One way how cats train us humans ...

I'm kicking myself for missing this before, but last July Scientific American had a delightful post on their "60-Second Science" blog about a research study into the sounds cats make. The research was published in the peer-reviewed journal Current Biology. From the SciAm post:

To understand just how cats vocally manipulate owners, including herself, McComb and her team set up a series of experiments. First they recorded the purrs of 10 cats; some were recorded when a cat was actively soliciting food and others in a non-solicitation setting. Fifty people then listened to the sounds at the same volume. Individuals judged pleading purrs as more urgent and less pleasant than normal purrs. When the researchers played the purrs re-synthesized to exclude the hungry cries, leaving all else the same, the volunteers perceived the purrs as far less urgent.

McComb suggests that cats may be cashing in on human's naturally nurturing response to a baby’s cry. Previous studies have shown the cat’s embedded cry shares a similar frequency.

Hey, cats aren't dumb! And cat lovers understand the joy that comes with taking care of what our feline friends need from us.

For friends of old dogs, stray dogs, all dogs ...

Who doesn't love books about dogs, especially photo books? We admit that we're hooked. Here are a couple worth your look:

Gene Weingarten is a Washington Post columnist and staff writer (a Pulitzer winner, at that) who wrote a wonderful book about the joys of being with old dogs, featuring the photos of two-time Pulitzer winner Michael S. Williamson. Old Dogs Are the Best Dogs pretty well sums up what it's all about, and the way many of us feel, too. Give it a look—you'll be glad you did. (For those of you who are way ahead of the rest of us, it's available on Kindle, too.)

Another of our staff favorites: Traer Scott's touching, beautiful book of photography, Shelter Dogs. Scott is a fabulous photographer who captures an amazing range of emotions in the expressions of dogs who have been thrown away, left for others to deal with in shelters—and in some cases, did not have much longer to live, owing to a persistent problem: shelter overcrowding. Thus, some of these heart-rending photos are the only records that these lovely creatures once walked the earth, and experienced the dark side of human regard for animals.

The good news: Some found forever homes. And a portion of the proceds from the book's sales go to shelter organizations.

Both books are excellent additions to any dog lover's coffee table.

Perhaps you have a favorite dog or cat book you'd love to share with us? Please do so in our Comments section. We love to hear about good books about our beloved animals that we haven't encountered yet, so we'd appreciate hearing from you!

Pets and relationships

If you've got animal roommates and you strike up a relationship with a love partner, you certainly hope for the best. But it doesn't always work. The dog may not like the new boyfriend at all; your cat may express his distaste for the girlfriend's mode of dress in a, um, uniquely feline way. The Wall Street Journal's Elizabeth Bernstein takes a look at what some couples do to work out their pet-paramour differences:

By the time Ellen and Joe Lollman reached their first anniversary, things were souring. They no longer took long walks together or spent weekend afternoons chatting over coffee at outdoor cafes. Each evening they holed up in separate rooms of their home reading or watching TV alone.

Finally, fearful their marriage was on the rocks, the Dallas couple made an appointment with a therapist—for their dogs.

"We both had dogs a lot longer than we had each other," explains Ms. Lollman. Yet it wasn't until she and her new husband moved in together after a long-distance courtship that their faithful companions actually met and, as luck had it, decided they hated each other. The Lollmans were forced to take sides.

Sound familiar? If you find yourself and your love in this situation, there are ways to work it out. It takes patience and maybe a little help from an animal behavior expert, but it can be done. Don't give up on your loves, be they human or animal.