The question arises automatically every time we watch the numerous videos of dogs and cats fighting, playing or running away from their own image reflected in the mirror. What do animals actually see every time they look at each other? Are they able to recognize themselves? The response of ethologists is quite clear.

Dogs and cats are part of the large category of animals that is unable to develop visual self-recognition. This means that their brain does not have the ability to understand who the image reflected in a mirror belongs to, unlike other animals, such as dolphins, magpies, elephants and great apes, such as orangutans, chimpanzees and gorillas.

We can compare this to the cognitive development of children, who, according to the most founded theories, would learn the ability to visually recognize themselves only starting from 18 months of age.

According to modern ethology, as expressed by Dr. Diana Reiss, even for animals, as for people, self-recognition requires a series of well-defined steps. The first of these is the so-called "Groucho phase", during which the animal begins to move slowly and easily to understand if the reflected image is able to follow its gestures.

Animals that have the ability to recognize themselves in the mirror might be elephants and dolphins that have proven to be able to position themselves in front of the mirror, and reflect some specific parts of the body, such as the inside the mouth.

During an experiment, in particular, the animals were marked with a red X on the body. Only a few species could identify it, turning around so that it was visible in the mirror. Indeed, during the same study the elephants proved to be able to even indicate the X with the trunk on their body.

In contrast, dogs and cats did not show the same result. What emerged, rather, is that the puppies behave as if the reflected image belonged to another animal, with which to explore, fight or play. Very similar reactions to those of a child.

However, if on the one hand dogs and cats do not have this ability, they know very well how to compensate for this lack. Their sense of smell is in fact much more developed than ours and many other animals, so they simply prefer to rely on their nose to recognize themselves and others. In essence, for cats and dogs, the smell represents the identification card of an individual.

Source: http://www.nationalgeographic.it/scienza/2015/02/20/news/cosa_vedono_gli_animali_allo_specchio_sapevatelo-2490799/

 One of the most curious aspects about our animals is that there is a correlation between their age and ours. In particular, we all grew up with the idea that a "human" year equals to 7 dog years. For the cat, however, the versions are different. Here is the exact calculation of the age of the dog and cat, converted into "human" years.

Let's start from the age of the dog.

First, we must take into consideration the age, but also the size of the animal. As it is known, in fact, larger dogs, such as Terranova and San Bernardo, generally have a shorter average life than small and toy dogs, such as Chihuahua and Pinscher.

Within the first year of age, we will calculate 15 "human" years instead of 7, as mistakenly believed. If this reasoning seems strange to you, think of a simple aspect: puberty. In fact, dogs from 6 to 12 months of age complete sexual development, so they can mate and reproduce. If one dog year corresponded to 7 of "our" years, all this would not make sense. On the contrary, within 15 "human" years, we perfectly fit with pubertal calculus. For larger dogs, however, within the 40 kg weight we calculate 14 "human" years, whilst over 40 kg it is reduced to 12.

Starting from the second year of age we remain among the 23 "human" years of a small dog, 24 for intermediate sizes, going down to 22 and 20 for those respectively within and over 40 kg of weight.

Beyond 2 years of age, the calculation continues in a linear way, adding 4 years to each past year, but always relying on the age originally assessed based on size. So a 3-year-old dog will be considered on average approximately twenty-eight year old, whilst at 9 he will be comparable to a middle-aged man.

As for old age, however, as we said, large and giant dogs tend to age earlier than toy breeds. According to this reasoning, a 13-year-old Chihuahua will be considered a sixty-eight year old, whilst a Saint Bernard of the same age will have already passed the eighties in "human" age.

This is why there are small dogs that can exceed 15 years of age, whilst bigger breeds won’t.

Let's move on to the cats now.

 In this case, the calculation of the 7 "human" years is wrong, as for the dog. During the first two years of age, the relationship is very similar between the two animals, for which one feline year will correspond to 15 "human" years, while 2 to 24 years.

The calculation continues adding once again 4 "human" years for each year of the cat's age on a regular basis. In fact, removing minimal variations in weight, for example between a European breed cat and an imposing Norwegian Forest cat, there are no significant differences that require a distinction in the calculation.

So, a cat can be considered middle-aged around 9-10 years, while it can be compared to a seventy year old from 14-15 years. That is not all. As many of us know, it is not difficult to hear about real feline Highlanders, some of whom exceed 20 years of age, making them 90 years old and centenarians. Will it be thanks to their seven lives?

Source: https://www.petclub.it

This news will probably not inform of anything new for all the people who already live with a dog and know how empathetic these animals are. In fact, most owners recognize dogs as a great gift for being able to perceive their moods, behaving in a way that alleviates sadness, tensions, fear and other negative emotions.

However, this has only been a "simple" perception common to many people. Today, however, it has become a certainty from a scientific point of view, thanks to a study published in the journal "Biology Letters". British and Brazilian experts from the University of Lincoln and Sao Paulo have in fact verified that dogs are able to "read" the emotions painted on the faces of people and other dogs.

According to professionals, this characteristic is very important for animals, because it helps them understand what the other's real intentions are within society, an aspect ascertained especially in the context of individuals belonging to the same species. No wonder dogs manage to understand each other.

Specifically, to further understand the intentions of another individual, a certain cooperation is necessary between hearing, which perceives sounds, and sight, which instead can help us where words are missing or can even make us suspect that the other individual is lying. These two senses, therefore, work together to make the final information perceived more complete and robust.

As far as animals are concerned, so far only a few primates have shown that they know how to connect the facial expressions of other subjects of their species to the corresponding verses. The ability to understand "heterospecific emotions", ie belonging to different species, apparently also affects our beloved dogs.

During the study, seventeen socialized adult dogs were shown pairs of photographs belonging to men or other dogs in two versions, one correctly coloured and one on the grey scale. Each image depicted the same face or dog, but with different expressions, from happy to angry. Both images were projected simultaneously as soon as a sound was emitted (the barking of a dog if the image was a dog or a human voice in an unknown language if the image was a human) with a positive, neutral or negative tone.

During the projection, the reaction of each of the seventeen dogs to the sight of the images was filmed with a video camera. The result revealed that most dogs stayed longer to look at the photos that matched the right sound (a happy face with a happy sound, or an angry expression with an angry sound). This undoubtedly confirms the hypothesis that dogs are able to understand the meaning of verbal language, especially if associated with facial expressions.

Therefore, the next time your dog crouches next to you because they see you cry, you can be sure that he is really trying to make you feel better.

Source: http://www.tgcom24.mediaset.it/salute/i-cani-riconoscono-le-emozioni-umane-ora-lo-dice-anche-la-scienza_2154229-201602a.shtml

It is now known that pets can help us get better both in terms of mood and in terms of health. In particular, according to some recent studies, it has emerged that dogs would be able to prevent the appearance of asthma in humans, but especially in children.

The study was conducted by a team of researchers led by Dr. Fujimura, at the University School of Medicine in Boston, and is based on a very interesting aspect. When a child is infected with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), he is more likely to suffer from asthma as he grows up. That is not all. The most important fact is that the presence of dogs in the house would be able to hinder the infections caused by this dangerous virus.

During the research, some mice were divided into two groups for eight days. The first group was exposed to common household dust, while the second group was exposed to dust from animal dwellings. After eight days, both groups were exposed to respiratory syncytial virus infection.

At the end of the study, it was found that the mice fed with household dust had no typical respiratory symptoms, unlike those normally fed. In addition, a new bacterial strain, called Lactobacillus johnsonii, was discovered in the gastrointestinal tract of the alternatively fed group. According to the researchers, therefore, these bacteria protect our respiratory tract from infections and allergies.

The theory was expanded by a parallel study conducted by microbiologist Susan Lynch, of the University of California, San Francisco. Following the model of the previous study, the team of researchers also subjected the mice to some substances that can usually cause allergies, such as cockroaches and egg proteins. The result was once again surprising: the mice exposed to dust from animal dwellings showed no reaction.

In particular, their effect would result in a reduction in the reactivity of the immune system towards harmless substances, a phenomenon underlying allergic reactions, even preventing serious inflammation of the respiratory tract.

At this point, efforts are being made to extend this investigation to the human organism, although the theory already seems clearly in favour of this assumption. Spending the first years of life in the company of a dog, in fact, could be an excellent solution to prevent many respiratory infections and even asthma.

All thanks to a bacterium, but above all, thanks to dogs.

Source: http://news.discovery.com/human/health/dog-asthma-child-pet-home-dust-immune-120620.htm

This was revealed by an article published by National Geographic, which reported the words of Dr. Raelynn Farnsworth of Washington State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, according to which dogs can develop allergies to cats or humans, and vice versa.

In particular, to trigger the allergic reaction would be the residues of dead skin and hair that each of us loses daily, thanks to the natural cell turnover of the skin. These debris enclose very small cells made up of fragments of skin, hair, eyelashes and many other residues released into the environment by us and our four-legged friends. Not surprisingly, even "our" allergies to dogs and cats are triggered by contact with these substances.

Well, it has been shown that the same can be proved in our animals, which can develop various typical symptoms of allergies when they come into contact with these residues. This discovery had already been anticipated in 2005 by a Scottish research, according to which cats can manifest an important form of asthma, due precisely to contact with humans.

Dr. Farnsworth managed to identify two slightly different types of manifestations in the dog and cat. In dogs, the symptoms are mainly localized at the level of the skin, with inflammation and itching, but sneezing and rhinitis may also appear. In cats, on the other hand, dermatitis accompanied by dandruff and hair loss is more frequent, more evident in the head and neck area.

To understand if dogs or cats suffers from this rare form of allergy, we must first examine the duration of the symptoms. Generally, seasonal allergies (such as pollen allergies, for example) only occur with the appearance of the allergen in the environment (pollen for example, as said before). On the contrary, if the symptoms persist throughout the year, it could be a reaction to some ingredients present in the food or we could even begin to assume that he is allergic to us.

The vet is able to test our animal against various substances. Specifically, it is possible to check whether the dog is allergic to the cat's cellular debris.

But how can we intervene if our four-legged friend is allergic to us? No fear. The vet can safely treat dog and cat allergies, just as humans do. The solution is to treat the animal with sprays or oral drops that contain a minimum amount of allergen (the substance that triggers the allergic reaction) to adapt the immune system to the substance. It will then start to ignore it.

Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/04/150411-dogs-cats-allergies-science-pets-animals/

We usually find ourselves wondering a lot by observing our four-legged friends. For example, we ask ourselves if cats are able to recognize their mother, father or siblings, not only as "life companions", but also in the sense of family. Here's what the experts think.

According to John Bradshaw, a behavioural expert from the University of Bristol in the UK, most animals will never have a chance to meet their grandparents. This aspect is rather obvious, considering that many owners of dogs and cats are not even aware of the genealogy of their animal, especially if it comes from the street or from shelters and kennels.

That is not all. A very interesting fact is that Bradshaw focuses mainly on the male line of the family, therefore fathers and grandparents. According to the ethologist, no cat will ever be able to remember these figures.

Indeed, feline colonies, as he said "are based on multigenerational cooperation between females - grandmothers, daughters and kittens". These take care of their offspring, feeding and supervising them until they are ready to be independent. Males, on the other hand, have a marginal role and are rarely involved in the growth of kittens.

In any case, "once the kittens are separated from the mother," explains Bradshaw, "they seem to forget about her quickly and in most cases can't even remember if they ever knew each other".

However, many cats can also react differently when meeting their mother or siblings. Their smell, in fact, remains etched in their memory, one of the most important distinctive features for animals, with a phenomenon called "primary association".

Thanks to smelling, they will be able to reconstruct an alternative form of family, associating the smell of the mother or relatives to a rather precise timeline, in which these figures are certainly placed in the first moments of their life and therefore are very important.

Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com