charisstoma

Although you may have believed that a black cat is a specific breed of feline, it's actually just a genetic effect. More than 20 unique cat breeds can give birth to kittens that are all black.

https://www.ask.com/slideshow/amazing-facts-about-black-cats-s446CZcPZP?o=770407&ad=semA&an=social&ag=fw4&utm_term=770407&fbclid=IwAR1Rq-G7A37jBRZYc15XIANhGQagkAfkNzIpOPz-6xnrC-sZQthrrgiRQT8
Scotland is another country that believes black cats are good luck, but it has more to do with money than love. Legend has it that if a black cat shows up on your doorstep, you will come into a large sum of money.


August 17 is officially Black Cat Appreciation Day.

On at least one of these a person could become an observational scientist *coughs* Voyeur.


https://www.livescience.com/56576-dog-and-cat-behaviors-explained.html
Photo Credit: 135pixels / Shutterstock.com

Why do cats stretch so much?
Cats like to stretch largely for the same reasons people do: It feels good, and it increases blood flow to the muscles, Andrew Cuff, a postdoctoral researcher of anatomy at the Royal Veterinary College in London, told Live Science in April 2016.

Cats sleep between 12 and 16 hours a day, meaning they're not moving for long amounts of time. When cats are sitting still or sleeping, their blood pressure drops, Cuff said. Stretching can reverse that, he added.

"As you stretch, it activates all of your muscles and increases your blood pressure, which increases the amount of blood flowing to the muscles and also to the brain," Cuff said. "This helps wake you up and make you more alert."

Stretching can also flush out toxins and waste byproducts that build up in the body during periods of inactivity, Cuff said. Moreover, when a cat stretches, it readies its muscles for activity, such as running after a mouse … or a treat.

Photo Credit: Iuliia Ilina | Shutterstock.com


Why do dogs poop along a north-south axis?
Dogs aren't just particular about their cozy "nests." Turns out, some pups like to poop while they are aligned with the north-south axis of the Earth's magnetic field. To come to this wacky conclusion, researchers spent two years observing 70 dogs as they defecated and urinated.

The dogs studied, which included 57 different breeds, tended to face north or south while pooping and seemed to avoid facing east or west, the researchers noted in their study, published in 2014 in the journal Frontiers in Zoology. Even so, the researchers are not sure how the dogs are sensing the magnetic field (if they are, in fact, sensing it) or why they'd have such a particular pooping position.

Are cats smarter than dogs?
Science doesn't have a clear answer on this one, so cat and dog lovers may forever debate whether Fluffy or Fido is brainier. But there are hints as to which fluff ball is most intelligent.

Cats' brains take up 0.9 percent of their body mass, compared with 1.2 percent for a dog's brain, but size doesn't necessarily matter here, experts say. That's because cats have 300 million neurons in their cerebral cortex, an area of the brain responsible for information processing. Dogs have 160 million neurons in that region.

However, it's hard to do experiments with cats because, well, they'd rather lick their paws than follow orders, scientists say. But one experiment showed that although both cats and dogs can solve puzzles to get food, cats will keep trying even if the puzzle is unsolvable, while dogs will go get humans to help them.

This doesn't mean either animal is smarter. It just shows the effects of how dogs were domesticated at least 20,000 years before cats were, and thus are more likely to interact with humans, the study researchers said.

Why do dogs wag their tails?
Is it true that your household canine wags his tail out of glee? Sort of. Dogs do wag their tails as a form of communication, research has found. But a little shimmy doesn't always say, "Come pet me." Perhaps surprisingly, in 2007, researchers found that whether the tail is swishing on the right or left side of the dog's body has meaning: A tail wag that's skewed toward the right indicates positive emotions, while a leftie wag suggests negative emotions.

The left-right difference may be linked to the differences found in the right and left hemispheres of a dog's brain, the researchers noted. In addition, research published in 2013 in the journal Current Biology revealed that a right-wagging tail tends to relax canine passersby, while a left wag seems to stress out other dogs.

The position of a dog's tail, even when it's not wagging, can also convey meaning. A tail held high above the spine may indicate arousal, while a tail tucked between the dog's rear legs can suggest fear, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Some of these are perfect for 'that look' from the other person in an argument.

https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-animal-expressions-after-vet/?page_numb=1&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=liquidsocial&utm_content=pZnq

https://www.livescience.com/18294-cats-world-died.html?utm_source=notification
What If All the Cats in the World Suddenly Died?
By Natalie Wolchover

Perhaps you're a cat lover. Perhaps you abhor the lazy critters. Either way, when you see a cat lounging on an armchair, napping all day but for the occasional stretch or window gaze, "useless" is by no means the last word that comes to mind. Cats, beloved or otherwise, don't radiate the message that they're indispensable, hard-working members of the household, or the world.

But, in fact, they're just playing it cool (as usual). Experts say that if all the world's cats suddenly died, things would quickly go to hell in a handbasket.

Cats, both pets and strays, may fool us into thinking that they depend on our food and trash for survival, but according to Alan Beck, professor of veterinary medicine and director of the Center for the Human-Animal Bond at Purdue University, they're expert predators with adaptable hunting behaviors. "They are a significant predator of small animals, and can survive as almost solitary animals when the prey is scarce, while thriving in high density when the prey is abundant," Beck told Life's Little Mysteries, a sister site to LiveScience.( Read more... )

And let's not forget the emotional toll that a mass cat death would take on us humans: "In this country, cats are much loved by many. While there are more dog-owning households (38 percent) than cat- owning households (34 percent), there are actually more domestic cats than dogs because cat owners own more of them. Cats as pets have always been appreciated for the contact, relatively low maintenance, and pedomorphic (child-like) face and general morphology."

That's not a kitten. Potatoes are needed for some arcane spells?



Any port in a storm?




Umm...



Well my tail won't clean itself.



The cat version of, "I've fallen and can't get uppppp, um I mean down."



One of those neighbors.

Go read these *grins* They are 'interesting'


Why some cats are catnip junkies


http://www.grunge.com/30608/cats-purr-10-feline-facts/s/why-some-cats-are-catnip-junkies/ page 5

Do you ever feel like a crack dealer when your cat sees you getting out the catnip? For about 50% of the cat population, catnip is like happiness in herbal form, while the other half (and kittens) have no response to it whatsoever. What gives?

The gene that makes cats sensitive to catnip is hereditary, and it's an inherited response to a chemical called nepetalactone. The scent bonds to receptors in the cat's nasal passages, which then stimulate the sensory receptors in the brain. If your cat's acting like they're on a complete sensory overload, that's because they absolutely are. And they're loving it. Some cats have a … specific set of responses they exhibit when they're exposed to catnip, and it's akin to a cat in heat. That's because the senses that are being overloaded are the same ones triggered by cat pheromones, so when you give your cat some of the nip? Give them some alone time, too. They deserve it, and expect it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Their brains have 90% in common with ours
http://www.grunge.com/30608/cats-purr-10-feline-facts/s/their-brains-have-90-in-common-with-ours/ Page 6

Read More: http://www.grunge.com/30608/cats-purr-10-feline-facts/s/their-brains-have-90-in-common-with-ours/?utm_campaign=clip

It's an age-old argument: who's smarter, cats or dogs? (People aren't a choice in the equation, because cats and dogs are both definitely smarter than most people.) It turns out that, on a biological level, cats might have a slight edge on dogs, but we hope you won't tell them that. Dogs will never live it down.

With the wonders of modern science, researchers have been able to measure the number of neurons present in the part of cat and dog brains responsible for things like problem-solving and information processing. Cats have a staggering 300 million neurons, while dogs only have 160 million. Sorry, pups.

While that means that cats are going to be quicker at some things than dogs, what about comparing them to humans? Part of human's processing power comes from the folds that are on the surface of our brains. The more wrinkles there are, the larger the surface area and, in turn, the more processing power the brain has. That's where the 90% number comes in, and it turns out that cat brains are wrinkled like ours, so much so that they're 90% similar. They also have large and complex cerebral structures, which governs decision-making, memory, advance planning, and reasoning skills. Their similar brains mean that there's a lot going on in there, and if they found time and motivation to care, they could outsmart circles around Pupper. So the next time you suspect Kitty is plotting to install himself as the world's next great supervillain, he just might be.



Read More: http://www.grunge.com/30608/cats-purr-10-feline-facts/s/their-brains-have-90-in-common-with-ours/?utm_campaign=clip