Tesh Tuesday - Pet Myths Busted

The Truth Behind These Pet Myths

Whether you’re a cat lady or a dog guy you’ve probably heard that dogs have clean mouths and that cats have nine lives. Well, guess what? Those aren’t exactly true. Let’s sort fact from fiction and bust a few myths about pets, courtesy of MSNBC:

• Myth #1: One dog year equals seven human years. This myth probably came from someone dividing the average dog life span by the average human lifespan and coming up with 7. The truth is there’s no accurate formula for figuring out how dogs develop. Big dogs and little dogs have totally different lifespans and hit developmental milestones at different times. Basically, your dog is as young, or old as it feels.

• Myth #2: Cats always land on their feet. This is not only not true, it’s also dangerous because people are always testing out the theory. The truth is cats instinctively try to twist their bodies to land feet first, but they’re not always successful, and they commonly break bones or suffer other injuries if they fall.

• Myth #3: Dogs are colorblind. This is about as true as the one about cats being able to see in the dark. Dogs CAN see color but they’re less able to distinguish between colors. They’re eyesight is similar to people who have red-green color blindness. Cats do see BETTER than us in the dark because their pupils open much wider than ours, but they’re as blind as we are in complete darkness.

• Myth #4: A dog’s mouth is cleaner than a human’s. No one knows where this myth came from but - surprise, surprise – it’s not true. Dog saliva doesn’t have the same bacteria as a human mouth - but it’s chock full of different germs and bacteria that are just as nasty. In fact vets recommend that young children and people with weakened immune systems avoid direct contact with slobbery dog kisses.