If cats could speak, they would ask for steak, not fish or milk

Our deep-rooted superstitions often serve as guidelines for building relationships with dogs and cats kept as pets in the home. For example, we truly believe that giving some freshly caught fishes or a saurcer of milk to a cat is a real treat, which fills the pet with ultimate pleasure. It never occurs to us that a cat in its natural environment never goes fishing, nor it steals milk from a milkmaid. Not unlike the rest of the carnivorous animals, cats like meat. Therefore, if cats could speak, they would definitely ask their masters to cook them some steak, preferably rare. Below are ten most popular superstitions with regard to our pets.

Photo: If cats could speak, they would ask for steak, not fish or milk

1. Cat hates dog

To say that people fight one another “like cats and dogs” is fundamentally wrong in terms of comparison. Domestic cats and dogs have no reasons to fight when kept by the same family. A hostile attitude is possible only if a new pet is brought into the home at a time when the “old” one gives birth to its offspring. By and large, the dog treat its masters’ family as a pack where all family members coexist. Your dog can chase your cat’s playmates round the patio, it is perfectly normal. But your dog will never hurt your cat. Instead, the dog will protect the cat.

2. There is a way to make a cat stop stealing food

Needless to say, watching your cat snatch a piece of ham off the table is no fun. But never kick the sneaky animal in an attempt to make it feel the crime and “repent”. In fact, you should not beat your cat under any circumstances. The cat will remember every kick or blow it suffers. Later your cat will surely pay you back in a most nasty way. Stealing anything unattended is simply a cat’s nature. Therefore, keep a good eye on foodstuffs in the home because your pet is very tricky and always hungry.

3. Clothes knit of dog’s wool are a cure-all

Some dog owners shear their dogs like sheep and use the wool for knitting sashes and scarves, which they sell to other people. Those knit articles are said to have highly medicinal properties. And they are normally overpriced.

In actuality, the medicinal properties of dog’s wool are rather overestimated. No doubts about, a sash made of dog’s hair can help ease away your lower back pain. But it doesn’t make a difference whether the sash you wear is made of any other kinds of wool, be it the wool of sheep or camel. Anything that can warm up the affected part of the body is good during the back pain. A team of scientists from Novosibirsk looked into the alleged miracle of dog’s hair several years ago. They returned the verdict: leave the dogs alone!

4. Dogs or cats in the home can cause allergy

British scientists recently cleared the pets of this charge. The presence of a dog or cat in the home does not mean an increased risk of allergy to children. On the contrary, pets can lower the risk. However, you should think twice before bringing a pet to your apartment if any of your family members have an allergy.

5. Grab a puppy or kitten by the scruff of its neck when carryingit

On the face of it, we should copy the dogs and cats who carry their young ones that way.

But we must not do it because our fingers are not so nimble for grabbing a kitten in the right way so that the animal may not be troubled in any way. Only the cats and dogs can do the job of carrying their kids by the scruff. Oh, we forgot to mention those long painted fingernails that can easily hurt the animal’s delicate skin.

6. Your cat shows its affection when it rubs against your leg

Rubbing against your leg has nothing to do any love and affection. Sure thing, your cat can be crazy about you but it simply wipes off other smells by rubbing its slender body against your lower extremities. Some of the cat’s odoriferous glands located between the eye and ear, others sit under the tail. Your cat is using its smell equipment as it clings intimately to your leg.

7. A cat never abandons its master

The cat certainly loves its home if it is snug and has plenty of space for hunting nearby. Sometimes the cat can’t find the usual environment when its master moves to another apartment. But the cat is not a gregarious animal. Unlike the dog, the cat does not need man as a “leader of the pack.” The cat can love its master and form an attachment to him. Yet the cat can betray its master and trade him for a more comfortable environment.

8. Cats and dogs have nine lives

The myth about the survivability of cats and dogs is one of the most dangerous myths. Veterinarians often have to save the poor creatures whose masters relied too much on the pets’ proverbial ability to remain alive. But cats and dogs are mortal like any other species. And they can be very susceptible to diseases if they feed on wrong food, live in a polluted environment, and have no proper vaccinations. A pet may display the first signs of a serious disease when its days are already numbered.

9. Dog’s saliva works as natural antiseptic

Correct, a dog’s saliva has some antiseptic properties. Otherwise a dog would be in trouble soon after drinking water from a puddle. Legend has it that a long time the dogs were used for leaking up soldiers’ wounds in the field hospitals when the doctors ran out of medications. However, you had better use over-the-counter antiseptics for scratches, bruises and burns. Regular medications are more effective than a dog’s saliva.

10. You cannot keep a dog in a small apartment

It is not necessarily so. Just like for James Bond, “the world is not enough” for the dog too. The dog needs running across the vastness of a field, the dog needs the smell of a forest to feel as good as it gets – provided it is not a lap doggy. The dog sees any apartment as a doghouse where it can get board and lodging. The dog cannot care less for the size or furniture of an apartment it shares with its master.

Trud

Translated by Guerman Grachev
Pravda.ru