Cat Senses ... Many cats have a visual field of view estimated at 200°, versus 180° in humans, with a binocular field (overlap in the images from each eye) narrower than that of humans... Instead of the fovea, which gives humans sharp central vision, cats have a central band known as the visual streak... Cats can see some colors, and can tell the difference between red, blue and yellow lights, as well as between red and green lights...
Bird Conservation ... See Late Quaternary prehistoric birds for birds which disappeared in prehistoric and early historic times, usually due to human activity (i.e., starting with the Upper Paleolithic Revolution). For birds having gone extinct in modern times (since 1500), see Extinct birds...
Bird ... Modern birds are characterised by feathers, a beak with no teeth, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a lightweight but strong skeleton. All living species of birds have wings—the now extinct flightless moa of New Zealand were the only exception...
List Of Cat Breeds ... The domestic shorthair and domestic longhair are not breeds but terms used in cat fancy to describe cats that do not belong to a particular breed...
Fishkeeping ... Many fishkeepers create freshwater aquascapes where the focus is on aquatic plants as well as fish. These aquaria include "Dutch Aquaria", named for European aquarists who designed them...
Animal Worship ... The origins of animal worship have been the subject of many theories. The classical author Diodorus explained the origin of animal-worship by recalling the myth in which the gods, supposedly threatened by giants, hid under the guise of animals...
Cat Behavior ... Though cats sit happily on a hard surface, they only knead a soft or pliant surface, although some cats reflexively "march" on hard surfaces instead of kneading them... Typically, cats avoid contact when they feel threatened, although they can resort to varying degrees of aggression when they feel cornered, or when escape is impossible... Most commonly, cats pant in response to environmental changes, such as anxiety, fear, excitement, or heat...
Mercury In Fish ... The presence of mercury in fish can be a health issue, particularly for women who are or may become pregnant, nursing mothers, and young children. Biomagnification Mercury and methylmercury is present in only very small concentrations in seawater...
Cats In Ancient Egypt ... As a revered animal and one important to Egyptian society and religion, some cats received the same mummification after death as humans... Cats in everyday life in Ancient Egypt Wild cats naturally preyed upon the rats and other vermin that ate from the royal granaries... Cats in Egyptian mythology Egypt was not always unified; initially, it was a land with many regional tribes and nomes...
Feral Cat ... In many parts of the world, feral cats are descendants of domestic cats that were left behind by travelers... Because cats are not native to all parts of the world, feral cats can cause harm to local environments by preying on local species... This is especially true on islands where feral cats have sometimes had a substantial and deleterious effect on the local fauna...
Cat Health ... Some common and preventable forms of zoonosis are as follows: Toxoplasmosis Giardia Cat-scratch disease Rabies Ringworm Diet and nutrition Further information: cat food See also: pet food Veterinarians commonly recommend commercial cat foods that are formulated to address the specific nutritional requirements of cats although an increasing number of owners are opting for home-prepared cooked or raw diets... Although cats are obligate carnivores, vegetarian and vegan cat food are preferred by owners uncomfortable with feeding animal products to their pets... Although meat protein can be substituted with vegetable proteins, vegetable proteins don't require sufficient amino acids which are vital for a cats body to function...
Neutering ... This is especially significant in male cats due to the extreme undesirability of male cat sexual behavior for many pet owners... Prevention of mammary tumors: Female cats and dogs are about seven times less likely to develop mammary tumors if they are spayed before their first heat cycle... In one study the risk of anesthetic-related death (not limited to neutering procedures) was estimated at 0.05% for healthy dogs and 0.11% for healthy cats...
Further Reading: Dogs
Wolf Attacks On Humans ... Compared to other carnivorous mammals known to attack humans in general, the frequency with which wolves have been recorded to kill or prey on people is much lower, indicating that though potentially dangerous, wolves are among the least threatening for their size and predatory potential. Causes and differing types of attack Attacks due to provocation have occurred, usually involving shepherds defending their flocks, though none recorded fatalities...
Coat (dog) ... Domestic dogs often display the remnants of countershading, a common natural camouflage pattern. The basic principle of countershading is when the animal is lit from above, shadows will be cast on the ventral side of the body...
Dog Anatomy ... All dogs (and all living Canidae) have a ligament connecting the spinous process of their first thoracic (or chest) vertebrae to the back of the axis bone (second cervical or neck bone), which supports the weight of the head without active muscle exertion, thus saving energy... This ligament allows dogs to carry their heads while running long distances, such as while following scent trails with their nose to the ground, without expending much energy...
Dog Breed ... The American Kennel Club, for instance, allows mixed-breed dogs to be shown but requires these animals to be altered... California Assembly Act AB 1634 was a bill introduced in 2007 that would require all non-working dogs of mixed breed over the age of 6 months to be neutered or spayed... The clear genetic distinction between breeds of dog has made dogs of specific breeds good subjects for genetic and human medical research...
Origin Of The Domestic Dog ... Due to the difficulty in assessing the structural differences in bones, the identification of a domestic dog based on cultural evidence is of special value. Perhaps the earliest clear evidence for this domestication is the first dog found buried together with human from 12,000 years ago in Palestine and a burial site in Germany called Bonn-Oberkassel with joint human and dog interments dating to 14,000 years ago...
Coywolf ... Therefore it was concluded that domestic dogs and gray wolves are the same species and that the coyote is a separate species from both... In the early fall of 2010 there was a report given of a coywolf attack on an old man walking his dogs near the humber river in downtown Toronto...
Dog Skin Disorders ... Some of the allergens associated with canine AD include pollens of trees, grasses and weeds, as well as molds and House dust mite. Ear and skin infections with the bacteria Staphylococcus pseudintermedius and the yeast Malassezia pachydermatis are common secondary to canine AD...
Breed Registry ... Kennel clubs always maintain registries, either directly or through affiliated dog breed clubs. Some multi-breed clubs also maintain registries, as do non-affiliated breed clubs, and there are a few registries that are maintained by other private entities such as insurance agencies; an example of this in the United States is the Field Dog Stud Book...
Bloat ... Causes Bloat in dogs is likely caused by a multitude of factors, but in all cases the immediate prerequisite is a dysfunction of the sphincter between the esophagus and stomach and an obstruction of outflow through the pylorus,or a clog... Studies have indicated that the risk of bloat in dogs perceived as happy by their owners is decreased, and increased in dogs perceived as fearful... This may be due to the physiological effects of the dog's personality on the function and motility of the gastrointestinal system.; alternatively perhaps the dogs become unhappy/uncomfortable as a consequence of the conditions that lead up to exhibiting bloat...
Black Wolf ... "I suppose that some of the variability exhibited in these wolves could have resulted from crossings in the wild with dogs... Some years ago at Circle, Alaska, a wolf hung around the settlement for some time and some of the dogs were seen with it... The amount of crossing with dogs has probably not been sufficient to alter much the genetic composition of the wolf population." — The Wolves of Mount McKinley by Adolph Murie, 1944, ISBN 0-295-96203-8, 978-0-295-96203-0, 238 pages In 2008, Dr...
Veterinary Physician ... In many countries, the local nomenclature for a vet is a regulated and protected term, meaning that members of the public without the prerequisite qualifications and/or registration are not able to use the title. In many cases, the activities that may be undertaken by a veterinarian (such as animal treatment or surgery) are restricted only to those professionals who are registered as vet...
Silver Dapple Gene ... Mature black silvers typically have sooty white or silver manes and tails with a flat, non-fading, dark grey or grey-brown body coat. The body coat frequently exhibits dapples, rings of lighter-colored hair...
Hypoallergenic Dog Breed ... "We think there really are differences in protein production between dogs that may help one patient and not another," Dr... Also, the amount of the allergen can be reduced or eliminated in individual dogs by treatments such as bathing...
Wolves In Great Britain ... This imposition was maintained until the Norman conquest of England. At the time, several criminals, rather than being put to death, would be ordered to provide a certain number of wolf tongues annually...
Vaccination Of Dogs ... Currently, there are geographically defined core vaccines and individually chosen non-core vaccine recommendations for dogs...
Miniature Horse ... Miniature horses are friendly and interact well with people. For this reason they are often kept as family pets, though they still retain natural horse behavior, including a natural fight or flight instinct, and must be treated like an equine, even if they primarily serve as a companion animal...
Wolves In Ireland ... The Morrígan was said to take on the form of a red-furred wolf, particularly in her battle with the hero Cú Chulainn. Mac Cecht killed a wolf feeding on a still living woman on a battlefield...
Wolfdog ... In first generation hybrids, gray wolves are most often crossed with wolf-like dogs (such as German Shepherds, Siberian Huskies, and Alaskan Malamutes) for an appearance most appealing to owners desiring to own an exotic pet... Horand became the centre-point of the breeding programs and was bred with dogs belonging to other society members that displayed desirable traits... New World Black Wolves Genetic research from the Stanford University School of Medicine and the University of California, Los Angeles revealed that wolves with black pelts owe their distinctive coloration to a mutation that first arose in domestic dogs...
Wolf Hunting With Dogs ... While any dog, especially a hound used for hunting wolves may be loosely termed a "wolfhound," several dog breeds have been specifically bred for the purpose, some of which, such as the Irish Wolfhound, have the word in their breed name. History and regional differences Irish Wolfhounds In Ireland, Irish wolfhounds were bred as far back as 3 BC...
Gray Wolf ... Though once abundant over much of Eurasia, North Africa and North America, the gray wolf inhabits a reduced portion of its former range due to widespread destruction of its territory, human encroachment, and the resulting human-wolf encounters that sparked broad extirpation. Today, wolves are protected in some areas, hunted for sport in others, or may be subject to population control or extermination as threats to livestock, people, and pets...
Wolf Hunting ... In England of 950, King Athelstan imposed an annual tribute of 300 wolf skins on Welsh king Hywel Dda, an imposition which was maintained until the Norman conquest of England. At the time, several criminals, rather than being put to death, would be ordered to provide a certain number of wolf tongues annually...
Subspecies Of Canis Lupus ... Canis lupus is assessed as Least Concern by the IUCN, as its relatively widespread range and stable population trend mean that the species, at global level, does not meet, or nearly meet, any of the criteria for the threatened categories. However, some local populations are classified as Endangered, and some subspecies are endangered or extinct...