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If men are from Mars and women are from Venus, then cats and dogs must come from Jupiter. How else to explain some of their, well, alien behaviors? Just what, exactly, is a dog thinking when he rolls around in something stinky? If a cat naps on a computer keyboard, is it because she’s expecting an email? We went to the experts (the human kind!) for answers.
My dog seems to run in his sleep. Could he be dreaming? Perhaps. “We can’t really ask them,” says veterinarian Melissa Bain, associate professor at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, “but we think they dream.” That’s because their brain-wave patterns resemble those seen in people. “Dogs go through sleep cycles very similar to humans’, with periods of deep sleep and periods of rapid eye movement, or REM, sleep,” says Stephen Zawistowski, Ph.D., an applied animal behaviorist and science adviser to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. “Dreaming happens during REM sleep, which is also when dogs twitch their legs, move their lips, or vocalize.” Wonder when your own dog might be dreaming? As a dog starts to doze, and his sleep becomes deeper, his breathing will become more regular, says canine behavior expert Stanley Coren in his book How Dogs Think. “After a period of about 20 minutes,” Coren writes, “his first dream should start.”
Why can a cat always land on its feet? “Cats have a very flexible spine that allows them to twist in the air and right themselves as they fall,” says Zawistowski. “But cats can injure themselves quite severely if they fall from high places. Every year, vets treat [many] cats that fall from windows in upper floors of apartment buildings. This is so common that it has a name, ‘high rise syndrome,’ due to the consistent nature of the injuries.”
Why do dogs like to have their bellies scratched? “Not all dogs like it, but for those that do, it’s a way of bonding,” says Sophia Yin, a veterinarian and applied animal behaviorist in Davis, Calif. Besides which, Zawistowski says, “Dogs have a difficult time scratching some areas of their own bellies. Because they’re sensitive there, the greater agility of human fingers is probably more pleasant than their own toenails.” But remember, Bain says, when a dog rolls over, “that can also be a sign of fear.” If you approach a dog that is uncomfortable or afraid, keep in mind that it could respond by showing aggression.
Do dogs and cats have a sense of humor? According to the experts we spoke to, studies have not yet been done to assess pets’ sense of humor. But if we’re talking about a sense of fun, then the answer is yes. We humans so prize fun in dogs, we’ve ranked the breeds on a playfulness scale. Among those at the top: Irish setters, English springer spaniels, Airedales, miniature schnauzers, and poodles. As for cats, says Jackson Galaxy, host of Animal Planet’s My Cat From Hell,“The fact that cats live willingly with us is proof positive they have a sense of humor!”
My dog likes to lie in mud puddles and other icky places. Why? Mud puddles? That’s easy: In hot months, they’re like an instant air conditioner for your furry pooch. As for smelly places, Zawistowski says “nice” is in the nose of the beholder. “While rotting fish may not smell great to you, to your dog—descended from critters that scavenged for meals—it probably smells as good as fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies. Rolling in it is just a way to enjoy it all the more.”
Can a cat be trained the way a dog can? Cats are not as inherently interested in pleasing humans as dogs are, “but they can be trained if there’s something in it for them,” says cat behaviorist Mieshelle Nagelschneider, author of the book The Cat Whisperer. “I’ve trained my cats to give me high fives.” Some cat owners use clicker training; learn more at aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist.
One of my cats loves catnip; the other couldn’t care less. What gives? Catnip, a member of the mint family, contains a substance called nepetalactone that stimulates some, but not all, cats. “About one-third to one-half of all cats are sensitive to it,” says Zawistowski. “They’ll respond by rolling in it and acting intoxicated.” Unfortunately for Kitty, the catnip high lasts only about 15 minutes.
Why does my dog like to smell other dogs’ behinds? Pheromones produced in glands in dogs’ cabooses provide info “about their sex, reproductive, and social status,” says Zawistowski. And there’s another reason: “By sniffing the back,” Bain says, “they avoid approaching a dog head-on, an action that can signal a challenge.”
(RF Pictures/Corbis)
Why does my cat like to sleep in weird places, like atop keyboards or inside cardboard boxes? Simply put, it’s what their ancestors did. “In the wild, cats like to take refuge in enclosed spaces and also like to claim locations because of their territorial nature,” says Nagelschneider. “And what cat can pass up a warm keyboard? It’s made particularly special because a human is touching it all the time.”
I have a “knead-y” cat. What’s she up to? “This remnant behavior from kittenhood reminds cats of nursing on their mother,” says Nagelschneider. Domesticated adult cats do it for attention—a good thing, adds Yin: “It’s something cats do when they are contented.”
Why do cats like to nap so much? Cats typically sleep 12 to 16 hours a day, and because they’re crepuscular, meaning they hunt at dawn or dusk, they can be more active at night. But house cats don’t necessarily need—or want—to sleep as much as they do, says Yin. “How much a cat sleeps has a lot to do with how stimulating its environment is.” To cure Bored Cat Syndrome—the real name for this forced kitty ennui—provide your cat with toys, tiered cat trees, and cat tunnels when you’re gone, and bubbles, lasers, and fishing pole–type “prey toys” when you’re home and can play with her.
Can dogs and cats get colds from us? Dogs and cats can get colds, with the same miserable symptoms (sneezing, coughing, watery eyes) we get, but they don’t catch them from us. Most viruses are unique to a species; whereas our common cold is caused primarily by the rhinovirus, most dog colds come from Bordetella bacteria or canine flu viruses, and most cat colds are due to feline herpes, caliciviruses, or Bordetella bacteria. Nonetheless, recently researchers have expressed concern about “reverse zoonosis,” in which humans pass diseases to animals through mutations and new viral forms. So if you are under the weather, rather than snuggling up with Fluffy, keep your distance—for her safety.
My cat always seems to gravitate toward people who either don’t like cats or are allergic. Am I imagining this? Probably not. As with most cat behaviors, it all boils down to survival, says cat Nagelschneider. “Cats like to play it safe and approach people who are not overtly trying to draw their attention with expressions, vocalizations, and other gestures. With someone they don’t know, those gestures can feel like too much pressure and even be perceived as threatening. People who are averse to cats are often passive, and to cats, this can feel safer.”
Why does my cat like to drink out of water glasses and sinks? “In nature, cats will avoid drinking water that is next to dead prey because the water may be contaminated with bacteria,” says Nagelschneider. “Inside the home, this instinct also applies—they want to drink water that is located far away from their store-bought food to ensure healthy water. We always tell cat owners to be sure to locate the water bowl in its own designated ‘watering hole’ area.”
Why don’t cats like sweets the way dogs do? “Cats are carnivores; they need to eat meat and they don’t digest carbohydrates as well,” says Dr. Yin. “They are also more discriminating about food than dogs, and more susceptible to toxins than dogs. Dogs, in contrast, evolved as scavengers, living off human dump sites, and the ones that did the best at that survived. They are better adapted to eating the things we do.” And that rapture we feel over chocolate? There’s another good reason why cats instead say “Meh,” not “Meow.” Says Zawistowski: “At some point during the evolution of cats, a mutation in their sensory system caused them to lose the capacity to taste sweet.”
What is my cat trying to tell me when he rubs up against my leg? Cats have scent glands on both their cheeks and the base of their tails, and they are leaving their scent marks. “Rubbing against humans and other cats can help maintain the very important group scent that serves as a social glue,” says Nagelschneider. “Cats feel affiliated and relaxed with those that carry the group scent. People have the same last name in families, but cats have scent last names. Rubbing can be proprietary in nature as well, and the cat may be claiming you if he or she rubs on you. This also goes for leaving their scent and pheromones on objects they want to claim to let other cats know they’ve been there. For example, a cat may mark a couch if they can’t mark you because you’re busy putting the groceries away.”
Why do cats automatically know to pee in litter boxes? Cats instinctually dig and bury their urine and feces, but not just for our convenience. Because a cat’s urine has a strong odor that can potentially be smelled by predators, wild cats learned to urinate away from where they slept and ate, and to cover their urine. That instinct is still strong today in domestic cats. Unfortunately, not using litter boxes (often a sign of some other behavioral problem, like stress or anxiety) is the No. 1 complaint of cat owners and the No. 1 reason millions of cats are surrendered to shelters each year. “I’ve heard of owners finding unwelcome gifts from their cats inside shoes and coffee mugs,” says Nagelshneider. “I once solved the curious case of a smelly toaster,” she says in her book The Cat Whisperer.
I’m tempted to get a DNA test to find out what breed(s) my mutt is; how do those tests work? The canine DNA tests, which cost $60 and up, involve swabbing the inside of your dog’s cheek and sending in the sample to the research company; results come back in a few weeks. Their accuracy depends on a number of factors; if a mutt has many breeds in its background, the results will typically be less reliable than a mutt with a purebred parent or grandparent. “All dogs are descended from a wolf ancestor,” says Zawistowski. “Over time, genetic mutations gave rise to the various breeds we have today, each of which has accumulated different changes in their DNA. The tests are based on an analysis of these differences and are most reliable when the breeds are easily distinguished. It’s more difficult to differentiate between breeds that are closely related, or when one breed has been derived from another.”
If you have ever wondered why cats rub up against you, make mad dashes around the house late at night, or exhibit other somewhat odd behaviors, read on.
1. Why do cats run around the house late at night? Maybe it’s their way of saying “See, I exercised! Now leave me alone so I can take a nap.” Racing around the house often starts in the early evening, and can go on all hours of the night till morning. It actually stems from instinct, when all kinds of cats—from lions to pumas to house cats—are on the hunt. They run, dive, and chase prey. Yes, I know there is no prey in your house, but it’s their instinct.
2. Why do cats smell our breath? It’s to see if we are eating better than they are. Cats can learn a lot about us by smelling our breath. They are imprinting our scent into their brains.
3. Why do cats bat their food out of their dishes? They enjoy watching us stumble about the kitchen in our bare feet when we step on the dry crunchy bits. Well, that’s my theory, anyway. But scientists will tell us that it’s because cats need to simulate the capture and conquest of their prey.
4. Why do cats knead on our chests with their claws? Are they actually trying to check our tolerance to pain? Nope. This up and down kneading action stems from nursing. Kittens press against their mother with one paw and then the other. When an adult cat kneads, it reminds her of her mother when she was a kitten.
5. Why do cats rub up against our legs? They think we’re big lint brushes, right? Actually, this is a way of sharing their scent with you. It’s a bonding experience that lets other cats know that you are owned by a cat.
6. Why do cats groom us?It’s not grooming; it’s tasting! So for your own safety, buy better cat food. I’m kidding; the truth is, cats that get along often groom each other as well as groom themselves. So they are extending the same courtesy to us.
Michele C. Hollow lives with Chai and Karma, her two rescue cats. She writes the animal advocacy blog, Pet News and Views, and is the author of The Everything Guide to Working With Animals. She is working on a book about a WWI service dog.
For all the adorable images of cats that play the piano, flush the toilet, mew melodiously and find their way back home over hundreds of miles, scientists have identified a shocking new truth: cats are far deadlier than anyone realized.
In a report that scaled up local surveys and pilot studies to national dimensions, scientists from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and the Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that domestic cats in the United States — both the pet Fluffies that spend part of the day outdoors and the unnamed strays and ferals that never leave it — kill a median of 2.4 billion birds and 12.3 billion mammals a year, most of them native mammals like shrews, chipmunks and voles rather than introduced pests like the Norway rat.
The estimated kill rates are two to four times higher than mortality figures previously bandied about, and position the domestic cat as one of the single greatest human-linked threats to wildlife in the nation. More birds and mammals die at the mouths of cats, the report said, than from automobile strikes, pesticides and poisons, collisions with skyscrapers and windmills and other so-called anthropogenic causes.
Peter Marra of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and an author of the report, said the mortality figures that emerge from the new model “are shockingly high.”
“When we ran the model, we didn’t know what to expect,” said Dr. Marra, who performed the analysis with a colleague, Scott R. Loss, and Tom Will of the Fish and Wildlife Service. “We were absolutely stunned by the results.” The study appeared Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.
The findings are the first serious estimate of just how much wildlife America’s vast population of free-roaming domestic cats manages to kill each year.
“We’ve been discussing this problem of cats and wildlife for years and years, and now we finally have some good science to start nailing down the numbers,” said George H. Fenwick, the president and chief executive of the American Bird Conservancy. “This is a great leap forward over the quality of research we had before.”
In devising their mathematical model, the researchers systematically sifted through the existing scientific literature on cat-wildlife interactions, eliminated studies in which the sample size was too small or the results too extreme, and then extracted and standardized the findings from the 21 most rigorous studies. The results admittedly come with wide ranges and uncertainties.
Nevertheless, the new report is likely to fuel the sometimes vitriolic debate between environmentalists who see free-roaming domestic cats as an invasive species — superpredators whose numbers are growing globally even as the songbirds and many other animals the cats prey on are in decline — and animal welfare advocates who are appalled by the millions of unwanted cats (and dogs) euthanized in animal shelters each year.
All concur that pet cats should not be allowed to prowl around the neighborhood at will, any more than should a pet dog, horse or potbellied pig, and that cat owners who insist their felines “deserve” a bit of freedom are being irresponsible and ultimately not very cat friendly. Through recent projects like Kitty Cams at the University of Georgia, in which cameras are attached to the collars of indoor-outdoor pet cats to track their activities, not only have cats been filmed preying on cardinals, frogs and field mice, they have also been shown lapping up antifreeze and sewer sludge, dodging under moving cars and sparring violently with much bigger dogs.
“We’ve put a lot of effort into trying to educate people that they should not let their cats outside, that it’s bad for the cats and can shorten the cats’ lives,” said Danielle Bays, the manager of the community cat programs at the Washington Humane Society.
Yet the new study estimates that free-roaming pets account for only about 29 percent of the birds and 11 percent of the mammals killed by domestic cats each year, and the real problem arises over how to manage the 80 million or so stray or feral cats that commit the bulk of the wildlife slaughter.
The Washington Humane Society and many other animal welfare organizations support the use of increasingly popular trap-neuter-return programs, in which unowned cats are caught, vaccinated, spayed and, if no home can be found for them, returned to the outdoor colony from which they came. Proponents see this approach as a humane alternative to large-scale euthanasia, and they insist that a colony of neutered cats can’t reproduce and thus will eventually disappear.
Conservationists say that, far from diminishing the population of unowned cats, trap and release programs may be making it worse, by encouraging people to abandon their pets to outdoor colonies that volunteers often keep lovingly fed.
“The number of free roaming cats is definitively growing,” Dr. Fenwick of the bird conservancy said. “It’s estimated that there are now more than 500 T.N.R. colonies in Austin alone.”
They are colonies of subsidized predators, he said, able to survive in far greater concentrations than do wild carnivores by dint of their people-pleasing appeal. “They’re not like coyotes, having to make their way in the world,” he said.
Yet even fed cats are profoundly tuned to the hunt, and when they see something flutter, they can’t help but move in for the kill. Dr. Fenwick argues that far more effort should be put into animal adoption. “For the great majority of healthy cats,” he said, “homes can be found.” Any outdoor colonies that remain should be enclosed, he said. “Cats don’t need to wander hundred of miles to be happy,” he said.
James Morton
A domestic cat with a European rabbit. Domestic and feral cats are significant predators of a wide range of prey species, including rabbits.
January 30, 2013
Sebastian Nebel
Whether feral or domestic, cats are tuned to the hunt, and when they see something flutter, they cannot help but pounce.
