Mostly Auditory
Dogs hearing is?
They can hear at a higher frequency
40000 cycles/second in dogs (~20000 in humas)
structures of a dogs ears enable sounds to be heard 4x further than humans
Dog and cat shared vision facts include?
More rods than humans
3x more sensitive to low light
movement and shape
Sniffing in dogs is different from normal breathing how?
Disrupts normal breathing pattern to allow inhaled molecules to remain in nasal passage longer
series of rapid short inhalations and exhalations
dogs have ~1700 taste buds on the tongue (9000 in humans)
most abundant are the sugar sensitive
second most abundant are acid receptors
nova scotia duck tolling retriever have disrupted genes for bitter taste
Pugs have disrupted genes for sweet taste
Different types of feet?
Normal = round or cat foot
hare foot
flat foot or down in pastern
splay foot
How to do auditory testing
Brainstem auditory evoked response (BAER) testing detects unilateral or bilateral deafness
congenital deafness and adult-onset deafness
Photoreceptors are?
Rods for low intensity (dogs and cats have more)
Cones for bright lights (humans have more)
What is the olfactory epithelium and olfactory bulb
Epithelium = olfactory receptor - first order neurons
Bulb = mitral cell
Taste in cats
Cats use smell and taste in selecting food
cats can detect salty, bitter and acidic flavours
cats have limited ability to detect sweet
Filiform papillae
Foot fall patterns of cats and dogs
Cats (except cheetahs) walk with claws retracted
cat footfall considered circular, dog is ovoid
cats have 3 lobes on the hind paws and two on the forepaws. Dogs have a two lobes on the hind paw and one on the forepaw
Hearing in cats is?
Hearing is an important sense for locating prey
Cats can detect sounds up to 80000 hz and as low as 20 khz
What do dogs and cats have for night vision
Tapetum lucidum - layer of reflective cells behind the retina
helps to capture additional light for night vision
disadvantage: scatter of light makes it more difficult to resolve detail of images
What is the Vomeronasal organ
Composed of a pair of fluid filled sacs with receptor cells
present in both dogs and cats
pheromones
chemoreceptor organ, first processing stage of the accessory olfactory system, neuronal receptors are different than in the main olfactory system, impulses sent to the brain
Drinking
Dogs curl tongue and scoop water into mouth
cats curl tongue the tongue does not dip below the surface
the tongue touches the surface and creates a column of liquid
Gait patterns
Symmetric gaits - walk, trot, amble, pace
= walk - LF, RH, RF, LH - least tiring most efficient
= trot - diagonal paws move in cadence
= pace - legs on same side move together (walking of cats)
Asymmetric gaits - canter, gallop
= gallop - rotary (RF, LF, LH, RH, RF) all paws off the ground at 2 stages in one cycle, - Diagonal gallop (used by heavy dogs, LH RH LF RF)
What do cats have in their ears that may aid in sound dectetion
The pinna - it can rotate up to 180 degrees and they can also move independently
at a distance of 1 meter a cat can distinguish between 2 sounds that are 3cm apart
Henrys pocket = may aid in the function of high pitch noises by catching and reducing it to a sound in their frequency
Depth perception of animals
Affected by degree of binocular overlap which is greater in flat faced dogs
average binocular vision in dogs is 30-60 degrees (humans is 140 degrees)
Cats olfactory?
olfactory receptors in the olfactory epithelium up to 5x more than humans
Vomeronasal organ in cats - flehmen response
Many cats (30-50%) exhibit plant induced olfactory behaviour
Tongue is lifted drawing liquid up
liquid is trapped in the ruggae of the palate
tongue helps trap the liquid
swallowing occurs every 3 to 17 cycles
Spines of dogs and cats vs. horses?
Dogs and cats spines bends easily, bends at the anticlinal vertebra
horses spine has special ligaments between vertebrae to prevent bending
Cats and balance is done by?
Vestibular apparatus in the inner ear more developed in cats - allows cats to walk along fence rails
cats land feet down almost always
Vision in cats?
Cats eyes are large for their size
set forward to provide a wide field of binocular vision
Why do dogs have nostrils and slits in their noses?
Nostrils can move independently
inhale through nostrils, exhale through slits (allows for 40 sec straight of continual air flow, and doesn't disrupt the scent of new air - allows for continual info to the brain)
Touch of whiskers
Vibrissae are an important sensory organ
Found on muzzle, above eyes and on the back of the front wrists
moveable
Provide sensory information about position of prey in dim light
Angulation to speed?
angulation = front angulation increases with shorter legs, the legginess ratio
speed is optimum when dog leg length below chest is ~1.3 times the depth of chest