Cats at sea

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Cats and humans have walked side by side on land for thousands of years. It is less known that cats have shared the seas with us. They have a great ability to adapt to their surroundings, and thrive on ships.

In today’s society many people consider black cats bad luck. At sea, it was the complete opposite. Cats, particularly black cats, were believed to protect ships from dangerous weather. Fishermen’s wives would keep black cats at home, hoping they would protect the men at sea.

The US Naval Institute writes, “It is likely that the ancient Egyptians were the first seafarers to realize the true value of having cats as shipmates.” The kitties protected the ships from rats and mice, served as company, and could to some extent warn for foul weather. Cats have sensitive inner ears, and low atmospheric pressure often make them nervous and restless.

Without the presence of cats, a crew might find their ship overrun with rats and mice that would eat into provisions, chew through ropes, and spread disease. It was also common to adopt cats from foreign lands to serve as souvenirs and remind the crew of their pets at home.

Dogs at sea

Pet information
Venus, the bulldog at the wheel of HMS VANSITTART
Venus the bulldog steering the HMS Vansittart.
Image source //www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205185297
Venus the bulldog steering the HMS Vansittart.
Image source //www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205185297

Cats at sea might not come as a big surprise – they are excellent hunters and good at keeping pest populations at bay. Dogs have also been popular mascots through the ages, and a large number of four-legged marines have served in the United States sea services.

The dogs build morale and provide relief from the monotony of being at sea for months at a time. They have also served a practical function through warning for dangers, and many have led patrols onto foreign shores.

The photo shows Venus, the naval mascot of British Destroyer Vansittart. The photo is from 1941.

In the US, the English Bulldog has been a mascot of the marines since the first world war. It was unofficial until 1922 when a dog named Jiggs got the official duty for the first time.

There were a long row of dogs named Jiggs, but the modern day mascot is called Chesty. It is always a pure bred English bulldog and the name stays the same for generations. A long line of Chestys have gotten their name from legendary Lt Gen Lewis B ‘Chesty’ Puller Jr. who served in World War II and the Korean War. He is thus far the only Marine to be awarded five navy crosses.

If you want to see more dogs at sea, visit the US Naval Institute’s website here.

Puppies – and some things you might not know about them

Pet information

Sleeping puppyEvery person has been a child, and every dog has been a puppy. While the species have many interesting similarities, there are differences as well.

When puppies are born, many of their organs aren’t fully formed. This includes the brain, and puppies are very fragile. They spend the first few weeks of their lives developing rapidly.

Puppies are born with their eyelids shut, because their eyes aren’t developed. A newborn puppy’s eyes are extremely fragile. Never attempt to open a puppy’s eyes; they’re sensitive to life and can sustain damage for life.

Newborn puppies are also deaf, and relative silence is crucial for their developing ears. Forcing the puppy’s ears to respond to sound inputs before they’re fully developed could cause great damage.

It usually only takes a couple of weeks before the pup’s eyes open and they hear well. They still shouldn’t be removed from their mother until they’re at least eight weeks old. Some animals are born with the ability to leave thru mothers right away, but dogs are more like humans in this context; they need time with their mom in order to develop and be taught.

Teeth in the animal world

Pet information

Caring for teeth is important both for humans and pets. We need to brush our teeth twice a day, and brushing is the best way to keep Fido’s teeth clean as well. There are also chews, dental spray, and dental wipes that might assist with the cleaning process.

Human children have 20 baby teeth that fall out. Human adults have 32 teeth. Puppies have 28 teeth and adult dogs have 42.

42 teeth sounds like a lot, but it’s nothing compared to some other animals. A white shark has about 24 exposed teeth on their top and lower jaws respectively, but behind these 48, a white shark can have five more rows of developing teeth. When the shark loses one of the main teeth, a developing tooth rotates in and replaces it.

Alligators have a similar system. An alligator has an average of 80 teeth in the mouth at any one time, and when one falls out another takes its place.

Dolphins also have a surprising amount of teeth. An Atlantic bottlenose dolphin has between 80 and 100 teeth. The short-beaked common dolphin has around 240.

Fun dog facts

Pet information

Finnish SpitzHere are some random but fun dog facts.

  • The Greyhound is the fastest dog on Earth, and can run 45 miles per hour.
  • 45 is also the percentage of US dogs who sleep in their owner’s bed.
  • The world’s oldest known dog was an Australian cattle dog who lived to the age of 29 years and 5 months.
  • Dalmatians are born white and develop their spots as they grow.
  • Three dogs survived the sinking of the Titanic; two Pomeranians and one Pekingese.
  • The Pekingese was very important in ancient China. The emperor’s last line of defense was a small Pekingese hidden in his sleeve.
  • The smallest dog in the world – according to the Guinness book of world records – was a Yorkshire Terrier who at the age of 2 weighed only 4 ounces.
  • 70% of Americans sign their pet’s name on greeting cards.
  • Hyenas aren’t dogs. They’re more closely related to cats.
  • Spiked dog collars were invented in ancient Greece as a means to protect dogs’ throats from attacks.

Dogs and cats might be able to see in ultraviolet

Pet information

Light is made up by a wide spectrum of colors. The spectrum humans can see goes from red to violet, like a rainbow. Other animals can see other wavelengths, and we know that bees, birds, fish, some reptiles, mice, and bats can see ultraviolet light. Going back to the rainbow, that would be light below the inner purple band where the human eye not perceives nothing.

What we can see differs between species because of our different needs. A bee, for example, can pick up much more of the short wavelengths than humans, and they need this to see colors or patterns on plants that can lead them to nectar. Reindeer also see ultraviolet, and are believed to have developed this ability to discern polar bears and other threats that would otherwise blend in with the white snow.

Our eyes block out the short-wave light to improve visual acuity. It’s a trade-off where we sacrifice this part of the spectrum for higher resolution vision. We can see details better. The downside with that trade is that we see poorly in low-light situations.

Recently, a group of researchers at City University of London compared sights of a large number of mammals and found that hedgehogs, dogs, cats, and ferrets all see a wider spectrum of ultraviolet wavelengths than we do.

Now the question is; when a cat or dog goes crazy over nothing, do they see something we don’t?

Dogs can see color

Pet information

Dogs being color blind is an old myth, but a lot of people still think animals experience the world as gray. They see other colors than we do, but they definitely see colors.

Dogs’ eyes are focused on a spectrum containing yellows, blues, and violets. Red, green, and orange as we see it would appear as yellow or blue.

It’s interesting how many dog toys are yellow, orange, or red, because this lets us see them better. From the dog’s point of view, a blue tennis ball might be much more visible than a yellow one. They find them anyway, because dogs have a great sense of spotting movement.

Image source: //www4.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/la/davis2.htm

An eye contains two types of photoreceptors: rods and cones. A human eye has many types of cones, which allows us to see many different colors. A doggie eye has more rods. Thus, dogs have much better night vision and ability to track movement than the human eye. On the downside, they see fewer colors and less details.

There’s another big difference between a dog’s eyes and a human’s. Their eyes are placed on the sides of the head while ours face forward. This means that they get a visual field of 250 degrees, and humans only have a field of 190 degrees.

Image source: findretrievers.com

They have much better peripheral vision than we do, but we can focus and judge the distance to an object better.