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.

Thursday, 4 January 2024

Dogs have a sixfold increase in risk of bladder cancer through passive smoking

Purdue University has an interesting article on how cigarette smoke inside the home results in a sixfold increase in the chance of a dog developing specifically bladder cancer. The study worked with Scottish terriers in this test and they say that this particular breed develops bladder cancer at a rate 20 times higher than that of other dog breeds anyway. And when they develop bladder cancer it's a particularly aggressive type. It's due to their genetic make up. It's makes them predisposed to developing bladder cancer.

Scottish terrier 6 times more likely to get bladder cancer through passive smoking
Scottish terrier 6 times more likely to get bladder cancer through passive smoking. Image: MikeB

And the reason why second-hand cigarette smoke dramatically increases the chances of dogs developing bladder cancer is because the body takes up the chemicals in the cigarette smoke and eliminates them through the urine which leads to cancer of the urinary tract and the bladder is part of the urinary tract.

There has to be a caveat or a warning about the results which they admit in the report namely that not all dogs who were around smokers got cancer and some dogs who are not around cigarette smoke still got cancer. So this is not a hard and fast test but it should be unsurprising to readers that second-hand cigarette smoke can give companion animals cancer just as it does to humans. That's why there are laws now firmly in place and have been for a long time that people can't smoke inside buildings.

This Purdue University cancer test is not earthshattering. It simply reminds us that if you are a smoker and have a dog, you should stop smoking.. Never again. Just stop it. Or if you can't do that then go outside to smoke and then return to protect your dog. And of course the same goes for domestic cats by the way. That's common sense too.

They chose the Scottish terrier because as mentioned they are genetically predisposed to getting cancer and therefore this test is going to be more effective. If second-hand smoke does cause cancer in dogs then the Scottish terrier will throw up a result and expose the problem. Although the use of Scottish terriers begs the question as to whether other dog breeds would develop passive smoking bladder cancer to the same degree.

P.S. Going to a party where there's lots of cigarette smoke in the air and coming back to your home to greet your dog at which point your dog jumps up onto your lap is also going to expose your dog to the possibility of developing cancer through cigarette smoke toxins because those toxins are deposited on your clothes and then transferred to your dog's coat.

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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.

Wednesday, 3 January 2024

74-year-old woman's cat attacked the 60-year-old man who was throttling her


NEWS AND COMMENT: A 60-year-old man was arrested for assaulting a 74-year-old women because she refused to permit him to drive her car which she had allowed in the past. The lady has a cat who dived into the fray and jumped on the man as he throttled the woman with one hand and covered her mouth and nose with his other hand. 

It appears that the man is scared of cats! Job done them. Fortunate outcome and brave of the cat. This is yet another example of a cat companion defending a human, this time an adult human, when under attack. In another post I reported on a female cat successfully defending her dog companion from an attack by a couple of coyotes in the backyard.

In other videos I have seen domestic cats protecting babies and kids from danger including falling down stairs and being attacked by stray dogs. It happens a lot, strongly indicating that cats see themselves as part of the family (and vice versa) and a protective mother to the family members with whom they are close. So much for the domestic cat being 'solitary' creatures. They are not. They've become very sociable.

Location: San Antonio, Texas, USA
Name of man: Nathaniel Charles Derouen

He is out on a bond of $35,000. A bond is posted on a defendant's behalf, usually by a bail bond company, to secure his or her release.
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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.

Female community cat who became a pet scared off 2 coyotes attacking dog companion

This is another one those impressive cat stories were the modest cat companion protects either a dog or a child or even a toddler from danger including attacks from coyotes. 


This story proves that domestic cat companions living in homes where there are dogs and kids, regard the dogs and kids as companions, even offspring to be protected. It is female cats who appear to regard kids and dogs as their offspring to be protects and defended when danger is present.

They take on the courage of the mother cat protecting her kittens and take enormous personal risks. 

In this video we see the family's black cat, Binx - who the family adapted as she walked into their home as a community cat - notice that her small white dog companion was being attacked by one of two coyotes. The attack was about to be fatal when the Binx intervened and the coyotes decided to leave.


The video is interesting also because coyotes often attack and kill domestic cats in the US. Cats know that coyotes are a predator to them. And yet this cat runs towards them and takes up the larger profile to try and scare them off. She succeeded. 

It is unsurprising in one way because mother cats are fearless when protecting kittens.

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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.

Tuesday, 2 January 2024

Think of your cat when you decide to turn the central heating thermostat down

Couple of Siamese cats need the central heating thermostat turned up in winter! Screenshot.

Just a little reminder that cats love heat. A lot of home and pet owners or renters might want to try and minimise their heating bill by turning down the thermostat as recommended. This will help in the battle against climate change too.

It is good idea in general as you can turn the thermostat down a degree or two and wear some warm clothes to make up the difference. Money saved at a stroke or the turn of a thermostat knob.

But what about the cats? Yes, they have coats to keep themselves warm but the Siamese has a very close-lying single coat. It is not hugely effective in keeping them cosy warm in winter as is the coat of the Siberian for instance.

The Siamese will like the thermostat turned up. As this video shows:


It is a compromise situation. You have to consider the cats when you turn down the heating. Or a least ensure that there is a warm little cubby hole somewhere in the home for them. The space next to the boiler is ideal. Or the 'airing cupboard'. This is the place where the hot water cylinder is located if you don't have a combi boiler. Cats love and need to have access to these places in winter.

An alternative might be a little igloo bed and an electric heating pad underneath! Or is the going too far. I don't think so.

The video is from Mae's TikTok channel: link.

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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.

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