Showing posts with label cats and dogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cats and dogs. Show all posts

Friday 1 November 2024

Los Angeles pounds are poorly mismanaged, abusive houses of horrors

This is a fictional image of a dog pound created by AI. It looks nice doesn't it? Shame all dog pounds (shelters) are not as clean and colourful.


The words of the title come direct from someone who is the best qualified to write them: Nathan Winograd. This post is a reworking of his email to me. I hope he accepts. I want to get the message out but I have limited time.....

A recent report from the City Controller's Office indicates that Los Angeles shelters are euthanizing dogs at unprecedented rates. In August, the latest data available, 226 dogs were euthanized in L.A. shelters, marking the highest number since January 2022. Additionally, over 250 cats were euthanized in July, the highest figure recorded since that date. The kitten save rate plummeted to its lowest in July, with only 69% being saved.

The report suggests the cause is a staff that is incompetent, indifferent, and abusive.

Moreover, there has been an uptick in euthanasia, with dogs languishing for extended periods in dirty kennels without walks, often lacking clean water and comfortable bedding. This neglect leads to heightened stress, which then becomes a pretext for Los Angeles Animal Services to deem them "unadoptable," despite their health and good temperament outside of these conditions.

Simultaneously, cat rooms remain largely or completely vacant, as staff members reject stray cats, causing widespread abandonment. Near one shelter, volunteers have taken on the responsibility of caring for many abandoned cats.

Investigations by the Los Angeles Times have also revealed rabbits suffering from severe injuries, guinea pigs left without food, and hamsters confined in cages soaked with urine and faeces. Furthermore, when a staff member confessed to hitting dogs, it was the whistle-blower, not the perpetrator, who faced repercussions.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a motion that assigns blame for the killings in their animal shelters to various parties, excluding the actual responsible parties — the shelter's director and staff. The Supervisors also agreed on proposals that are unlikely to significantly reduce the killings, including the endorsement of potential statewide legislation. 

Moreover, a Los Angeles Times investigation revealed that the county's shelters are euthanizing more dogs, despite a decrease in intake and promises of increased adoptions facilitated by new facilities. The report highlighted violations of county policies by staff during euthanasia, a failure to consult with rescue groups beforehand, and inadequate visiting hours for potential adopters. The article did not address a key factor contributing to the rise in euthanasia: staff preventing non-profit organizations and No Kill shelters from rescuing animals, even upon request.

Rescuers have taken legal action against Los Angeles County under the Hayden Law, which prohibits such killings. The Court of Appeal ruled unanimously that shelters cannot euthanize dogs if rescue groups are willing to save them, barring cases of severe suffering or documented dangerous behavior. Despite this, the county continues to implement policies that circumvent this ruling. While the shelters may be modern, the staff's outdated attitudes result in a high mortality rate for the animals.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also, sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. And, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable. Finally, (!) I often express an OPINION on the news. Please share yours in a comment.

Wednesday 4 September 2024

Gifted word-learning dogs can remember the names of their toys for years

This is a study which confirms perhaps what some lucky people might already know namely that gifted dogs can remember the names of their favourite toys for two years or more and therefore have excellent memories.

And almost all dogs can learn words linked to actions as we also know because they are very trainable. They understand words such as "sit" and "down". But only a small group of gifted dogs described as "gifted word-learners" can learn a wide range of words associated with particular objects.


The research was carried out at Eotvos University. In this study, the researchers challenge the owners of six border college to teach their pets the names of 12 new toys within seven days. The study showed that the dogs were able to learn the names and retrieve the correct toy when requested to do so.

Once the tests had been completed the owners were asked to hide the toys and store them out of sight. They then waited two years to see whether the dogs could remember them.

"We waited two years and then decided to test the dogs again to see if they still remember the toy names."

There was no rehearsal as I understand it. One of the six dogs had died so the remaining five were tested. And in some instances some toys had been lost so in all three dogs were tested in respect of 12 toys with one tested on 11 toys and one dog on five toys.
"After two years, we had a hard time remembering the names of the toys but just the dogs. They did not seem to struggle."
Four dogs remember the names of between 60% and 75% of the toys. They confirmed this by naming the toy in the spoken word followed by the dogs picking up the correct toy out of a line-up of toys. They did this correctly on 44% of attempts.

This was "significantly above chance level". The report is that a dog faced with 12 toys "would be expected to get it right 8.3% of the time if it was simply guessing, while a dog faced with five toys would get it right 20% of the time based on chance alone". That quote comes from the Times newspaper of September 4, 2024.

The study is published in the journal Biology Letters.

It said that "When comparing the dogs' group performance in the present two-year memory test with that of the one and two-month memory test, it appears there was no significant reduction in their recall of the labelled objects."

The head of the research group, Dr. Claudia Fugazza, said: 
"We know that dogs can remember events for at least 24 hours and odours for up to one year, but this is the first study showing that some talented dogs can remember words for at least two years."
She added that: 
"The findings are our current study cannot be generalised to other dogs because we only tested gifted word-than dogs i.e. individuals that show a special talent for acquiring object words." 
Border collies were found to be the most gifted breed when it comes to vocabulary and the naming of objects. German shepherds, Pekinese and the mini Australian shepherd dogs may have the same talents.

There was a global search for gifted dogs to conduct the test apparently. They were all found to know more than 28 toys by name with some being able to recognise more than 100 toys, remarkably.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Monday 29 July 2024

Most dangerous dog is the one that hasn't been trained properly and lacks a leader

Will Atherton, shares dog training tips on TikTok (@iamwillatherton) where he has more than 900,000 followers. What he says about dangerous dogs matches that of Nathan Winograd and other genuine dog experts. 
Leadership is Love - Will Atherton
It is not about the breed but about strong leadership from the owner and proper training as any breed or non-purebred dog can be dangerous with the larger dogs being able to inflict greater damage. Size counts in that respect but the underlying issue will not be about breeds but human behaviour.
Incidentally, the same story relates to domestic cats. Many years ago I wrote an essay about cat behaviour and said it comes down to human behaviour! It sounds wrong and strange but read the essay and see what you think: Essay on Cat Behavior – Michael Broad (pictures-of-cats.org)


Most dangerous dog is the one that hasn't been trained properly and lacks a leader
Will Atherton, shares dog training tips on TikTok (@iamwillatherton). Screenshot from one of his videos. I can't find the one where he gives advice about dangerous dog breeds and poor training.

He says, "When I get asked this question all the time, of 'what is the most dangerous breed?', yes there might be a few different breeds I could give the answer to, but the reality is that the most dangerous breed is the one that hasn't been trained properly. The one that doesn't have a loving leader in its life, able to navigate and direct it through life safely."

Will said any dog can be dangerous, be it small or big. He continued: "All dogs have the ability to bite. All dogs have the ability to be dangerous. Yes, the bigger and stronger they are, the harm that they can cause is more significant. But the reality is, if you don't train your dog properly, you could very well have a dangerous dog - no matter whether it's a chihuahua, all the way up to an English mastiff."

Some dog breeds get a bad press and some get bad owners. The American XL Bully has been allegedly trained by irresponsible people to be aggressive. They want the dog to be aggressive. The founder of the XL Bully insists that the breed was not meant to be aggressive and it is the fault of individuals not the dog itself.

I was bitten by a Scottie, a small dog because the owner walking the dog was not in control as a pack leader should be.
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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Saturday 11 May 2024

Dog owner makes an insane request of a cat owner


This is a first for me. It's about a dispute between neighbours; one lives with a dog while the other lives with their cat or cats. The cat caregiver's cat likes to sit on the windowsill looking out as cats like to do as it entertains them. It is said that windows are "cat television" for the domestic cat particularly for indoor cats.

But the problem in this instance is that the dog owner's dog also likes to look out the window and he sees the cat opposite and becomes agitated and barks. No doubt the barking irritates the owner or owners living in the home and so they have asked the cat owner the following question:
"Can you please keep your cats out of the window? They are causing my dog to sit in the window and bark all day long."
You have got to hand it to the dog owner; he had the gall to ask the question in the first place but it is an unreasonable question. What he should be doing is training his dog not to bark and that's possible if he knows what to do.


As it happens, I have a page on that topic (click on link above). Dogs bark at people and other animals because they are protecting their group. The bark is a vocal warning to their group and the dog's owner is the alpha dog in that group so this dog is protecting the leader of the pack. It is an entirely instinctive aspect of dog behaviour but it can be dealt with through training.


The cat owner was stumped as to what to do. They went to the Reddit.com website and asked for advice. As it happens the cat owner has five cats who love to sit at the window and do nothing but sleep they say.

The request in the conversation on Reddit.com has garnered 12,000 comments which is unsurprising. One responded by saying the following:
"Make sure to send them a letter like 'please keep your dog out of the window, his presence is disrupting my cat's chakras and chill vibes.'"
Although that is likely to exacerbate what is at the moment a minor neighbour dispute. No neighbours should be entering into a dispute with any neighbour. There is almost nothing worse than a long-running neighbour dispute for ruining your life depending of course on how bad it gets.

Another responded by saying:
 "I'm totally a dog person, but trying to make your neighbour discipline their cat for sitting in a window because you won't discipline your dog for nuisance barking is SHEER INSANITY. I mean what the hell? Train your cat not to chill in a window because training a dog not to disturb the s*** out of everyone is too hard? I can't believe this neighbour had the nerve."
Another possible solution would be to block the dog from looking out of the window but that would be unfair. This dog likes to look out the window. The key, as I see it, is as mentioned; to train the dog to not bark when they see the cat. That will take time and effort. More effort than it takes to write to the neighbour to stop their cat sitting at the window but it would be the only reasonable solution.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Saturday 13 April 2024

New anti-ageing drug for dogs works on hormone IGF-1

An enterprising woman who dropped out of Oxford University started a bold and interesting company called Loyal in San Francisco five years ago with the intention of creating drugs which extend the lifespan of dogs and perhaps then leading to achieving the same result for cats and even humans which would be the Holy Grail of medicine.

New anti-ageing drug for dogs works on hormone IGF-1
New anti-ageing drug for dogs works on hormone IGF-1. Image: MikeB


She has successfully tweaked the attention of investors and raised US$120 million to grow her business and take it forward. Her name is Celine Halioua.

The science behind her project concerns a hormone called IGF-1; a hormone which drives cell growth and big dogs grow quickly because that high levels of it. The levels remain high into adulthood. In general big dogs have shorter lifespans.

Her theory is that the hormone also fuels accelerated ageing of large dogs after they achieve maturity. It is my understanding that her drug will curb the activity of this hormone and thereby extend life by up to 10% of the dog's life which for a dog with a lifespan of 10 years would be one year.

The cost of the owner would be around US$50 a month. This would equate to around six thousand dollars over the dog's life to extend it by 10%. There is a question mark over whether people would want to spend that kind of money bearing in mind the cost of living crisis today.

The US Food And Drug Administration have reasonable expectations that Loyal's therapy for large dogs will be effective and therefore she hopes to bring it to the market in 2026.

It is called LOY-001 at the moment.

It is the first attempt to do this. She has built on the work of Dr. Cynthia Kenyon, as I understand it, who showed that it is possible to double the life of nematode worms by altering only one gene in the 1990s.

And late last year I wrote about another scientist with the same objective but using different techniques which you can read about by clicking on the link below if you wish.


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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Friday 5 January 2024

Owners views on the cat-to-dog and pet-to-human relationship in the home


This is a summary of a survey of owners of cats and dogs living in the same home. They asked them how their cats and dogs got along and whether one species was more amiable to being friendly than the other. Over 1000 people were sent questionnaires. Here are some findings which may interest some readers:
  • The dogs were more sociable towards strangers and other dogs than cats were to strangers and other cats. Comment: unsurprising as dogs are inherently more social as they live in groups. Although cats have become quite sociable after 10,000 years of domestication.
  • 84.0% of dogs had a playful relationship with their owner.
  • 49.2% of cats had a playful relationship with their owner.
  • 42.8% of the dogs licked the cat. Cats licked the dog less often
  • 41.8% of cats ignored the dog while dogs ignored the cat less often.
  • In 68.5% of homes the cat and dog slept together
  • In 62.4% of the homes the cat and dog played together.
  • The majority of the cats and dogs were relaxed when the companion animal of the opposite species approached them. Although if there was an issue it was the cat who had problems with it. Whereas a friendly approach from the cat was welcomed by the dog, the cat was either indifferent or aggressive when the dog approached.
  • "Most cohabitants were peaceful." - reference to cats and dogs living together.
  • "Moreover, it is true that they speak different languages, but they seem to understand each other well and interpret each other's approaches in the right way."
  • Comment: the cat-to-dog relationship in the home, as expected, is generally good and peaceful with the dog being a little more predisposed to being friendly perhaps because they are also predisposed to being supportive within group living, descended as they are from the wolf, a pack animal.
Study: Cats and dogs: Best friends or deadly enemies? What the owners of cats and dogs living in the same household think about their relationship with people and other pets. Link: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237822
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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Monday 11 December 2023

Same old story as dogs are favoured over cats at Christmas

OPINION: News media today tell us that researchers found that pet owners will spend 27% more on dogs and cats this Christmas. It's always been like this. Dogs get taken to the veterinarian more often than cats. Dogs are more closely connected to their owners and cats because they look up to their owners as the alpha, leader dog and they fawn all over them and a very needy towards their owners. 

This creates a very close connection whereas the solitary, independent-minded domestic cat can tend to have a looser connection with their owner.

Image: MikeB

This appears to inevitably lead to spending less at Christmas on the animals! And other things. 2000 pet owners were surveyed. They found that typically cats received £19-worth of gifts whereas dogs received gifts worth £25.

There are many gifts for dogs and cats available these days. Typically cats received toys and some food treats. Chew toys apparently are top of the list for dogs.


It doesn't surprise me that quite a lot of money is spent on cats and dogs her Christmas because they are very much part of the family and in some instances they are the entire family and in other instances they are more important than human family members!

John Lewis reports that sales of pet gifts are up by 19% this Christmas. The pet gifting buyer at that organisation said that "everything from edible Christmas cards and chew toys, to litter robots and DIY cross stitch collars have been flying off the shelves this year. All throughout the year, we have so many pet parents coming into our stores looking for that perfect gift for their cats and dogs and we are always delighted to help find that special something for them."

Separately, it is said that dogs are slightly better behaved than cats at Christmas with 11% of cats described as being naughty while only 8% of dogs are in that category.

That said, 72% of cat and dog owners say that there companion animals make Christmas celebrations all the more special when they share Christmas festivities with them.

Survey: believed to be OnePoll poll from America.
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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Sunday 5 November 2023

America's animal shelters don't care enough about saving lives (according to a celebrated animal shelter advocate)

The voice of America's displaced pets and the conscience of the animal sheltering industry, Nathan Winograd, claims that "uncaring and corruption are endemic to the [animal shelter] industry [in the US]"
A New York animal control officer was arrested for stealing Hope, a family’s 9-year-old dog. After Hope was found by a neighbor and taken to the local shelter, the officer sold her to people in Ohio. When Hope’s real family came forward, the officer told them that she had died. Hope is now back with her family. While animal control insiders want to pretend that the officer is a rare bad apple, the tragic fact is that uncaring and corruption are endemic to the industry. And though the facts of this case may be somewhat unique, uncaring and corruption aren’t. - Nathan Winograd

Nathan Winograd was motivated to claim that America's animal shelters don't care enough about saving lives and that there is corruption at an unacceptable level within the animal shelter industry, by a story currently on news media which reports that an animal control officer, Casterline, 51, stole a Yorkshire terrier whose name is Hope and then sold the dog to an unsuspecting purchaser.

Hope had been lost in Corning, California, and then found and taken to a local SPCA (Chemung County) from where Casterline picked up the dog and took her home and then eventually sold her to a family in Ohio.

I believe that this is little Hope. So pleased that she/he is back with their true owner. Image: Nathan Winograd's email.

The original owners of the dog became suspicious and telephoned the local police who investigated. Through a telephone number they discovered the family in Ohio who had bought Hope. This family released the dog which must have been difficult to the police.

The true owner of Hope had become very distressed because Casterline had told them that their dog had died.

Hope was then reunited with the original owner while Casterline was arrested for various misdemeanours including theft and he will be tried in the criminal courts. He has resigned his job.


The big issue here is perhaps not the story of Hope which ended well, but the statement by Nathan Winograd. He clearly has a very negative viewpoint of America's animal shelters.

And I think it comes from the fact that he is a world expert in no-kill animal shelters and he insists upon high standards and the employment of various methods to ensure that the maximum number of shelter animals are rehomed and their lives saved.

He criticises many animal shelters for failing to use efficient and widespread methods to save lives. He accuses them of being lazy and hiding behind rather feeble excuses such as there are too many dogs and cats coming into the shelter and not enough adopters to take them off their hands. Often this isn't the case. It's just an excuse. An excuse to wriggle out of responsibilities. That would be the argument of Mr Winograd.

Another excuse is that the animal is unadoptable because of their behaviour. But shelters create bad behaviour in animals because they are relatively inhospitable places with strange noises and lots of commotion. A shy animal will become reclusive and difficult. They will be deemed unadoptable. Or the animal might become aggressive when approached because they become defensive thanks to the environment in which they are temporarily incarcerated.

This, too, will allow the shelters to kill the animal being deemed unadoptable. This applies to both dogs and cats. For example, in New York City shelter the authorities deemed it acceptable to kill animals that were 'mentally stressed'. They decided it was better to kill them than to take them out of the shelter and place them with a foster carer where they wouldn't be mentally stressed. It is that kind of thing I'm talking about.

Nathan Winograd should know because he is an expert as stated.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Saturday 12 August 2023

Can cats be trained like dogs?

Can cats be trained like dogs? The answer is yes. It just takes a little bit longer because cats are not pack animals unlike dogs. Dogs look to their leader, their caregiver for instructions and therefore learn them quicker. But cats are adaptable and they have adapted to the human environment over thousands of years.

And, it is said, that the wildcat hybrids such as the Bengal cat that you see in the video are more suited to being trained. This is because they are, in general, more intelligent thanks to the wildcat element in their makeup. Wild cat species are considered to be slightly more intelligent than domestic cats because they are more challenged.

TWO RELATED ARTICLES:

So, here we have a video of a Bengal cat who has undergone some fundamental behavioural training as you would give to a dog.

The woman would have simply trained her Bengal cat just like any other cat or a dog perhaps using a clicker to bridge the gap between the command and the desired action. You will see other domestic cats on the Internet who have been trained to do various things.

Perhaps the most remarkable example of domestic cat training is of a sweet, little moggy who has been trained to do sign language. Their owner is deaf and therefore they have the ideal teacher.

It is a fallacy to think that domestic cats can't be trained if anybody believes that nowadays. I think that idea has been scotched thanks to the Internet which I think is a wonderful medium for training people! I mean educating millions of people who have adopted a cat for the first time.

Monday 31 July 2023

British couple on Rhodes drove through Dante's Inferno with five cats and three dogs

NEWS AND COMMENT: The video tells the harrowing story. They were all terrified. He says his fear was 11 out of 10. They'd been feeding deer before the wild fires. When they returned home after their terrifying escape, they discovered that the fire had killed the deer. She had fawns. I presume they are dead too. Lots of wildlife has been killed by the Greek fires which have forced thousands of holiday-makers to abandon their vacation sometimes at great expense.


Euronews reports that many Greeks abandoned their pets when under extreme pressure to leave their homes resulting in many animal deaths. Was this necessary? Couldn't they have prepared earlier knowing the fires were approaching? 

Personally, I am critical of pet owners who abandon their animals when a wild fire approaches as there is always plenty of forewarning.

Although I don't know the exact circumstances, it could be argued that the British couple featured in the video left their home too late. They were forced to take great risks to escape, driving into flames around the road. 

I just don't see it like others. I feel that a lot of home owners are very reluctant to leave their homes when there is a wildfire in the area. They hope that the fire will move away from them. They wait and wait until forced to flee. But in doing that they jeopardise their lives and the lives of their pets.

Of course, it is easy for me to be a little critical but I think I am right. Leaving at the last minute is understandable as they want to protect their home and contents. They could lose it all. The lady in the video lost her car which was uninsured as it was a classic.

As often happens, it is the companion animals who can be the innocent victims if people leave it too late to get out. There is an added responsibility on cat and dog caregivers under these emergency situations. Playing safe is the better option in discharging that responsibility I'd say.

Saturday 29 July 2023

Cat calls the family dog to come inside and he responds

@brittney.georgiana Talkative fat boi #fyp #cat #funny #talkingcat #blackcatsoftiktok ♬ original sound - Brittney Georgiana
In the viral video shared by TikToker Brittney Georgiana (@brittany.georgiana), her large black cat, Jinks sits by the open door to their yard, meowing loudly. She thinks that Jinks is calling the family dog. It looks like it as the dog, a German Shepherd, Dax, responds as asked!

Well, it's cute and Britteney does a nice job of translating Jinks' meows. She says her cat was feeling talkative. This means Jinks was talkative before he called Dax. This means Jink is not calling Dax! It is possible that Jink was calling Dax to approach. That seems more plausible.

Tuesday 18 July 2023

Average lifespan of domestic cats is about four times longer than the French bulldog's

Let's say the average lifespan of a domestic cat is around 18 years, perhaps a bit less at 16 years. A recent study by a veterinarian which looked at a sample of over 30,000 dogs who died between January 1, 2016 and July 31, 2020 from 18 different breeds and crossbreeds in the UK produced some astonishing results but there may be some distortion because of Covid-19.

French bulldog
French bulldog. Image by Mylene2401 from Pixabay.

French bulldog

The most astonishing finding was that the average lifespan of the French Bulldog in the UK is 4.53 years. As I say in the title this is about a quarter (25%) of the lifespan of a domestic cat. I think this distortion might come about because during Covid-19 when a lot of people adopted French bulldogs and they were imported from continental Europe. They were bred at puppy mills; disreputable establishments where the animals were bred very badly and their health was often unacceptable. I don't know the details but there was a lot of talk about the problem.

The actual sample size of the French bulldog was 232 which is quite small but not bad. And Ben the Vet on TikTok comments about this. He says that the average lifespan might be skewered by a large number of the French bulldogs dying at a young age for example after a slipped disc.

Flat-faced, extreme-bred dogs with very short lifespans

Nonetheless, these were real cases in real veterinary clinics and they are a true average of that sample at that time and in that place. And it's appalling. And I don't think the distortion is that bad because the average lifespan of the English bulldog was found to be 7.39 years, for the American bulldog it was 7.79 years for the Pug it was 7.65 years.

These are brachycephalic dog breeds with round heads and flat faces. They are bred to extreme as we say in the business and when you engage in extreme selective breeding you do tend to create health problems which can shorten life spans due in inbreeding and distortions of the anatomy.

Overall average

And also, somewhat worryingly, the overall average age of these 30,000 dogs was a measly 11.2 years. To me, that seems like a very short lifespan. It is certainly considerably shorter than the lifespan of the average domestic cat in the UK. I don't have a study on that but it must be around, as mentioned, 16+ years perhaps as much as 18 years.

Longest-lived

The longest living dog breed is the Jack Russell terrier at 12.7 years. The Yorkshire terrier's average lifespan is 12.5 years. For the border collie it is 12.1 years and for the springer spaniel it is 11.9 years. The average mongrel a.k.a. cross breed is 11.8 years.

Full list

The full list is below.

  • Jack Russell terrier - 12.72 years
  • Yorkshire terrier - 12.54 years
  • Border collie - 12.10 years
  • Springer spaniel - 11.92 years
  • Crossbred - 11.82 years
  • Labrador retriever - 11.77 years
  • Staffordshire bull terrier - 11.33 years
  • Cocker spaniel - 11.31 years
  • Shih-tzu - 11.05 years
  • Cavalier King Charles spaniel - 10.45 years
  • German shepherd dog - 10.16 years
  • Boxer - 10.04 years
  • Beagle - 9.85 years
  • Husky - 9.53 years
  • Chihuahua - 7.91 years
  • American bulldog - 7.79 years
  • Pug - 7.65 years
  • English bulldog - 7.39 years
  • French bulldog - 4.53 years

Dr Dan O'Neil, associate professor in Companion Animal Epidemiology at the Royal Veterinary College, and co-author of the paper, said: "Dogs have helped so many humans get through loneliness and isolation of the COVID pandemic.

Thursday 1 June 2023

For a moment it's just you, your dog, a sunset and some peace

We all have a need, on occasion, to remove ourselves from the human world to find some peace. To stop the clamouring of human activity around us. To stop the demands upon us. To walk away from the complexities of human life. And you can temporarily achieve some calm and some distance from humans by sitting on the beach with your dog as we see in the video. They look out towards the sunset. It is just them and the nature, the healer.

The man is with nature. Nature in the form of his dog and the sunset represents the universe.

A lot of people like to take up sailing so that they can be alone in the almost unimaginable amount of space the oceans offer. It is the sense of space that people sometimes crave; I do. And often they have to live in urban environments where there is a lack of space; I do. Where sometimes things just close in on you.

I think people buy houses by the seaside so they can look out towards the sea where there are no people. It provides an inner peace through visual space without interference of humans.

And this dude on the beach with his dog is temporarily enjoying such a moment. He is sitting with a great friend, perhaps his best friend and that feeling is mutual. The dog looks up to their caregiver as the alpha leader. They trust their human caregiver implicitly. They expect their human to behave like a benevolent alpha leader who guides and who is concerned for their welfare.

For a human to breach that trust is a terrible thing. It happens to often. And the cat looks up to their caregiver as their surrogate mother. It is very similar but with a slight difference.

We hardly ever see a cat sitting with a man or a woman on a beach looking out towards the sunset. But don't believe that it is impossible. You will see some wonderfully leash trained cats on the Internet who have learnt to behave like dogs on a lead and who are not frightened when a lot is happening around them.

Perhaps that should be the goal of millions of people today who keep their cats inside full-time. This training allows the owner to provide their cat with outdoor stimulation safely. That is one of the duties of a caregiver and it is expected of them by their domestic cat companion!

Be the person that your dog or cat thinks you are!

Ricky Gervais, a well-known animal advocate, tweeted the above saying. Actually, he only referred to dogs but the same applies to cats in my view with a slight difference, which is why I have a section on cats as well on this page.

It is a very pertinent/important saying. If you aren't sure why, I will, with your permission, explain.

Dogs

The domestic dog regards their human caregiver as the alpha. The human caregiver's family is the wolf pack. The dog looks up to the alpha who is the leader of the pack. This accounts in part for their incredible loyalty. Loyalty which allows the human caregiver if they go wrong to abuse their dog and the dog to accept it. 

When that happens, it is something terrible to behold because it is a complete breach of trust and it must be incredibly confusing to the domestic dog to be attacked by the leader of the pack.

This is because the leader of the pack has duties such as guiding, teaching and caring for their pack members. The alpha wolf leads their pack to improved survival chances under difficult conditions. The pack members look to their leader for that kind of guidance.

The alpha wolf is a benevolent dictator if you like. But they must be benevolent. They must behave nicely towards their pack members.

Going back to the title to this post, it is saying that the dog's caregiver/owner should be benevolent towards their dog. It is what their dog is expecting of them. It is what their dog thinks that their human is like. 

The domestic dog's expectation is that their owner is going to be a decent person and in response to that known expectation the person MUST be decent. There is a strong obligation on dog owners to treat their dogs well in order to meet with their dog's expectations.

Gervais and dog. He is the person they think humans should be. Image: Twitter.

Cat

The domestic cat is not by nature a member of a pack. We know that domestic cats are essentially solitary although they have become very sociable creatures throughout the 10,000 years of domestication. This is because they live in human homes where there is often more than one person and pet.

But essentially, the domestic cat views their human caregiver as a surrogate mother. A parent. A mother who cares for them and looks after them. Who feeds them. Who keeps them safe. Who prioritises security.

The cat looks to their mother to provide them with warmth and tender loving care. In the wild, the mother also teaches their kittens how to hunt and survive. The human doesn't do that but in caring for them they keep their cat in a state of permanent kittenhood, in effect.

The domestic cat has a reliance upon the human and that reliance is dependent upon the human acting and behaving decently at all times. That is the cat's expectation. There is an obligation on the human to meet this expectation.

If they are cruel to their cat, once again the animal is confused, bemused, anxious and frightened. It would be a breach of trust once again by the human. It would be a breach too of the unwritten agreement between human and domestic cat which is one of mutual support.

Friday 14 April 2023

Weird dog picture signals horror cat treatment

I am not going to talk about this a lot because it is too distressing. But in the photograph just below this paragraph you see a very strange, indeed weird, situation. You see lots of dogs clambering around the driver's and passenger's seat in a van parked in Hampton, Oakland, New Jersey, USA. It is just not the kind of picture you see, ever. It caught my eye and as expected it reveals a horror story behind it.

Dogs inside van packed full of dead and sick cats and dogs
Dogs inside van packed full of dead and sick cats and dogs. Image: Fox News.

Looking at the picture you can see that the unamed woman who owns these cats and dogs was living on a shoestring. They've repaired the dashboard with duct tape. It looks very grimy. The dogs look very sad and confused.

We are told that inside the vehicle there were 38 dogs and eight cats. Rescuers made the discovery last Saturday, April 8. The vehicle had been parked for two days at least. There were dogs running around the parking lot. A foul odour emanated from the vehicle unsurprisingly.

The dogs were soaked in urine and faeces. The vehicle was packed with animals.The cats and dogs inside the truck were terrified and huddled in all corners. 

Rescuers pulled them from the vehicle one by one. There were dead animals inside the vehicle which was soaked in urine, faeces and where there were animal remains. It is truly a ghastly, horrible and a horror story. It is the worst kind of animal abuse and animal hoarding.

The hoarding woman had decided to put all her animals in the van because her home in Virginia had been damaged in a fire. This had apparently forced her to live in the van with her large entourage of animals. She'd driven from Virginia to NJ.

It is such a relief, though, that they've been rescued and can start living normal lives with people who care. Ironically, then, that the person who did this thought that she was caring for them when she achieved quite the opposite. It is quite sad really. I feel for her despite the abuse she delivered to her animals. Often hoarders are borderline mentally ill.

Different rescue organisations were involved in this big job. It was Hampton animal control which were the first responders. They stayed into the late hours to rescue the animals and ensure that they had safe placements.

The identity of the driver has not been released. The information comes from Fox News Digital. They say that they have reached out to local police to seek more details.

Thursday 30 March 2023

Do cats have a natural fear of dogs?

This is a social media question about domestic cats. Note that this is about domestic cats. Clearly a Bengal tiger is not going to be scared of a single medium-sized dog! Point made.

Neighbour's dogs repeatedly escape neighbour's yard and attacks a man's cats. This is neither the cat nor the dog in the story. Pic in public domain as assessed.
Neighbour's dogs repeatedly escape neighbour's yard and attacks a man's cats. This is neither the cat nor the dog in the story. Pic in public domain as assessed.

Domestic cats have a natural fear of predators of domestic cats. They know when they are about to be a victim of a predatory attack by any animal or human larger than them. This is not therefore limited to dogs.

So that ability is innate and natural. But it is not possible to say that all cats have a natural fear of dogs. It is wrong because if a cat has been socialised to domestic dogs at an early age, they will be friendly towards dogs all their lives. We see many examples of cats and dogs being friendly towards each other.

This is about size too as the domestic cat is a top predator. Small predators such as the domestic cat are vulnerable to larger predators. This holds true with respect to the small wild cats such as the caracal being attacked by the large wild cats such as the leopard. See below:

Leopard a large wild cat species and a top predator kills and eats a small feline predator the caracal. Image in public domain. 

A very small dog or puppy would at least be vulnerable to an attack by a large feral cat although an attack would be unlikely.

I think size matters. As dogs are almost invariably larger than domestic cats the attacker and the attacked will be dog and cat respectively.

But it could be the other way around. A tiger would kill a single wild dog with one swipe. There is no natural fear of dogs in a Bengal tiger unless we are referring to a large pack of wild dogs which can kill a tiger.

Conclusion: Do cats have a natural fear of dogs? No, just a natural fear of predators that they perceive as genuinely dangerous and posing a serious threat.

Thursday 1 December 2022

Dogs suffer from less motion sickness in electric vehicles (EVs) than conventional ones

There is a study currently out, hot off the press, which, according to the researchers, clearly indicates that dogs prefer being in the back of electric vehicles (EVs) compared to conventionally powered vehicles. And they prefer it because they suffer from less motion sickness otherwise known as travel sickness or car sickness.

Dogs suffer from less motion sickness in electric vehicles (EVs) than conventional ones
Dogs suffer from less motion sickness in electric vehicles (EVs) than conventional ones. Image: Image by Ferenc Tóth from Pixabay.

And the professor, Prof Mills, who led the study in the UK with the assistance of the second-hand car retailer CarGurus, said that he believed that the lower vibrations and lower noise in EVs is a major contributing factor in their findings.

Both cats and dogs suffer from motion sickness. I'm not sure that many cat owners know about this. We know that cats don't like travelling in cars when they go to the veterinarian, but they might not realise that their cat might also be suffering from car sickness.

Car sickness in people, and pets, is caused by a clash in the sensory signals coming from the inner ear which regulates balance and the eyes which also helps to orientate the cat and dog in terms of their position in relation to the surroundings. It is worth noting that cats and dogs have excellent hearing and that cats don't understand cars. They see them as hostile creatures when travelling.

Prof Mills said that he believed that the lack of noise and vibrations helped to put the dogs at ease. Although the research is about dogs, I've taken the liberty of extending it to relate to cats because their anatomy is very similar. Although research is required on cats as well because I think this research reveals something which is very important to dog and cat owners.

Car sickness is a big problem for dogs. It is common. In this study they employed 20 dog participants who were placed in the back of a Genesis diesel vehicle and an electric vehicle. We don't know the manufacturer of the electric vehicle employed.

The professor found that the dogs were more settled when sitting in the back of the EV compared to the diesel vehicle as the tended to break their lying down posture in the diesel. The data revealed that dogs broke their lying down position 50% more often when in the diesel car compared to the EV.

He also found that two of the dogs suffered from nausea and car sickness when in the diesel Genesis test car. Their heart rate also spiked, and their behaviour indicated distress. Car sickness and dogs can cause whining and pacing, lethargy and distress combined with drooling.

The professor found that when the two dogs travelled in the EV their heart rate decreased by almost a third.

Prof Mills said:

"There were two dogs that, when I looked at them, they looked like they suffered from car sickness. They really started to salivate a lot and various other signs and although they weren't actually sick, they looked to me as though they were nauseated."

And he added that: 

"They seem to be much better in the electric car than the diesel cars and I found that quite an intriguing result and I think it's something that we ought to look at more because car sickness is a big problem for dogs."

The study revealed that dogs prefer less vibration and noise. Diesels are known for their vibrations. Electric vehicles are very smooth by comparison. I think we need to add in Toyota hybrids which are also incredibly smooth. These are vehicles driven by both battery and petrol engine simultaneously.

The findings have been submitted for peer review and they are important. Prof Mills added that given the high number of dogs that have difficulties in travelling and that they are very much members of the family, these findings will encourage people to buy EVs.

The findings suggest that dogs suffering from car sickness may be cured if their owner purchases in EV! The problem is that EVs are very expensive and the secondary problem at the moment is that the cost of electricity is highly inflated because of Putin's invasion of Ukraine and therefore the differential in the cost of running an EV compared to petrol engine car is not as great as it was.

Note: this is a cross post from a similar article on the main website.

Sunday 11 September 2022

Wise, elegant dog breaks up feline fight

This wise, elegant dog breaks up a feline fight within the home. In fact, you can hear her barking before she arrives as if to say "stop it!". It is a nice little video and one that we have seen before. The sad part about the video is that I suspect that these two cats will go on fighting for as long as they live in the same home. 

Sometimes cats in multi-cat homes simply do not get along and their home ranges overlap because they are living so close together inside the home. This is not ideal. 

Wise, elegant dog breaks up feline fight
Wise, elegant dog breaks up feline fight. Screenshot.

They adapt to it but unless they are friendly with each other it is liable to end up like this with a stand-off fight. 

The dog clearly recognises the animosity between the cats. This dog is no doubt friendly with both cats and he dislike seeing them fighting each other. 

She wants peace and harmony in the home. It is an incredibly wise decision by the dog. And it tells us that dogs are very sensitive to this kind of situation. 

It implies strongly that they are very aware of the need for harmony. Perhaps the dog is behaving as an alpha dog among a pack of other dogs only that in this instance the two dogs are cats. It is just that the dog relates to the cats as dogs and part of their pack. 

Normally the owner will be the alpha dog so perhaps this dog is not actually the alpha dog but he or she is certainly the leader in this little trio of family companion animals.


Note
: This is an embedded video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source or the video is turned into a link which would stop it working here. I have no control over this.

Wednesday 7 September 2022

Boris Johnson mentions Larry the cat's improved relationship with Dilyn his dog in farewell speech

Boris Johnson gave his farewell speech early this morning before flying up to Balmoral. He's been booted out of his job as the leader of the Conservative party and therefore the Prime Minister of the UK. And there has been some discord within the Conservative party. 

Larry the cat interviewed over Partygate
Government Chief Mouser Larry the Cat questioned over Partygate. Screenshot.

And also, there's been discord between his rescue dog, Dilyn, and the resident Downing Street cat, Larry. Larry is a celebrity cat and he's been at No 10 for some time as a mouser. He was adopted from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home. In fact, he was specially selected as a proficient mouser. I don't think he has caught many mice though!

Larry and Dilyn
Larry and Dilyn. Photo credit: Deposit Photos | BBC

Dilyn was fairly recently adopted by Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie, also as a rescue animal and there were reports of them not getting along very well but Boris Johnson hints in passing in his farewell speech that Larry and Dilyn have made friends or at least there has been a rapprochement in their relationship. And he uses this snippet of good news to urge his fellow conservatives to work together under the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss.

I always like it when cats are mentioned by senior politicians. Even if it is in passing. It kind of puts them on the map and in a small way it helps to improve their public profile. The video of his speech commences at the moment he mentions Larry and Dilyn.


Note
: This is an embedded video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source or the video is turned into a link which would stop it working here. I have no control over this.

Tuesday 30 August 2022

Can cats catch kennel cough from dogs?

YES, is the answer to the question. The phrase "kennel cough" refers to a respiratory infection caused by both bacteria and virus but the most common cause is the bacteria Bordetella bronchiseptica. Cats can transmit this disease to dogs as well but my feeling is that this is rare. How many cats have bad coughs? Rare, I would say but I don't live with a cat and a dog. The disease transmits both ways. And between other species of animal. It is highly contagious. Cats and dogs in kennels, hence the name, are the most vulnerable because they are close together, confined to one place.

Cat coughing
Image: Warren Photographic published here with his permission.

Both cats and dogs can acquire kennel cough from a variety of microorganisms including parainfluenza virus, adenovirus, reovirus and the distemper virus. They might get it from mycoplasma. But as mentioned the most common cause is the Bordetella bacterium and if a cat is exposed to it in direct contact with an infected animal such as a dog, they might catch the disease.

When a cat gets it, they shed rod-shaped bacteria in their nasal secretions and saliva and when they sneeze, they shed fluid droplets containing the bacteria. Any other cat or dog nearby main inhale the infected droplets.

This is a highly contagious disease because if a dogs sneezes on some bedding a cat might then pick up the bacteria from that bedding later on. This is indirect transmission. In fact, indirect transmission is a common method of getting the disease. The bacteria can survive for 1-2 weeks on objects unless the area is rigorously disinfected under protocols suggested by your veterinarian.

Kennel cough affects the lungs, windpipe and voice box. It is not usually dangerous and it clears up without treatment within a few weeks but I suspect that veterinarians prescribe antibiotics.

Dogs with the disease might feel ill. Kennel cough has an incubation period of 2-14 days. Puppies and elderly dogs and animals with an existing condition may develop complications such as pneumonia.

A kennel cough vaccine is available and dogs staying in kennels are often required to take the vaccination.

Kennel cough sounds like a forceful hacking cough as if something is stuck in a dog's throat. It can be dry and hoarse and it might be followed by a gag and swallowing because of the production of mucus. A similar sound is made by reverse sneezing to which certain breeds are susceptible.

There might be associated sneezing and mucus discharge. The animal should retain their appetite. A veterinarian might prescribe cough suppressants and anti-inflammatories to make the animal more comfortable.

Veterinarians diagnose kennel cough by the symptoms and the circumstances under which they live. Swabs might be taken to determine the virus or bacteria.

Sources: numerous on the Internet but mainly veterinarian's websites for which I am thankful.

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