Cats Vs. Dogs

GOOD: Great companion
GOOD: Unconditional Love
GOOD: Kisses
GOOD: Protector of the family and home.
GOOD: Something to talk to (at least you no longer have to talk to yourself).

BAD: Barking (when they bark a lot).
BAD: They have to go outside to use the bathroom (this means you or someone else must be there to let them out and back in).
BAD: Can be overprotective (and dangerous to others).
BAD: Need baths on a regular basis (some breeds need hair cuts, too).

Dogs

Scientists now believe that dogs have been living with people for 100,000 years.

The American Animal Association estimates that 53 percent of owners vacation with their pets.

The ancient Chinese royalty loved the Pekingese, and carried them tucked in the sleeves of their royal robes.

Dachshunds were bred to fight badgers in their dens.

The Poodle haircut was originally meant to improve the dogs' swimming abilities as a retriever, with the pom- poms left in place to warm their joints.

Greyhounds are so fast they can reach speeds up to 45 mph for short amounts of time.

If you see a dog curled up with his tail covering his nose, that means they do so to keep their noses warm in cold weather.

Many dogs reflect the color green in the dark, but some also reflect orange and red.

A dog's brain is so good at detecting smell and movement, they even know what part of the house you're in, what you ate for breakfast, and whether you have a cut on your hand.

In America, 25 percent of all dogs sleep on their owners' bed-Jon Katz.

Approximately 230 dogs have lived in the White House, more than all the presidents, first ladies and presidential children combined-The Pawprints of History

A dog was "King" of Norway for three years duringt he 11th century AD. The Nprwegian king, angry that his subjects once deplored him, put the dog on the throne and demanded that it be treated like royalty.

Laikia was the world's first ever canine astronaut. She was sent into space in an artificial earth satellite, Sputnik 2, by the Russian government in 1957.

Scientists discovered that dogs could detect a series of test tubes with cancerous cells in it.

Dogs can warn epileptics that they are going to have a seizure.

GOOD: They use the litter box (no having to worry about letting them outside to do their business).
GOOD: They purr when content.
GOOD: They're funny with a catnip buzz on.
GOOD: They cuddle with you.
GOOD: They keep mice and bugs to a minimum.

BAD: More tempermental than a dog.
BAD: Not always the best listeners.
BAD: The house stinks when they go "boo-boo" in the litter box.
BAD: Hair balls to clean up.

Cats

The nose pad of a cat is ridged in a pattern that is unqiue as a fingerprint of a human.

A cat's heart beats twice as fast as a human heart and 110-140 beats per minute.

The largest cat breed is the Maine Coon, although the Rag Doll breed can get quite large as well.

The smallest cat breed is the Singapura. Males weigh six pounds while females weigh only four pounds.

Calico cats are almost always female.

The domestic cat is the only cat species able to hold its tail vertically while walking. All wild cats hold their tails horizontally or tucked between their legs while walking.

During her reproductive life, a single cat can deliver over 100 kittens.

A single pair of cats and their kittens can produce as many as 420,000 kittens in just seven years.

A cat will almost never meow at another cat. This sound is reserved for humans.

The oldest cat on records was Puss, from England who died in 1939, just one day after her 36th birthday.

It is believed that a white cat sitting on your doorstep just before your wedding is a sign of lasting happiness.

Cats can see up to 120 feet away. Their peripheral vision is about 285 degrees.

The color of a cat's eyes will change as it grows older.

Kittens begin dreaming at just over one week old.

Cats need 1/6th the amount of light that humans do to see. Their night vision is amazing!

Each year Americans spend $4 billion on cat food. That's $1 billion dollars more than they spend on baby food.

Egyptians shaved their eyebrows as a sign of mourning when they lost a beloved cat.

Never feed your cat dog food. Cats need five times more protein than dogs do.

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Oscar
Rover
Duke
Fido
Snoopy

Fluffy
Fancy
Precious
Tiger
Morris

Dogs were first domesticated from wolves at least 17,000 years ago, but perhaps as early as 150,000 years ago based upon recent genetic fossil and DNA evidence. In this time, the dog has developed into hundreds of breeds with a great degree of variation. For example, heights at the withers range from just a few inches (such as the Chihuahua) to roughly three feet (such as the Irish Wolfhound), and colors range from white to black, with reds, grays, and browns occurring in a tremendous variation of patterns.

Dogs are highly social animals and this similarity in their overall behavioral pattern accounts for their trainability, playfulness, and ability to fit into human households and social situations. This similarity has earned dogs a unique position in the realm of interspecies relationships. The loyalty and devotion that dogs demonstrate as part of their natural instincts as pack animals closely mimics the human idea of love and friendship, leading many dog owners to view their pets as full fledged family members. Dogs seem to view their human companions as members of their pack, and make few, if any, distinctions between their owners and fellow canines. Dogs fill a variety of roles in society and are often trained as working dogs. Dogs that do not have traditional jobs, a wide range of dog sports provide the opportunity to exhibit their natural dog skills. In many countries, the most common and perhaps most important role of dogs is as companions. Dogs have lived with and worked with humans in so many roles that their loyalty has earned them the unique sobriquet "man's best friend."

Lassie
Morris
Snoopy
Pluto
Goofy
Garfield
Clifford
Sylvester

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The domestic house cat is a small carnivorous mammal. Its most immediate ancestor is believed to be the African wild cat. The cat has been living in close association with humans for somewhere between 3,500 and 8,000 years.

Cats can conserve energy by sleeping more than most animals, especially as they grow older. Durations of sleep are various, usually 12-16 hours, with 13-14 being the average. Cats, in some cases, can sleep as much as 20 hours in a 24-hour period. The term cat nap refers to the cat's ability to fall asleep (lightly) for a brief period and has entered the English vocabulary - someone who nods off for a few minutes is said to be "taking a cat nap".

Due to cats nocturnal nature, they are often known to enter a period of increased hyperactivity and playfulness during the evening, dubbed the 'evening crazies', 'night crazies' or 'mad half hour' by some (but not 'happy hour').

Cats' temperament can vary depending on the breed. Shorter haired cats tend to be skinnier and more active. Cats with longer hair tend to be heavier and less active.

The body temperature of a cat is between 38 and 39 °C (101 and 102.2 °F). A cat is considered febrile if it has a temperature of 39.5 °C (103 °F) or greater, or hypothermic if less than 37.5 °C (100 °F). A domestic cat's normal heart rate ranges from 140 to 220 beats per minute which is largely dependent on how excited the cat is. Cats at rest have an average heart rate between 150 and 180 bpm.

Cats can produce a purring noise that typically indicates that the cat is happy. Less typically it can also can mean that it feels distress. Cats purr among other cats-for example, when a mother meets her kittens. There were many competing theories to explain how cats purr, including vibration of the cat's false vocal cords when inhaling and exhaling, the sound of blood hitting the aorta, vibration of the hyoid apparatus, or resonation directly in the lungs. But currently, it is believed that purring is a result of rhythmic impulses to the cat's larynx.

Cats twitch the tips of their tails when hunting or angry, while larger twitching indicates displeasure. A tail held high is usually a sign of happiness. A half-raised shows less pleasure, and unhappiness is indicated with a tail held low. A scared or surprised cat may puff up its tail and the hair along its back and turn its body sideways to a threat in order to increase its apparent size. Cats with no tail, such as the Manx, who possess only a small stub of a tail move the stub around as though they possessed a full tail, though it is not nearly as communicative as that of a fully tailed cat. Touching noses is a friendly greeting for cats, while a lowered head is a sign of submission.

Happy cats are known to paw their owners, or that on which they sit, with a kneading motion. Cats often use this action alongside purring to show contentment and affection for their owners. It is instinctive to cats, and cats use it when they are young to stimulate the mother cat's nipple to release milk during nursing. As a result, cats that are hand-raised by humans may lack this reflex. Also, pawing is a way for cats to mark their territory. The scent glands on the underside of their paws release small amounts of scent onto the person or object being pawed, marking it as "theirs" in the same way they would urinate to mark their territory.

Cats are known for their cleanliness. Cat groom themselves by licking their fur. The cat's saliva is a powerful cleaning agent, but it can provoke allergic reactions in humans. Cats also enjoy grooming humans or other cats. Cats may occasionally regurgitate hair balls of fur that have collected in their stomachs as a result of their grooming. Longhair cats are more prone to this than shorthairs. Certain cat foods can prevent hairballs. Also, remedies can include the elimination of the hair with regular grooming of the coat with a comb or stiff brush. Cats expend nearly as much fluid grooming as they do urinating.