Pet and Animal Facts Page 1 at FamilyPets Net the Home of Family Pets and Animals.

Pet & Animal Facts page 1

A cat's whiskers are usually as wide as its body and as such, help them navigate through tight and narrow spaces. The average cat has 24 whiskers, 12 on each side.

Most domestic dogs are able to reach speeds of 19 miles per hour, when running full out. The greyhound, the king of canine speedsters, is capable of reaching speeds of up to 40 miles per hour! (The domestic cat can run as fast as 30 miles per hour.)

Americans spend almost $4 billion a year on cat food -- more than they spend on baby food.

At least 63% of dog owners admitted to kissing their dogs. Of these, some 45% kissed them on the nose, 19% on the neck, 7% on the back, 5% on the stomach and 2% on the legs. An additional 29% listed the place they kiss their dog as other!

Thirty-three percent of cat owners talk to their pets on the phone or through the answering machine.

Mad Dogs & Englishmen, a New York advertising agency, allows employees to bring their dogs to work with them. The firm was started by Nick Cohen, who brought his own two dogs to the office to keep him company. The agency prospered and as the number of workers grew, so did the number of pets. There are currently twenty-five employees, many of them dog lovers who bring their pets to work on alternate days, to "contribute to the creative environment."

The most popular names for male cats (in order) are: Tiger, Tigger, Smokey, Pepper, Max, Maxwell, Simon, Snoopy, Morris, Micky, Rusty, Rusti, Boots and Bootsie.

The top names for female cats are: Samantha, Misty, Patches, Cali, Muffin, Angel, Angela, Ginger, Tiger, Tigger, Princess, Punkin and Pumpkin.

A frightened dog puts it's tail between it's legs because it covers the scent glands in the anal area. Since the anal glands carry personal scents that identify individual dogs, the tail-between the-legs behavior is the canine equivalent of insecure humans hiding their faces.

The notion that cats and dogs are natural enemies (suggested by the phrase,"fighting like cats and dogs") is overstated, if not simply false. Generally speaking, cats and dogs get along better than cats and cats or dogs and dogs.

In ancient Rome, dusk had officially turned into night when one could no longer tell whether a canine in the distance was a dog or a wolf.

Cats sleep about two-thirds of the time, as compared to humans, who sleep about one-third of the time. Cats, however are generally light sleepers, easily awakened by possibly threatening sounds.

Unlike man, the dog is never impotent! This is because the male dog has a bone inside of his penis that helps maintain his erection.

The world's heaviest cat... No tubby tabby has yet bested the record set by Himmy, an Australian cat that tipped the scales at forty-five pounds, ten ounces in 1982.

The Dalmatian breed of dog originates from the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia.

Walt Disney named Mickey Mouse after Mickey Rooney, whose mother he dated for some time.

The name of the dog on the Cracker Jack box is "Bingo."

Cats prefer to eat their food at 86º F, which is why they don't immediately gulp down the half-eaten can of food from the refrigerator.

According to a survey by the American Animal Hospital Association, 53 percent of pet owners vacation or travel with their pets.

There's a "meow" in the middle of "homeowner."

Surveys show that 62 percent of dog owners admit that their dog owns a sweater, wintercoat or raincoat.

In 1987, cats overtook dogs as the number one pet in America.
Pet & Animal Facts Page 2