Which of These Strange Pet Facts Is True?

There’s a lot of strange pet trivia out there. (For example, did you know there’s a cat that has been mayor of a small Alaska town for the last 15 years?) This month in Pets+, we present you with 15 mind-bending pet facts. Some are true, some are false, and your challenge is to figure out which.

Dogs

___ 1. Three dogs survived the sinking of the Titanic.

___ 2. Dogs have about 1,700 taste buds. Humans have approximately 9,000 and cats have around 473.

___ 3. At the end of the Beatles song, “A Day in the Life,” Paul McCartney recorded an ultrasonic whistle, audible only to dogs, just for his Shetland sheepdog.

___ 4. Your dog’s sense of smell can be up to 10 million times better than yours.

___ 5. Your dog’s sense of smell is so good, he can even smell your feelings.

Usain Bolt versus your housecat: who would win?

Cats

___ 6. It’s not by much, but the average house cat is slower than the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt.

___ 7. Cats have a third eyelid that is rarely visible. If you can see it, it is often an indication of sickness.

___ 8. A group of cats is called a “clowder”.

___ 9. Owning a cat can reduce a human’s risk of stroke and heart attack by a third.

___ 10. Female cats are typically left-pawed while male cats are typically right-pawed.

Fish

___ 11. Many popular lipstick brands include a surprising ingredient — fish scales.

___ 12. The longest a fish can live out of water is 24 hours — give or take two hours.

___ 13. Herrings have one of the least polite modes of communication: farts.

___ 14. One puffer fish contains enough poison to kill 5 people.

___ 15. Fish can drown in water.

DOGS ANSWERS: 

1. T. It was two Pomeranians and one Pekingese, if you’re interested.  |  2. T.  |  3. F. This is actually more of a “maybe” than a “false.” There’s definitely some high-pitched sound on the record, which was easier to hear on CDs than on vinyl records. But Paul McCartney has never definitively confirmed this.  | 4. T.  |   5. T. Dogs can pick up on subtle changes in your scent, which help him sense your emotions — i.e. perspiration when you’re feeling uneasy.

CATS ANSWERS:

6. F. The average house cat actually has a higher maximum speed (30 mph) than the world’s fastest man (27 mph).   |   7. T.  |  8. T.  |   9. T.  |   10. F. It’s the opposite. Female cats are typically right-pawed; male cats, left-pawed.

FISH ANSWERS:

11. T. Check your lipstick brand ingredients for guanine, a crystalline substance derived from fish scales.  |   12. F. The lungfish, found in Africa, South America and Australia, can live out of water for several years. These fish can also live up to 65 years.  |  13. T.  |  14. T.Actually, it’s way, way more — 30 people. Lesson: stay far away from pufferfish.  |  15. T. If there’s not enough oxygen in the water.