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NEW FUN FACT:
Dogs have 17 muscles in each ear with
which to move them. Dogs ears also
hear at a higher decibel range than that
of human ears. That's why the 'dog
whistle' is at such a high pitch its sound
is undetectable by the human ear.
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Sweating - Dogs and cats don't sweat like we
do. Instead they have sweat glands on the bottoms
of their feet, to help them regulate their temperature.
They also lose heat by panting.
Hairballs - This is most commonly seen in the
cat, but can occasionally occur in dogs and rabbits.
Usually comprised of a collection of hair which has
been swallowed during grooming. Most hairballs
appear as an elongated tube of hair rather than a round
ball, which is then vomited by the cat.
Kittens born in a litter may each have a separate
father. This is because the mother cat produces
one egg each time she mates with a male cat. Usually
mating occurs multiple times during her season, which
can result in her mating with different male cats.
The kittens then may bear little resemblance to one
another because of this.
Heat - Female dogs come into heat usually twice
a year at 6 month intervals. Female cats can come
into heat monthly during the summer months. Pregnancy
for both dogs and cats lasts approximately 2 months.
Kittens when grasped by the scruff of their
neck, will adopt a trance-like state which then allows
the mother cat to carry them around without them struggling.
Utilizing this knowledge, when medicating your kitten,
grasping the scruff of the neck often times places the
kitten in a trance-like state, therefore making it easier
to medicate , trim claws etc.
Tri-color cats (those with more than 2 colors
in their hair coat pattern) are known either as calico
or tortoise shell cats. In almost 100% of the
time, these cats are female. This is because the
coat color of cats is a genetically sex-linked trait.
Tri-colored male cats are extremely rare, and typically
sterile.
White cats with blue eyes usually are deaf.
If one eye is blue and the other eye another color,
the side with the blue eye is usually deaf. This
is due to a genetic flaw in the color pattern for blue
eyes. This condition affects the Dalmation breed
of dog as well.
Teeth - Dogs have a total of 42 permanent teeth
in their mouth, while cats permanents total 30.
Both dogs and cats start out life with "baby"
or deciduous teeth, which they will loose for their
permanent teeth by six months of age. Chewing
or biting objects/people/other animals is commonly seen
with young puppies and kittens as a form of "teething"
which tends to pass as the permanent or adult teeth
erupt.
Fleas spend most of their time on your pet.
They feed on your pet's blood, and breed and lay their
eggs while on your pet. The eggs then fall off
into the environment to hatch into adult fleas to find
a host in which to feed. More than 90% of the
adult flea's life is spent living on the host animal.
Nesting - When birds lay eggs they usually will
nest upon them until hatching. If eggs are removed,
new eggs will then be laid. To prevent egg laying,
inserting a blank egg in the nest box can be done.
These eggs are available at pet supply stores, and the
bird will sit on these blank eggs throughout the nesting
period.
Ear mites in the dog usually mean exposure to
a cat affected with this parasite. Cats are the
natural host for the ear mites, but dogs are also susceptible
to infection. The cat flea is also the most common
parasite to affect both species.
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