Magazine

When dogs growl and bark, bare their teeth or even bite, human-canine cohabitation is severely put to the test. But why do some dogs turn aggressive and not others? And what can be done to prevent aggressive behaviour?

In the first few weeks of life, kittens absorb a wealth of information from their mother and their siblings. However, the importance of bringing up a kitten through human contact cannot be overstated. This combination of learning from different sources is the best way to prepare your kitten for its journey through life.   The cat mother will take care of the socialisation aspect: she will do everything she can to make ready her kittens for whatever comes their way and give them the wisdom to thrive as fully-fledged cats. The motto? Learn by doing.   Your job is a little different: the first task is to make your new friend understand that the furniture in your home is not intended as a scratch post. It is generally helpful to understand why your cat does this before trying to change behaviours. Everyone knows that dogs use urine to mark their territory, but it is a lesser known fact that scratching releases odours to that serve as territorial markers. This scent is undetected by the human nose, but does not escape cats and other animals. Scratching also keeps claws sharp and healthy, while allowing cats to stretch and shake off any lethargy. So, scratching is totally normal behaviour for cats, and you should simply direct their attention away from your prized furniture and towards one of these cat trees or perhaps a scratching pads or boards. As long as you are patient and kind, you should easily be able to get this across to your cat.

The most natural food for rodents like rabbits, guinea pigs and co is fresh and juicy. Many types of fruits and vegetables are much-loved by most rodents and, in addition, they contain healthy vitamins and minerals!

Budgies are some of the most popular pets around, so it may seem only natural that having chicks would make them even more well-loved. However, there are a few key points to consider before you look into breeding your budgies.

Two researchers carried out an investigation into the noise exposure of one of the aquariums due to the visitors in the Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna, and found some surprising results. They hid an underwater microphone in a one cubic metre aquarium to register the effects of visitors tapping on the glass. Helmut Kractochvil and Harald Schwammer investigated this activity for four weeks, counting the taps per 100 visitors between midday on Monday to midday on Friday, and then from midday to Friday to midday on Monday. They then introduced three different signs with the inscriptions: “Tapping on the glass kills the fish”, “Only idiots tap the glass”, and “Please do not tap the glass”.