@petfacts

Bloodhound dogs have a keen sense of smell and have been used since the Middle Ages to track criminals.

Cats are now Britain's favourite pet: there are 7.7 million cats as opposed to 6.6 million dogs.

Dogs often bury bones so that they can dig them up at some moment in the future when they are hungry.

The average litter of kittens is between 2 - 6 kittens.

Fifteen people die in the U.S. every year from dog bites.

President Theodore Roosevelt's Bull Terrier Pete ripped the pants off French Ambassador Jules Jusserand.

Dogs sometimes appear to smile -- much like humans -- with open mouth grinning. This may indicate a relaxed, submissive state.

The lightest cat on record is a blue point Himalayan called Tinker Toy, who weighed 1 pound, 6 ounces (616 g). Tinker Toy was 2.75 inches (7 cm) tall and 7.5 inches (19 cm) long.

A cat has the power to sometimes heal themselves by purring. A domestic cat's purr has a frequency of between 25 and 150 Hertz, which happens to be the frequency at which muscles and bones best grow and repair themselves.

All dogs can be traced back 40 million years ago to a weasel-like animal called the Miacis which dwelled in trees and dens. The Miacis later evolved into the Tomarctus, a direct forbear of the genus Canis, which includes the wolf and jackal as well as the dog.

Male dogs have a bone in their penis.

On average, a cat will sleep for 16 hours a day.

The largest dog was an English Mastiff who weighed 343 pounds.

When a family cat died in ancient Egypt, family members would mourn by shaving off their eyebrows. They also held elaborate funerals during which they drank wine and beat their breasts. The cat was embalmed with a sculpted wooden mask and the tiny mummy was placed in the family tomb or in a pet cemetery with tiny mummies of mice.

Unlike cats, dogs are not exclusively carnivores: they can adapt to different foods, and a percentage of their diets can be fruits and vegetables.