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20 Weird Dog and Cat Behaviors
Feb. 16th, 2018 08:59 pmOn 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.
https://www.livescience.com/56576-dog-and-cat-behaviors-explained.html
Photo Credit: 135pixels / Shutterstock.comWhy 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.comWhy 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.
