Move over, dog days -- cats rule the night sky

By Kim Campbell Thornton

Andrews McMeel Syndication

We always talk about the dog days of summer -- those scorching days from late July to mid-August when Sirius, the Dog Star, rises and falls with the sun. But did you know that cats are also represented in the heavens? Three constellations bear the names of feline species: Leo, Leo Minor and Lynx.

Leo, after the Latin word for "lion," was described by second-century astronomer Ptolemy. It contains many bright stars, making it one of the most recognizable constellations. The lion's mane and shoulders especially stand out, forming the shape of a sickle (or a reverse question mark). When stars appear to form a shape or pattern like this, it's known as an asterism.

Ancient Greeks, masters of making up stories about the stars, thought that the crouching cat shape represented the Nemean Lion, a mythical beast that met its match in equally mythical Greek hero Heracles (Hercules, to the ancient Romans). In the Greek tale, the lion's golden fur protected it from weapons, so Heracles took matters into his own hands -- literally -- by wrestling the beast, which had been terrorizing people in the surrounding countryside. The goddess Hera, who had loved the lion, placed it in the sky, making it a constellation.

Babylonian astronomers also saw a lion in the sky, referring to Leo as "the great lion." Other ancient people who recognized Leo in the sky were those of Mesopotamia, Persia, Turkey, Syria, Judea and India. In many places, the constellation was identified with the word for "lion" in the respective language.

Apart from the sky, you can see the Nemean Lion in various works of art. A Renaissance bronze sculpture of Hercules wrestling the lion resides in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. A small bronze plaque by Moderno depicting the scene, also dating to the Renaissance, is held by the Cleveland Museum of Art. And a Greek postage stamp depicts a mosaic of the encounter.

But what about Leo Minor and Lynx? Because they were both designated as constellations in the 17th century, neither is associated with any ancient myths.

Leo Minor was named by Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius; the name, of course, means "the smaller lion" in Latin. It is a small, faint constellation located in the northern sky between Leo and Ursa Major (the Great Bear). In 1870, British astronomer Richard A. Proctor renamed Leo Minor as Leaena, meaning "lioness," but the constellation is still best known by its original name.

Hevelius also named Lynx -- he must have been a cat lover! It is joked that Hevelius named it Lynx because the constellation was so faint, it took the eyesight of a lynx to spot it. According to the Constellation Guide website, Lynx is a member of the Ursa Major family of constellations, which among others includes Canes Venatici (the Hunting Dogs), Draco (the Dragon), Leo Minor and Ursa Minor (the Little Bear).

Beyond looking for feline constellations, on Aug. 17, you can celebrate the start of Cat Nights. The Old Farmer's Almanac says that this designation harks back to an old Irish legend about a witch who could turn herself into a cat eight times, but on the ninth time, would be unable to regain her human form.

This may be where we get the folklore that a cat has nine lives. So listen to your cats carefully on Aug. 17. If they are yowling particularly loudly, they may have changed shape for the last time!

Q&A

Dogs' diets hard

to categorize

Q: Are dogs carnivores or omnivores? Twenty bucks is riding on your answer.

A: I hope your bet allows for a third possibility: that they don't fall definitely into either the omnivore or carnivore camp.

Cats are classified as obligate carnivores, meaning that they must have meat in their diet to thrive. Classifying dogs is more challenging because they don't have the same specialized metabolic pathways as cats.

Technically, dogs belong to the family Carnivora, but they have some adaptations that allow them to feed on both meat and vegetable matter. That means they are frequently called omnivores, despite having several metabolic adaptations that can be classified as typically carnivorous. According to a paper by Dutch veterinary nutritionist Dr. Wouter Hendriks of the veterinary school at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, these adaptations include a limited ability to synthesize arginine and a lack of salivary amylase.

Veterinary nutritionist Dr. Laura Gaylord says that because of these adaptations, dogs can be described as "carnivorous omnivores." In the proceedings for the 2023 North American Veterinary Conference in Orlando, Florida, Dr. Gaylord wrote that "natural feeding studies indicate that dogs do prefer to consume a diet containing 30% of energy from protein, with less than 10% of energy derived from carbohydrates."

In his paper, Dr. Hendriks concludes: "Both domestic cats and dogs are descendants of true carnivores, with cats having a relatively highly nonadaptive metabolism, while dogs have inherited a moderately adaptive metabolism due to the feast-and-famine lifestyle of their direct ancestor. The proposed classification of our domestic dogs as an adaptive carnivore and cats as an obligatory carnivore appear to be the most accurate. Knowledge regarding the ancestral diet of our domestic dogs and cats can provide important information and evidence to improve the nutrition of our modern-day domestic dogs and cats." -- Dr. Marty Becker

Do you have a pet question? Send it to askpetconnection@gmail.com or visit Facebook.com/DrMartyBecker.

THE BUZZ

Check bunnies

for ear infections

-- You know that cats and dogs can suffer ear infections -- well, so can bunnies. If your pet rabbit frequently scratches its ears, shakes or tilts its head, flinches when you touch its ears or seems uninterested in playing, there's a good chance a painful ear infection is involved. Any time you notice these signs, take your rabbit to the veterinarian for an ear check and treatment. Letting an ear infection go untreated is not only unkind, it can cause your rabbit to experience hearing loss.

-- Heat, humidity and poor air quality put all pets at risk, including backyard chickens. Make sure any pets who spend time outdoors have access to plenty of shade, fresh drinking water and, in the case of chickens, a coop that is well ventilated. They will also appreciate water misters and frozen fruit treats to peck at. If chickens are struggling to breathe, or if their comb or wattle appears dark red or purple, take them to a veterinarian who is knowledgeable about poultry. Find out in advance which veterinarians in your community treat chickens so you know where to go in case of an emergency.

-- In May, a 2-year-old morkie-poo named Susie Q benefited from a corneal transplant at Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech. Susie Q had been diagnosed with an eye tumor and was scheduled for surgery. Veterinarians thought they might have to remove the eye, but a serendipitous donation saved the day. The team was able to use corneal tissue from another dog -- a patient at the facility's emergency room the night before the surgery -- whose eye had popped out of its socket and couldn't be replaced. Veterinarians removed Susie Q's tumor and some tissue around it, then applied a graft of corneal tissue from the other dog's lost eye. -- Dr. Marty Becker, Kim Campbell Thornton and Mikkel Becker

ABOUT PET CONNECTION

Pet Connection is produced by a team of pet care experts headed by “The Dr. Oz Show” veterinarian Dr. Marty Becker, founder of the Fear Free organization and author of many best-selling pet care books, and award-winning journalist Kim Campbell Thornton. Joining them is behavior consultant and lead animal trainer for Fear Free Pets Mikkel Becker. Dr. Becker can be found at Facebook.com/DrMartyBecker or on Twitter at DrMartyBecker. Kim Campbell Thornton is at Facebook.com/KimCampbellThornton and on Twitter at kkcthornton. Mikkel Becker is at Facebook.com/MikkelBecker and on Twitter at MikkelBecker.

Seven reads for animal lovers of all ages and interests

By Kim Campbell Thornton

Andrews McMeel Syndication

We’re always on the lookout for great animal books. Whether your leisure reading leans toward mystery, feel-good stories or nonfiction, we've found some books that are perfect for curling up with your favorite cat or dog and getting lost in a world of words.

In “The Hiding Place,” Afghanistan veteran Mercy Carr is looking forward to her grandmother’s wedding at a tony Vermont inn -- until her mother shows up demanding that Mercy either take over teaching the promised yoga sessions at the wedding venue or find missing spa director Bodhi St. George, who vanished in the night. Mercy and her retired bomb-sniffing Belgian Malinois, Elvis, succeed in finding St. George -- wounded -- before he disappears again. Author Paula Munier masterfully orchestrates suspense, danger, past crimes and family drama -- with Elvis playing a pivotal role -- to bring about a satisfying but perhaps not unsurprising resolution.

You know it’s going to be a good read when the dog has you laughing on the first page. I’m not always a fan of books in which the dog talks, but the Chet and Bernie series has long been a favorite. As Stephen King said, “Spencer Quinn speaks two languages -- suspense and dog -- fluently.” Chet (the dog) and Bernie (the detective) are partners in the Little Detective Agency, and their latest case, in “Bark to the Future,” has them seeking the whereabouts of a missing man who was Bernie’s high school baseball teammate, with only a mysterious switchblade as a clue. Murder ensues, and Bernie learns that the past isn’t dead -- it’s not even past. Will he and Chet be able to scent out the answers before it’s curtains for them?

Dogs are often a mystery to us, but in his new book “Dogs Demystified: An A-to-Z Guide to All Things Canine,” Marc Bekoff takes readers from A (starting with “abnormal behavior”) to Zoomies in an encyclopedic look at the whys and hows of dogs. It includes facts such as the number of living canid species (36); science, including the canine ability to do math; and answers to common and not-so-common questions people have about dogs. A foreword by Jane Goodall and whimsical illustrations by singer and dog lover Joan Baez complete the package.

Apparently, people have even more questions about cats because there are two new books on understanding our feline overlords. In “Being Your Cat: What’s Really Going on in Your Feline’s Mind,” authors Celia Haddon and veterinarian Daniel Mills take readers on an engaging tour of what it might be like to be a cat, based on the latest scientific research in feline cognition and physiology. It’s a valuable asset for both new and experienced cat lovers.

In witty, entertaining prose, cat-loving evolutionary biologist Jonathan B. Losos looks at the rise of cats from the earliest feline ancestor to the saber-toothed tiger to the little lions who have conquered our sofas and hearts in “The Cat’s Meow.” “Cats,” he writes, “are a great example of evolutionary diversification.” Early domestic cats looked a lot like their progenitors, African wildcats, but starting about 2,000 years ago, they began showing greater diversity in appearance. Chapters address the differences and similarities between wild and domestic cats, social behavior, breed development, color genetics, tracking studies and more.

Old dogs are special, and in her award-winning book “Extraordinary Old Dogs,” Laura Greaves shares the joys of living with them and their remarkable capacity for inspiring us, loving us and simply surviving against all odds. “Loving an old dog is different, certainly, but it is a unique and beautiful chapter in the story of their life,” Greaves writes.

Cats provide equally heart-warming reads in “A Cat Named Fatima: Tales of 23 Cats and the People Who Loved Them.” The collection, by veterinarian James Kenyon, highlights the devotion and humor in feline relationships with people. It earned a well-deserved nomination from the Cat Writers Association’s annual writing competition.

Q&A

Teach pets

recall cue

Q: How can I get my dog to come when I call? He’s always more interested in whatever he’s sniffing.

A: Responding to the cue “Come” or “Here” is probably the most important thing a dog can learn, but some dogs are better than others at taking it to heart. Herding and sporting breeds and mixes are generally more responsive to it than independent hounds, terriers and mixes of those breeds, but it is possible to teach any dog a reliable recall.

First things first: Coming when you call should be the greatest thing in a dog’s life. Never yell at or punish them once you get ahold of them. Heck, if that’s the response they get, why would they want to come to you? Practice frequently, make it fun and reward lavishly with treats and praise.

For instance, don’t always call your dog for something negative, such as going into the house after play, being put on leash or getting a bath. Call them lots of times to give a treat or toy, then let them go back to playing or sniffing. At the same time, teach the “gotcha” collar grab to get them used to it in case you ever need to stop them quick. See more here: fearfreehappyhomes.com/gotcha-why-grabbing-your-puppys-collar-needs-to-be-fun.

Use a happy, excited, high-pitched voice to call your dog. Walk backward, slightly bent over. A squeaky toy or favorite ball can also capture your dog’s interest. Instead of chasing your dog, run away so they’ll chase you.

Practice "Come" or "Here" daily, using both a standard 6-foot leash and a longer line at different times, and use lots of positive reinforcement. Seek help from a positive-reinforcement trainer if necessary.

Learning a great recall could save your pet's life. Here are some additional tips: fearfreehappyhomes.com/home-school-your-dog. --Mikkel Becker

Do you have a pet question? Send it to askpetconnection@gmail.com or visit Facebook.com/DrMartyBecker.

THE BUZZ

Urban areas

home to parrots

-- Parrots have become residents of major cities around the world, usually after escaping the confines of pet homes and setting up house in habitats ranging from the palm trees of Orange County, California, to croplands in Spain and Uruguay and cities that include Amsterdam, Brooklyn, Singapore and Athens. The smart, social birds are well suited to city life and surviving on their own, but there are drawbacks. An article in the July/August issue of Scientific American details their spread and their impact on agriculture, power outages and fires -- and on other wildlife, whose locales they’ve invaded. Researchers are seeking ways to balance the birds’ environmental effects while still providing habitat for parrot species that may be at risk in their native areas from poaching or development.

-- A new digital tool designed by Nationwide lets pet parents learn about common health conditions by breed and life stage; explore preventive and early detection measures; and obtain information on training, coat care, behavior traits and more. The Pet Health Zone (thepethealthzone.com) is an interactive online platform designed to help owners make informed decisions about their pets’ health and care. It’s built on 40-plus years’ worth of claims data from more than 12 million pets and can be used by anyone, not just Nationwide members.

-- Your favorite air freshener may pose a risk to your pet’s health, experts say. Pets are sensitive to the chemicals and essential oils they contain, especially if the animals are small, young, or have health conditions such as asthma (common in cats), heart disease or cancer. Sprays, diffusers and candles disseminate irritating droplets, volatile organic compounds and smoke, all of which can cause inflammatory reactions. Avoid using them in rooms that pets frequent, and call your veterinarian if you notice your pet coughing or having breathing problems. -- Dr. Marty Becker, Kim Campbell Thornton and Mikkel Becker

ABOUT PET CONNECTION

Pet Connection is produced by a team of pet care experts. Veterinarian Dr. Marty Becker is founder of the Fear Free organization, co-founder of VetScoop.com and author of many best-selling pet care books. Kim Campbell Thornton is an award-winning journalist and author who has been writing about animals since 1985. Mikkel Becker is a behavior consultant and lead animal trainer for Fear Free Pets. Dr. Becker can be found at Facebook.com/DrMartyBecker or on Twitter at DrMartyBecker. Kim Campbell Thornton is at Facebook.com/Kim.CampbellThornton and on Twitter at kkcthornton. Mikkel Becker is at Facebook.com/MikkelBecker and on Twitter at MikkelBecker.

Do you know what your cat is trying to tell you? A new book helps cat lovers interpret body language and vocalizations

By Kim Campbell Thornton

Andrews McMeel Syndication

The ways of cats can be mysterious, especially if you’re new to them. But even lifelong cat lovers can learn something new from author/illustrator Lili Chin’s book “Kitty Language” (kittylanguagebook.com), an illustrated guide to understanding cat body language, behavior and vocalizations.

Playful illustrations and easy-to-read text take readers on a tour of the feline body -- eyes, ears, whiskers, tail, expression -- and explain what those flicks, twitches, pupil changes, postures and more are saying about a cat’s mood, feelings and desires.

Chin first became interested in animal behavior and training when she adopted a Boston terrier, Boogie, in 2007. Learning to understand the small, subtle signals of stress that preceded reactive behaviors was an eye-opener, and she began drawing his body language to help her understand what he was communicating.

“The illustrations went viral,” she says. “I started working with dog behaviorists and trainers to create dog body language charts to educate the public.”

That led to the publication of her first book, “Doggie Language.” It included illustrations of different breeds, since canine body language can vary depending on the presence or absence of a tail or whether ears prick up or hang down.

After Boogie passed away in 2020, Chin acquired two cats, Mambo and Shimmy. Not knowing much about cats at the time, she took a deep dive into what was known about feline behavior to ensure that she could recognize if they were happy and well.

“I did a lot of research. I spoke to a lot of cat experts and read books and was obsessed with watching my cats and drawing them. And then it felt like it was a good time to do a cat body language book.”

One of the ways I judge the value of a book is whether I learned something new. And I did! When cats quickly lick their lip or nose and then swallow, it suggests that they may be feeling uneasy or concerned.

Another fascinating fact is that whisker structure varies by breed. For instance, curly-coated cats such as Cornish and Devon rex also have curly whiskers. Maine coons tend to have longer whiskers than other cat breeds. The hairless sphynx has no whiskers or eyelashes.

For Chin, writing about how to recognize whether cats were playing or fighting was of special interest. Mambo and Shimmy are good friends, she says, but sometimes it’s hard to tell if rough-and-tumble action is done in a serious or lighthearted spirit. For answers, she spoke with Kristyn Vitale, Ph.D., who studied social behavior in cats. Vitale explained it this way: “It’s like sports. You want to win. It’s stressful. There’s stress when you’re trying to win, but it’s still fun.”

If you’re unsure, body language tells all. Fun play is mostly silent, with no hissing or growling; swatting or smacking is done with claws in, not out; bites don’t inflict pain or injury; and the cats take turns being on top.

The book also discusses how cats use scent to communicate, how to recognize the expression of a cat in pain, why cats pretend to sleep and the most entertaining feline stress reliever -- the zoomies.

To successfully interpret what a cat is telling you, consider context, and look at the whole cat. Get to know the cat as an individual, and try to understand what they’re experiencing in the moment. A lot depends on a cat’s age, health, breed and sex, as well as other factors, including environment. With their keen senses of sight, smell and hearing, cats can be exquisitely attuned to sounds or actions we don’t even notice.

Chin hopes her book will inspire cat lovers to observe and pay closer attention to their cats. “That is important in terms of making sure we don’t stress our cats out and that we help them stay safe and comfortable,” she says.

Q&A

Are dental chews

good for teeth?

Q: Can dental chews really help my dog’s teeth? What kind should I buy?

A: While brushing your dog’s teeth daily is the gold standard for keeping teeth and gums healthy, chances are good that you do it only sporadically, if at all. So while I still encourage you to do that, I’m happy to let you know that dental chews can aid in reducing tartar and keeping pet teeth clean -- science confirms it. A 2020 study published in the Journal of Animal Science (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7511057) found that giving a daily dental chew could help slow the development and progression of periodontal disease in dogs.

Avoid chews that are too hard, like bones or antlers. If a chew would hurt if you banged your knee with it, it’s too hard. I asked veterinary dentist Jan Bellows for some additional tips. Here’s what he says:

1. The chew must be safe, digestible and soluble so it will dissolve rapidly and not get caught in the esophagus or intestines, requiring surgery.

2. The chew should contain GRAS (generally regarded as safe) ingredients with few chemicals.

3. The chew should be nutritionally complete.

4. The chew should have proven dental benefits (decreased production of plaque and/or tartar).

5. Most important, the chew should be accepted by the Veterinary Oral Health Council (VOHC.org). VOHC reviews applications from chews that have conducted two double-blinded studies that not only show at least 20% plaque/tartar retardation, but are also considered safe.

Dental chews work best when your dog has had a comprehensive dental exam to identify and treat any problems and when you combine their use with an annual professional cleaning performed under anesthesia so your veterinarian can take dental X-rays, clean beneath the gumline and extract any teeth that are broken or causing issues in the mouth. -- Dr. Marty Becker

Do you have a pet question? Send it to askpetconnection@gmail.com or visit Facebook.com/DrMartyBecker.

THE BUZZ

Parrots flock

to video calls

-- Parrots are highly intelligent and social, but when it comes to meeting their complex cognitive and emotional needs, they often don’t have opportunities to soar. A study that taught parrots to video call each other may be a first step toward remedying that. Eighteen birds of different parrot species, including African greys, cockatiels and macaws, took part in the three-month study, which produced more than 1,000 hours of video observations of the birds’ behavior. With the support of their human caretakers, they learned how to place calls to each other whenever they wanted. Participating parrots engaged more regularly in social behavior like preening, singing and play, and parrots who made the most calls also received more calls. Find out more here: gla.ac.uk/news/headline_949129_en.html.

-- Siamese have a reputation as the chatty catties of the feline world (uexpress.com/pets/pet-connection/2022/09/19), but they’re not the only ones. Other members of the so-called Oriental family of cats, such as Balinese, Orientals, Tonkinese, Bombays and Burmese, usually share their gift of gab. For a quieter companion, look to breeds such as the Persian, Maine coon and Norwegian forest cat.

-- A hospital in Sint-Truiden, Belgium, has built a pavilion to allow pet visits for long-term care patients, Reuters reports. Pets weren’t allowed in St. Trudo Hospital, so patients had to see them in the courtyard. The new indoor space, which is separate from but connected to the hospital building, enables people to have visits with their dogs or cats for an hour per week, thanks to funding from a cancer charity. "For long-term hospital residents, mental well-being is very important in their recovery, and reconnecting with pets really helps," said hospital spokesperson Miet Driesen. Starting in September, the hospital also plans to use the pavilion for animal-assisted therapy sessions to aid mental and motor skill rehabilitation. -- Dr. Marty Becker, Kim Campbell Thornton and Mikkel Becker

ABOUT PET CONNECTION

Pet Connection is produced by a team of pet care experts. Veterinarian Dr. Marty Becker is founder of the Fear Free organization, co-founder of VetScoop.com and author of many best-selling pet care books. Kim Campbell Thornton is an award-winning journalist and author who has been writing about animals since 1985. Mikkel Becker is a behavior consultant and lead animal trainer for Fear Free Pets. Dr. Becker can be found at Facebook.com/DrMartyBecker or on Twitter at DrMartyBecker. Kim Campbell Thornton is at Facebook.com/Kim.CampbellThornton and on Twitter at kkcthornton. Mikkel Becker is at Facebook.com/MikkelBecker and on Twitter at MikkelBecker.