107 Fun Facts About Pet

Under what name is the budgerigar usually sold in American pet shops?

Parakeet is the US pet-trade name for the budgerigar, Melopsittacus undulatus; elsewhere it is usually just called a budgie, and its wild plumage is green and yellow with black barring.

Which pet bird holds the world record for the largest vocabulary, at 1,728 words?

A budgerigar named Puck, kept by Camille Jordan in California, was credited with 1,728 words; the record first appeared in the 1995 Guinness book, a year after the bird died.

Wild budgerigars are native to which country?

Their name gave Australians a slang term for tight men's swimwear: budgie smugglers.

Roughly how long is a goldfish's memory span, despite the famous myth?

At least three months is what experiments show: goldfish trained to respond to a sound or colour cue recalled it months later, and they can learn to tell apart shapes, colours and sounds.

Goldfish were first domesticated in which country?

Goldfish were domesticated in China more than a thousand years ago from Prussian carp; during the Song dynasty only royalty could keep the yellow variety, and they reached Japan in 1603.

In 2005, which European capital banned goldfish being given away as carnival prizes?

Rome's 2005 animal-welfare bylaw banned giving away goldfish as prizes and outlawed round fishbowls, which deprive fish of oxygen; the same rules required dog owners to walk their pets daily.

Virtually all pet golden hamsters descend from a single female captured in 1930 in which country?

Syria is where zoologist Israel Aharoni of the Hebrew University dug up a mother and her litter near Aleppo in 1930; their descendants reached Britain in 1931 and founded the pet population.

Hamsters carry food back to their burrows using what?

Elongated cheek pouches reaching back to the shoulders let a hamster carry food home; the German verb hamstern, meaning to hoard, derives from the animal's name.

Like humans, guinea pigs cannot make which nutrient themselves and must get it from food?

Vitamin C must come from food because guinea pigs, like humans, lack a working gene for the enzyme that makes it; rabbits synthesise their own, so the two species should not share feed.

A happily excited guinea pig performing little hops in the air is said to be doing what?

Popcorning is the name for those sudden joyful hops, likened to kernels popping; rabbits do a similar happy leap called a binky, and ferrets have a 'war dance'.

Guinea pigs were first domesticated around 5000 BC by people living where?

The Andes of Peru and Bolivia were home to the people who domesticated guinea pigs for food; the animals were later used in Inca religious ceremonies and in folk medicine.

What is the collective noun for a group of ferrets?

A business (sometimes written 'busyness') is the collective noun for ferrets, which are most likely a domesticated form of the European polecat and can interbreed with it.

The domestic bunny is a domesticated form of which wild species?

The European rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus, is the ancestor of every domestic breed; the indoor 'house rabbit' idea only took off with the House Rabbit Handbook in 1985.

What is the fancy rat, the most common pet rat, a domesticated form of?

The brown rat, Rattus norvegicus, is the species behind the fancy rat; the hobby traces to Jack Black, self-styled rat-catcher to Queen Victoria, who sold unusually coloured rats as pets.

Which pet rodent has the densest fur of any land animal, at about 20,000 hairs per square centimetre?

The Chinchilla grows around 50 hairs from each follicle, giving fur so dense that fleas cannot live in it; the name comes from the Chincha people of South America.

Bettas, or Siamese fighting fish, can breathe air at the surface thanks to which organ?

The labyrinth organ, a folded chamber above the gills, lets bettas gulp air at the surface and survive in oxygen-poor water; the Thai name plakat means 'fighting fish'.

Which talking pet bird, prized for its mimicry, belongs to the starling family?

The Hill myna, Gracula religiosa, is a starling (family Sturnidae) from South and Southeast Asia, kept for mimicry that rivals that of parrots; the common myna is a starling too.

Wild axolotls survive only in lakes near which capital city?

Mexico City's Lake Xochimilco canals are the axolotl's only wild home since neighbouring Lake Chalco was drained; fewer than a thousand adults may remain there, while captive populations number in the many thousands.

The leopard gecko, a common pet lizard, lacks which feature most geckos have?

Adhesive toe pads are missing on the leopard gecko, which has clawed toes and lives on the ground in the rocky deserts of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, unlike wall-climbing geckos with sticky feet.

The harmless corn snake is often killed because it resembles which venomous snake?

The Copperhead shares the corn snake's reddish-brown blotched pattern, so harmless corn snakes are often killed by mistake; the corn snake is a non-venomous constrictor that feeds mainly on rodents.

Pet hermit crabs protect their soft abdomens by living inside what?

Discarded snail shells are the usual home: of the more than 800 hermit crab species, most have an asymmetric abdomen shaped to fit a spiral shell, which they swap for a larger one as they grow.

The oldest undisputed dog burial, at Bonn-Oberkassel, is roughly how many years old?

The Bonn-Oberkassel dog, buried with two humans, is about 14,000 years old (some 14,200 years), and genetic studies hint that domestication began even earlier, during the last Ice Age.

How many permanent teeth does an adult dog have?

An adult dog has 42 permanent teeth, twenty on top and twenty-two below, replacing 28 deciduous puppy teeth; despite around 450 breeds, all share the same dental formula.

In 2023 which breed ended the Labrador Retriever's 31-year run as America's most popular dog?

The French Bulldog took the top spot in the American Kennel Club rankings released in 2023, ending the Labrador Retriever's 31-year run at number one; the ranking counts the prior year's registrations.

Which is the smallest recognised dog breed in the world?

The Chihuahua, typically under six pounds, is the smallest recognised breed; it is named after the Mexican state of Chihuahua, the country's largest by area.

Despite its name, the Great Dane is a breed from which country?

Germany is the Great Dane's home: the Deutsche Dogge descends from boar-hunting dogs kept at the courts of German nobles, and the 'Danish' label came from the 18th-century French naturalist Buffon.

The longest-lived verified dog, Bluey, reached 29 years and was what breed?

Bluey was an Australian Cattle Dog who worked sheep and cattle in Victoria from 1910 to 1939; a breed-longevity study concluded he and another cattle dog, Chilla, were exceptions rather than the norm.

The domestic cat is the only domesticated species of which family?

Felidae, the cat family, has the domestic cat as its only domesticated member; a group of cats can be called a clowder, a glaring or a colony.

The earliest known sign of a tamed cat, from about 7500 BCE, was found beside a human on which island?

Cyprus had no native wildcats, so the cat buried beside a human at Shillourokambos about 9,500 years ago must have been brought by boat from the mainland.

What is the approximate fundamental frequency of a cat's purr?

A cat's purr has a fundamental frequency of about 25 Hz, with harmonics reaching roughly 150 Hz; lions and tigers roar but cannot purr, while the snow leopard purrs.

Extra-toed cats are nicknamed after which writer, who kept a colony of them?

Ernest Hemingway kept a colony of polydactyl cats at his Key West home, descended from a six-toed cat given to him by a ship's captain; sailors prized such cats as lucky mousers.

Roughly what fraction of cats are strongly attracted to catnip?

Two thirds of cats, roughly, respond to catnip; the trait is inherited, young kittens ignore the plant, and its active terpene nepetalactone also repels mosquitoes.

At about what age does a kitten's righting reflex, the ability to land on its feet, first appear?

3-4 weeks is when the righting reflex first appears, as the kitten's flexible spine and inner-ear balance organs mature; it is perfected by six to nine weeks.

Kitty Litter, the first clay cat litter, was launched by Edward Lowe in which year?

In 1947 Edward Lowe of Cassopolis, Michigan, gave a neighbour absorbent clay instead of sand or ashes for her cat box; he sold it as Kitty Litter and the brand name became generic.

The world's first cat cafe opened in 1998 in which city?

Taipei's Cat Flower Garden, opened in 1998, was the world's first cat cafe; Japan's first followed in Osaka in 2004, and the idea boomed there because many apartments ban pets.

The Siamese cat's colourpoint coat is the result of what?

Temperature-sensitive albinism is the cause: a mutated tyrosinase enzyme works only in cooler skin, so pigment forms on the ears, face, paws and tail; the breed derives from Thailand's Wichianmat landrace.

Grumpy Cat, the internet celebrity, owed her permanent scowl to an underbite and what condition?

Feline dwarfism, together with an underbite, gave Tardar Sauce her permanent frown; she rose to fame after her owner's brother posted her photo on Reddit in September 2012.

Creme Puff, the oldest cat ever recorded, died in 2005 at what age?

Creme Puff reached 38 years and three days, living from 1967 to 2005 with owner Jake Perry in Austin, Texas; her record entered the 2010 Guinness World Records book.

Laika, the first animal to orbit Earth in 1957, was what kind of dog?

A stray mongrel from Moscow, Laika was picked off the streets because strays were judged hardier; the Soviets did not reveal until 2002 that she died of overheating within hours of launch.

At which Tokyo station did Hachiko, the loyal Akita, wait for his dead owner for nearly ten years?

His bronze statue was unveiled at the station in April 1934, while he was still alive to see it.

Balto, the sled dog famous for the 1925 serum run to Nome, spent his final years at a zoo in which city?

Cleveland schoolchildren and businesses raised money in 1927 to rescue Balto and his team from a dime museum; he lived at the city's zoo until 1933 and is displayed at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

Terry, the Cairn Terrier who played Toto in The Wizard of Oz, earned how much per week?

$125 a week was Terry's fee, more than many of the actors playing Munchkins received; the Cairn Terrier had already appeared with Shirley Temple in Bright Eyes (1934).

Lassie is written as a female collie, but the dog who first played her in 1943 was a male named what?

His owner later bought the Lassie name from MGM, and Pal's descendants played the role for decades.

Rin Tin Tin, the canine film star, was rescued from a battlefield of which war?

World War I is where the story began: American soldier Lee Duncan found the German Shepherd puppy in a bombed kennel in Lorraine, France, in 1918, and his later hit films helped keep the young Warner Bros. studio afloat.

Nipper, the dog in the His Master's Voice painting, is shown listening to what?

Painted in 1898, three years after Nipper died, it became the logo of HMV and RCA.

Alex, the grey parrot studied for 30 years by Irene Pepperberg, learned more than how many words?

100 or more words were in Alex's vocabulary; he could name colours, shapes and materials, count to six and grasped a zero-like concept before he died in 2007.

Bo, the Obama family's Portuguese Water Dog, was chosen partly because of what?

Malia's allergies steered the family to a low-shedding breed; Senator Ted Kennedy gave the Obamas Bo in April 2009, honouring a promise to the daughters made during the 2008 campaign.

Which president was photographed lifting his beagles, Him and Her, by the ears?

Lyndon B. Johnson was photographed in April 1964 lifting Him by the ears on the White House lawn, drawing protests from dog lovers; Nixon's famous Checkers was a Cocker Spaniel given to his daughters.

Sea-Monkeys, sold as novelty pets since 1957, are actually what?

Brine shrimp of the genus Artemia, sold as dried cysts that hatch in salt water, are the creatures; Harold von Braunhut first marketed them as Instant Life in 1957 and renamed them Sea-Monkeys in 1962.

The Pet Rock, sold in a box with air holes and straw, was invented in 1975 by a man in what profession?

Ad executive Gary Dahl dreamed up the Pet Rock over drinks in 1975 and sold about 1.5 million at $3.95 each, becoming a millionaire before the fad faded within months.

The name of the Tamagotchi digital pet combines the Japanese words for 'watch' and what?

Egg (tamago) plus 'watch' (uotchi) gives Tamagotchi; Bandai released the egg-shaped keychain pet in Japan in 1996 and worldwide in 1997.

Furby, the 1998 robotic pet, starts out speaking only which made-up language?

Furbish is the language: a Furby gradually mixes in more English the longer it is played with; more than 40 million were sold in the first three years of production.

Nintendogs, the 2005 pet-simulation game, was the second best-selling title on which console?

Nintendo DS owners bought almost 24 million copies of Nintendogs across its versions; only New Super Mario Bros. sold more on the system.

Which US president's family kept a raccoon named Rebecca at the White House?

Calvin Coolidge and his wife Grace kept Rebecca the raccoon, originally sent to the White House to be served at Thanksgiving 1926; she walked on a leash and had an embroidered collar.

What is the minimum legal age to own a pet in the United Kingdom?

16 is the threshold under the Animal Welfare Act 2006: no one younger may buy an animal, and a child's pet is legally the responsibility of the adult caring for the child.

Which pair of countries both publish official 'positive lists' of species allowed as pets?

Belgium and the Netherlands both use positive lists: Belgium adopted a list of species allowed as pets in 2009, and the Netherlands followed with its own list in 2015.

Which international body adopted the 1987 European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals?

The Council of Europe opened the treaty for signature in Strasbourg on 13 November 1987, and it came into force on 1 May 1992; non-member states may accede by invitation.

A gene mutation shared with their wild cousins has left pet cats unable to detect which basic taste?

Sweet tastes are lost on cats because the mutation stops their taste buds binding to sugary molecules. It helps explain why cats tend to ignore sugary food.

A dog's eye has two types of colour-sensing cone, not three; which two colours can dogs see?

Blue and yellow, plus shades of grey, make up a dog's visual world. Dogs struggle to tell red from green, so a red toy lying on green grass is hard for them to spot.

Theobromine, which dogs break down far more slowly than people, makes which treat poisonous to them?

Chocolate is dangerous because a dog needs about 17.5 hours to clear just half of the theobromine it has eaten. In severe cases the symptoms can last for three days.

Which breed ran ahead of horse-drawn fire engines to clear a path, becoming the firehouse mascot?

Dalmatian puppies are born plain white, and the famous spots usually show up within about ten days. The breed got on so well with horses that it was easy to train as a carriage escort.

Kabosu, the dog whose 2010 photo became the Doge meme and inspired Dogecoin, was which breed?

Shiba Inu Kabosu was photographed by her owner, Atsuko Sato, for a blog post. The picture only became a meme three years later, captioned in multicoloured Comic Sans.

Which singer named her cats Meredith Grey, Olivia Benson and Benjamin Button after screen roles?

Taylor Swift said the first two names honour "strong, complex, independent women" from Grey's Anatomy and Law & Order. Benjamin joined the family after appearing in her "Me!" video.

Which pop star's pet chimpanzee, Bubbles, drank green tea with the mayor of Osaka on a 1987 tour?

Michael Jackson shared a two-bedroom hotel suite in Tokyo with Bubbles on the Bad tour. Strict quarantine laws kept the chimp out of the United Kingdom and Sweden.

Which poet kept a tame bear at Trinity College, Cambridge, because the rules banned pet dogs?

Lord Byron resented having to leave his dog Boatswain behind, and the college statutes said nothing about bears. He even suggested the bear should apply for a fellowship.

Queen Elizabeth II was given a puppy named Susan for her eighteenth birthday; which breed was Susan?

Pembroke Welsh Corgi Susan even went along on Elizabeth's honeymoon. The Queen owned more than 30 corgis during her reign, and they were descended from Susan.

Formally they are frenetic random activity periods; what do cat and dog owners call these bursts?

Zoomies usually last a few minutes or less and end as abruptly as they began. They often strike just after a bath, at dawn or dusk, or when an owner comes home.

Genetic research suggests house cats descend from which species, first tamed in the Near East?

The African wildcat is the probable ancestor of every pet cat, a conclusion reached in 2007 after researchers sampled domestic cats from around the world.

An odd-eyed cat, with one blue eye and one green or amber eye, shows which condition?

Heterochromia is most common in solid white cats, whose white gene stops pigment forming in one eye. It is a myth that every odd-eyed cat is born deaf in one ear.

Calico cats are almost always female because the gene for orange fur is carried where?

The X chromosome carries the orange gene, and a female has two, so one can switch on orange fur while the other does not. A rare male calico arises only from a genetic quirk such as chimerism.

Which coat pattern is marked by an M shape on a cat's forehead and stripes by its eyes?

Tabby coats come in several styles, and the narrow-striped mackerel is the most common. The classic style swirls into a bullseye mark on each side of the body instead.

Which cat breed, shaped by a mutation that shortens the tail, comes from an island in the Irish Sea?

Manx cats are one of the national symbols of the Isle of Man. The island has put them on commemorative crown coins and on many of its postage stamps.

The hairless Sphynx cat breed began with a kitten named Prune, born in which country?

Canada is the unlikely home of the breed: Prune was born in Toronto to an ordinary black and white shorthair. Early breeders called the cats "Moonstones" before settling on Sphynx.

Which cat behaviour, usually seen when a cat feels at ease, may be a leftover from nursing as a kitten?

Kneading, often called making biscuits, means pushing the front paws in and out against something soft. Kittens weaned too early may even try to suckle the person they do it to.

Cats can squeeze through any gap wide enough for their head because which bones are free-floating?

Collarbones in a cat float free instead of bracing the shoulders against the skeleton as a person's do. That lets the whole body follow wherever the head will fit.

The tapetum lucidum, a reflective layer behind the retina of cats and dogs, helps them do what?

To see in dim light, the eye gets a second chance when the layer bounces light back through the retina. A cat's is so brilliant that ancient Egyptians believed it reflected the sun at night.

The maneki-neko, a lucky cat figurine common in Japanese shops and restaurants, is posed doing what?

Beckoning with a paw is meant to bring the owner good luck, though visitors often mistake the gesture for a wave. The cat is traditionally a calico holding a koban coin.

Which Egyptian goddess, shown with a cat's head, was honoured by pilgrims with offerings of mummified cats?

Bastet started out as a fierce lioness goddess and only later softened into a cat. At her temple city of Bubastis, mummified cats were often buried next to their owners.

Larry became the first official Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office in 2011 at which address?

10 Downing Street had kept working cats for decades, but Larry was the first to be given the title officially. An earlier mouser, Peter III, served under five different prime ministers.

Tama, a calico cat in a hat, lifted passenger numbers on a Japanese railway by holding which post?

Station master Tama's main duty at Kishi Station was to greet passengers. In place of a salary, the railway gave her a year's worth of cat food and a gold name tag.

The first cat in space flew on a rocket in 1963; which country sent her?

France sent Félicette, a Parisian cat, up and recovered her capsule safely just 13 minutes after the rocket was ignited. She had no monument until a crowdfunded bronze statue was made decades later.

In which US state did Stubbs the cat serve as honorary mayor of Talkeetna for some twenty years?

Alaska's town of Talkeetna kept Stubbs as honorary mayor from his kittenhood in 1997 until 2017. He drew 30 to 40 tourists a day who hoped to meet the mayor.

CC, a kitten born at Texas A&M University in 2001, was the first pet produced by which technique?

Cloning gave CC her name, which stood for CopyCat or Carbon Copy. She lived to 18 and had kittens of her own, the first time a cloned pet had given birth.

Which US president's family adopted Socks, a stray who leapt into their daughter's arms in Arkansas?

Bill Clinton's daughter Chelsea was leaving her piano teacher's house when Socks jumped into her arms. Socks never tolerated the family's later dog, Buddy, and ended up living with the president's secretary.

Which rock singer dedicated a solo album to his cats and wrote the song "Delilah" about one?

Freddie Mercury dedicated his album Mr. Bad Guy to his cat Jerry, to Tom, Oscar and Tiffany, and to "all the cat lovers across the universe".

Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats sets to music a book of light verse by which poet?

T. S. Eliot wrote the poems of Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats in the 1930s to amuse his godchildren. Lloyd Webber began setting them to music in 1977.

Which racing breed hits 43 mph with a gallop that lifts all four feet off the ground twice a stride?

Greyhound speed comes from a light but muscular build, a large heart and an extremely flexible spine. Off the track the breed is gentle, and many sleep with their eyes partly open.

Which short-legged breed was developed to scent, chase and flush badgers out of their burrows?

Dachshund means "badger dog" in German. Its skin is loose enough not to tear while it tunnels through tight burrows after its prey.

Which breed's elaborate show clip began as a practical trim for retrieving shot birds from water?

Poodle coats were clipped close so the dog was not weighed down while swimming, with fur left over the joints and vital organs. Smaller poodles were once common circus performers.

Which hunting dog from Central Africa is called "barkless" because it makes a yodel-like sound?

Basenji dogs owe the odd sound to an unusually shaped larynx. The New Guinea singing dog is one of the few other dogs with a similar voice.

Which crossbreed did Wally Conron introduce as a low-shedding guide dog, a trend he came to regret?

Labradoodle pioneer Sultan worked as a guide dog for a woman in Hawaii for ten years. Conron later said the craze he had started caused "a lot of problems".

Chaser, who could fetch 1,022 different toys by name, belonged to which clever herding breed?

Border Collie Chaser was a 76th-birthday present for retired psychology professor John Pilley, who trained her from the age of eight weeks.

What name is given to the thumb-like extra digit on the inside of a dog's or cat's front leg?

Dewclaw digits sit where a thumb would, and wild cats use theirs as an extra claw for catching and holding prey. On the hind legs they usually have little bone or muscle.

Which Victorian polymath, a half-cousin of Charles Darwin, invented the ultrasonic dog whistle?

Francis Galton built the whistle to test how high a pitch different animals could hear, trying it on a house cat as well as on dogs. It is still sometimes called Galton's whistle.

In J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan, Nana the nursemaid dog is which breed, like the author's own pet Luath?

Newfoundland dog Nana is employed by the Darling family as a nanny. After the children vanish, a guilty Mr Darling moves into her kennel as penance and even travels to work in it.

The Beatles song "Martha My Dear" is named after Paul McCartney's pet Martha, a dog of which breed?

Old English Sheepdog Martha gave her name to one of the few Beatles songs on which McCartney played all the band instruments himself, leaving only the orchestral parts to session players.

Tintin's Wire Fox Terrier is called Milou in Hergé's original comics and what in English editions?

Snowy got his original name, Milou, from the nickname of creator Hergé's first girlfriend, Marie-Louise. The dog was modelled partly on a terrier at a café Hergé used to visit.

Choupette, a Birman cat received as a Christmas gift, was the pet of which fashion designer?

Karl Lagerfeld first looked after Choupette while her owner, the model Baptiste Giabiconi, was abroad, and was then given her for good. She stayed with him for the rest of his life.

In Homer's Odyssey, which faithful dog recognises Odysseus after twenty years away, then dies?

Argos is found lying neglected on a dung heap, too old and weak to move, when his owner comes home. Homer gives the dog's passing the solemn wording normally kept for fallen warriors.

Which pet turtle was revealed in the comics as the species of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?

The red-eared slider is named for the red stripe where its ears would be and for sliding off rocks into the water. Escaped and released pets have let it settle far beyond its North American home.

Koi, the pond fish bred for ornament in Japan since the 1820s, are varieties of which fish?

Carp is exactly what the name says, because koi is simply the Japanese word for the fish. The fancy ones are properly nishikigoi, or "brocaded carp", a name coined only in the 1910s.

A cat that sniffs something, curls back its upper lip and holds the pose is showing which behaviour?

The flehmen response draws scent into the vomeronasal organ above the roof of the mouth, a second way of smelling. Horses show the same grimace just as strongly.

Which cat stars in a 9th-century poem by a monk who compares its hunting to his own scholarly work?

Pangur Bán means "White Pangur". The anonymous monk's eight short verses survive in a single manuscript, a notebook now known as the Reichenau Primer.

Towser, a cat credited with killing an estimated 28,899 mice, patrolled what kind of workplace?

A whisky distillery, Glenturret, kept Towser as its pest controller from 1963 to 1987. Each morning's catch was laid out on the still house floor, and Guinness auditors watched her for days to estimate the total.

Oscar, a therapy cat at a Rhode Island nursing home, became famous for apparently predicting what?

Patients' deaths seemed to follow within hours whenever Oscar chose to nap beside someone. Staff began phoning relatives as soon as they found him asleep next to a resident, so they could say goodbye.

In the Garfield comic strip, which dog arrived with Jon's roommate Lyman and then stayed for good?

Odie turned up at Jon's door with Lyman, who brought only a suitcase and the dog, much to Garfield's dismay. When Lyman was phased out of the strip, ownership quietly passed to Jon.

Which Disney character, first seen as a bloodhound in The Chain Gang, became Mickey Mouse's pet dog?

Pluto was called Rover in his second cartoon, where he was Minnie's dog. He only got his familiar name in The Moose Hunt in 1931, and he is officially a mixed breed.