Fun Facts About Dogs And Cats

• The nose pads of both dogs and cats are unique - ridged in a pattern just like fingerprints of humans.

• Among the survivors from the doomed Titanic were two dogs - a Pekingese and a Pomeranian.

• A cat's heart beats twice as fast as a human heart - 110 to 140 beats per minute.

• Cats knead with their paws when they're happy.

• Your cat loves you and can read your moods. If you're sad or under stress, you may also notice a difference in your cat's behavior.

• The oldest known breed of dog native to North America is the Chihuahua and the oldest known breed is the Saluki, an Arabic word meaning "noble one."

• An average cat has 1-8 kittens per litter and 2-3 litters per year.

• During her productive life, one female cat could have more than 100 kittens.

• A single pair of cats and their kittens can produce as many as 420,000 kittens in just 7 years.

• The U.S. has the highest dog population in the world, followed by France.

• People who own pets live longer, have less stress, and have fewer heart attacks.

• "Sociable" cats will follow you from room to room to monitor your activities throughout the day.

• Give your cat a quality scratching post to deter her from scratching your furniture. Still scratching? Try putting lemon scent or orange scent on the area. Cats hate these smells.

• You've probably heard that one year of a dog's life is equal to seven in human years. Here's another way of calculating a dog's age: At one year, a dog is the equivalent of 16 human years; at two dog years they are 24 human years; at 3 dog years, 30 human years; and for every dog year after that, add 4 human years.

• Cats are partially colorblind. They have the equivalency of human red/green color blindness. (Reds appear green and greens appear red - or shades thereof.)

• At birth, kittens can't see or hear. Kittens open their eyes after five days and begin to develop their eyesight and hearing at approximately 2 weeks. They begin to walk at 20 days.

• Cats are the sleepiest of all mammals. They spend 16 hours of each day sleeping. With that in mind, a seven year old cat has only been awake for two years of its life!

• The Doberman breed was created in the 1860's by Louis Doberman, a German tax collector who created the dog to protect him while he worked.

• Cats spend 30% of their waking hours grooming themselves.

• 95% of all cat owners admit they talk to their cats.

• 32% of those who own their own home also own at least one cat.

• Egyptians shaved their eyebrows as a sign of mourning when they lost a beloved cat.

• A cat has five more vertebrae in its spinal column than a human does.

• The weirdest cat on record was a female called Mincho who went up a tree in Argentina and didn't come down again until she died six years later. While treed, she managed to have three litters with equally ambitious dads!

• Dogs have lived with humans for over 14,000 years. Cats have lived with people for only 7,000 years.

• Cats can see up to 120 feet away. Their peripheral vision is about 285 degrees.

• Dogs can hear low sounds about as well as humans (40 Hz, compared to our 20 Hz), and can hear sounds that are a quite a bit higher (60,000 Hz, compared to our 20,000 Hz). They are more sensitive to loud sounds - loud noises that humans can tolerate may be painful to dogs. The flipside of this is that they can hear sounds that are 4 times farther away.

• Because cat-eye pupils are vertical slits, they get narrower in bright light. The neat trick: Cats can lower or raise their eyelids to hide more or less of the slit, just like a window shade. This gives a cat more precise control than nearly any other animal over the amount of light entering his eyes.

• In absolute darkness with no light at all, cats can't see any better than humans can.

• Scientists estimate that cats can see clearly in one-sixth the amount of light we humans would need.

• The fastest dog in the world is a greyhound which can reach up to an amazing 45mph!

• Contrary to popular belief, a Pit Bull doesn't have the strongest bite. In a scientific test measuring bite pressure, the Rottweiler won with 328 lbs., followed by a German Shepherd at 238 lbs., and the Pit Bull at 235 lbs. What makes Pit Bulls dangerous biters is their ability to lock their jaws.