DOGS ARE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND EMOTIONS

In Hungary a study shows that dogs are able to understand emotions as humans, in a very similar way.

They come to this conclusion taking magnetic resonance images of dogs´ brain reactions when they hear voices, especially with any kind of emotional load, such as crying or laugh.

The eleven participant dogs in this study were train with positive reinforcement to stay still during the time when the images were taken (8 minutes). For this, according to the study author, Attila Andics, first twelve training sessions were made and then seven sessions to get used to the scanner.

To compare the images of the dogs ‘brains, 22 brain human images were used, who listened up to 200 different noises. This way it was clear that the brain zone activated when a dog listen sounds from humans is the same zone that is activated when we listen those sounds.

WHITE CATS

They are flashy to us as they´d be in a natural environment; there, they couldn’t be unnoticed (for predators and for preys), if this feature is today spread out among the feline population is because of the human intervention.

It is believed that the first white cats appear somewhere in the Middle East and from there arrived to Europe, where they were very popular in upper classes. Those first cats had long hair, an unknown feline feature until those days, so the success was guaranteed.

It´s easy to deduce that the white fur coat have a genetic origin, two genes are responsible. On the one hand would be the albinism gene, in that case the eyes would be depigmented and with a very unique reddish tone. However this gene is not usual, not only because is a recessive gene but because never albino cats are been selected.

On the other hand is a gene that doesn’t produce depigmentation, but that interfere with the fixation of the pigments (melanin) in the hair and skin, mainly, that is why nose, pads and ears are pink. This gene is dominant –in fact is hyper dominant because prevails over other genes also dominant-and may cause deafness in one or two ears, due to produces cochlea degeneration.

Other curiosities related to this gene are that could affect eyes pigmentation, making them blue, and, same as deafness, could affect one or two eyes. This is the reason why eyes of a white cat can be different color.

For a long time it was believed that the white cats had a different character, different from other cats, since they were indolent, very indifferent to their environment, until it was found that the reason for their behavior was the deafness.

Because of their beauty, the white color has been introduced in many breeds, for that we can see in exhibitions short, semi long and long hair cats. But a veterinary certificate is required to probe that the cat is not deaf.

However some messages have different meaning according to context, which is easy to see when cats play but their postures and expressions are similar to aggression or hunting.

Additionally the tail is very expressive and a kitten that is close to his/her mother usually has raised his/her tail totally, which allows an inspection and easy cleaning of genitals and anus. Of course, also adults raise their tails, especially when greet other cats, if they know them and their owners. However a raised tail with spiky hair has a threatening meaning, as well as the small tail hits. On the contrary a tail moving slowly, with a relaxation body posture and a wellbeing face expression, it shows clearly that the cat is quiet.

Also we can distinguish the mood of the cat through face gestures. A happy cat has straight ears, relaxed whiskers and calm eye expression, with dilated pupils according to light (1). On the contrary an angry cat moves back the ears, pupils closed, and move forward the whiskers (2). Whereas if the cat is frightened the pupils are dilated, bend the ears to the sides and retract the whiskers (3). There’s a similar expression, the aggression/defense expression, in that case the mouth is open and the cat shows the teeth.

However the expression of a cat in wait is between a happy cat expression and a frightened cat expression. Finally is the relaxation expression that is when the eyes are half close and keep the ears straight when we pet him/her or the cat is half asleep(4), and  usually the cat purrs.