People sometimes think of cats and cruel or heartless because they might catch a mouse or bird, and let it go, only to pounce on it again - maybe several times. So this week I wanted to look into why cats play with their prey? Are cats evil, or is there something more to it? First off, catster.com says that wild cats rarely play with their prey, and that wearing down their prey can waste time that could allow another animal to take away the kill or give the prey animal a chance to get away. They also say that most cat species actually have a pretty low success rate at hunting. This makes them opportunistic hunters. They will go...
You may have seen videos or pictures online talking about the cheese tax - the demand that your pet dog or cat might make for cheese when you are cooking with cheese, or maybe just getting a cheesy snack. But, can cats eat cheese? Is there a certain cheese cats can eat? How much cheese can a cat eat? According to PetMD.com, the short answer is yes, cats can eat cheese, but there are some guidelines. The good news is cheese is high in protein and calcium, but many, maybe most, adult cats are lactose intolerant. Giving dairy products to cats that are lactose intolerant can cause gas, diarrhea, or vomiting. Catster.com also notes that besides lactose intolerance, some cats actually...
In my family, I am right handed, but my niece is a leftie, and so we're always bumping elbows at the dinner table. And that got me thinking... are cats left or right handed, or should I say left or right pawed? Or, are cats ambidextrous? Smithsonian magazine says yes, cats do have a paw preference! They cite a study done in Belfast at the Animal Behavior Centre at Queen’s University where 44 cats (20 female and 24 male), were observed at home to which paw they used on the first step down the stairs or stepping into the litter box. They also noticed which side the cats preferred to lie on when resting. Those were all spontaneous actions taken...
A little while ago I was looking into why cats sleep so much and I learned that, like humans, cats go through REM sleep. REM sleep is when we as humans have dreams, so it is thought to be likely that cats also dream during REM sleep. But, what do cats dream about? Do cats have bad dreams? Without being able to ask a cat about their sleep, we can't know for sure if cats have dreams, but Cats.com mentions a study done on rats that looked at their brainwaves while they were asleep and while awake. It found that the rats have similar brain activity when they asleep than they did while going through a maze, which suggests that...
This week, I wondered - do cats like music? If so, what music do cats like? Is there a music for calming cats? According to DailyPaws.com, we can't actually determine whether cats like music, but there have been studies done that show that classical music can lower cats stress, while other music, like heavy metal, actually raises it. Catster.com points out that cats have very sensitive hearing and so music that sounds good to us might be overwhelming to them. David Teie, a cellist for the the National Symphony Orchestra, had a theory that different species will like different sounds based on their own brain development and vocalizations. He set out to create species specific music using elements of that...
