A Michael Broad Blog
It is no surprise to me and perhaps others that both domestic dogs and cats have smaller brains than their wild cousins from whom they have descended: the grey wolf for dogs and the Eurasian wildcat for cats. The reason is obvious: domestication, which has removed the challenges for survival and the lesser need …
Mr Noah Webster in his Websters Dictionary published in the United States, includes a definition of the domestic cat which makes for uncomfortable reading for most cat owners or even non-cat owners. Some Americans will probably agree with the definition! (✿◡‿◡) Fair enough, but I am afraid that they’ll be wrong as was Mr …
I am going to challenge the general consensus constantly repeated on the internet in hundreds of thousands of articles that domestic cats can get stuck up trees because they don’t have the ability to get down. Does that sound strange to you? How did nature over millions of years of Darwinian evolution fail so …
The answer to the question in the title is in the infographic. It is that predation behaviour is, as expected, inherited but it needs to be polished up with some training from their mother and a kitten’s keen observational skills and ability to learn from watching. It is how they learn to open doors …
What happens when cats stop going outside? There is a strong trend towards full-time indoor cats. It is understandable but the thinking behind it has not encompassed all the ramifications for domestic cat health. Here is another: the production of serotonin and control of circadian rhythms. I have mentioned boredom and obesity due to …
I can think of at least four good reasons why domestic cats sometimes – depending on the cat and their mood – love to slither under the duvet while their caregiver is in bed. This is perhaps most likely to happen in the early hours of the morning for an indoor/outdoor cat who’s been …
On average, the Maine Coon cat is larger than almost all other domestic cats, with the exception of the F1, or first filial, Savannah cat. The F1 Savannah cat is the largest among domestic cats, although it is not recognized as a formal breed. The Maine Coon is the largest domesticated cat breed, but …
While the subject is quite grim, it’s intriguing to note that a 2015 study documented 63 instances of dogs consuming their deceased owners. Remarkably, in a quarter of these cases, the dogs began to eat the remains less than a day after their owner’s death, even though they had access to other food sources …
