In February I had blogged about a gift that I was given for Christmas - one of those Fact-a-Day calendars. The woman who bought it for the gift exchange here at work was hoping that I might get it and got the calendar knowing that I’m crazy about cats and dogs - no matter who they belong to! I’ve been peeling back the days and as it turns out, some of the trivia is quite cool and I thought that I might share some more of it with you. At the very least, you’ll have something to talk about the next time you play Trivial Pursuit.
For instance:
- We probably already know this, but those of us who have pets live longer, are less stressed and suffer fewer heart attacks. It’s incentive enough to cut out salt and get a cat
- Speaking of cats, the largest breed is the Ragdoll. The smallest is a Singapura.
- Think about the last time you really looked at your cat. Have you ever noticed its tail? The domestic cat is the only species of cat that can hold its tail upright while walking.
- Puppies can sleep up to 90% of the day in the weeks after they are born. I’m guessing that there are people out there that wish that it was still the case, thanks to Attention Deficit Hyperactive Dog Disorder – har!
- Fluffy may have been the name of the three headed dog in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, but the original three headed dog in Greek mythology was actually named Cerberus, and he guarded the underworld – kinda like Fluffy guarded the underside of Hogwarts.
- Thank you Sir Isaac Newton. Not only was he the guy to think up the Theory of Relativity, but he also invented the cat door!
- The original Pekingese bred in China were carried as puppies in the sleeves of their owner’s robes. By the same token, Pugs were originally bred in the Shang Dynasty (1600 – 1046 B.C.E.) to make the laps of upperclassmen look good.
- Cats that are born white with blue eyes (albino, I think) are often born blind. By the same token, if a male cat is orange and black, he is probably sterile.
- Dogs have twice as many muscles in their ears – that move – as humans do.
- Egyptians once shaved their eyebrows in mourning when they lost their cat.
- The father of a litter of puppies is called a sire. Why then is the mother called a dam? It makes you wonder if someone looked at their female dog and her litter of puppies and said, “Damn!”
- Chihuahuas are born with a soft spot on their head just like babies are. Just like babies, the spot will most often go away as they age.
- If a cat sleeps with its paws (all four) tucked underneath, it may indicate that a cold snap is on the way. This is a wives tale, but I’ve been watching Doc and Elmo just in case.
- The Bernese mountain dog was originally bred to do what livestock did way back when, and that’s pull carts. Poor dogs!
- You’re never supposed to blow into the ear of a dog. They are full of nerves that help preserve the dog’s hearing.
- Cats – no surprise here! – are the laziest of all mammals, sleeping up to 16 hours a day. If you do the math on this one, a seven year old cat has only spent two years awake. Makes you wish you could be a cat some days, doesn’t it? I suppose it shouldn’t be a surprise that cats are tired often . . . Their hearts beat at about 140 beats per minute – twice that of the average human.
- Kittens are blind and deaf at birth, and only start to develop eyesight and hearing when they are two weeks old and they start to walk about three weeks.
- The Cracker Jack box includes the portrait of a dog and his name is Bingo.
- Chewbacca – the giant thingy in Star Wars – was inspired by an Alaskan malamute owned by George Lucas.
- Do you remember Toto in The Wizard of Oz? Toto was actually played by a Cairn terrier and his name was Terry.
That’s all this time. I hope you enjoy them, and I’m sure I’ll have a new pile of them next month!