Q:
You talked about cows and their different stomach that allows them to eat hay and grasses.? Are horses the same or different than cows?
A:
Horses eat hay and grass, the same roughage that cows and ruminants enjoy. But they do it a little differently. They don’t have a four compartment stomach like cows, sheep and goats.
Instead, they have a specialized portion of their digestive tract called the cecum. This structure is similar to the human appendix; it’s a dead-end pouch that comes off the digestive tract right where the small intestine and large intestine connect. The human cecum is small and not very active. But in horses and other cecal fermenters like rabbits and guinea pigs, the cecum is very large and contains microorganisms that digest hay and grass. Simple stomach animals (dogs and cats) and humans just can’t digest any roughage with their very rudimentary digestive system.
So how large is the cecum of a horse? It’s big, about 3-feet-long and 1-foot-wide in an adult horse. It spans a large area on the right side of the horse’s abdomen and continually contracts to mix all the food with digestive fluids. These contractions occur about every minute, and they make a lot of noise! Put your ear up to the right side of a horse, and you’ll hear him digesting his food! With horses, a growling stomach means that the digestive tract is happy and healthy.
Q:
My hunting dog, BB, seems to be having a hard time tracking birds. He’s always been real good at this, one of the best hunting buddies I’ve ever had. But this year he seems to be having trouble. He’s a pointer and he’s 9 years old this month. Is he just too old to hunt anymore?
A:
He might be. But there’s also a chance that he has a more serious eye problem. And since he’s a hunting dog and depends on good eyesight, he should see a veterinarian right away. Several eye diseases can cause loss of vision if they’re left untreated. And some of these are easily managed. One such condition, called pannus, causes a cloudiness to the cornea (the surface of the eye). Treatment for pannus can help stop the progression.
There are other eye conditions, including glaucoma, that are also treatable. And some hunting dogs can develop a condition called Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA) that affects their visual acuity. BB needs a thorough eye exam to determine what can be done so his vision problems don’t get any worse. You may even consider a visit to a veterinary ophthalmologist to get a total evaluation. With proper treatment, he just might be able to get out there with you again looking for birds. Let’s hope so.
Q:
How many teeth does a dog have? I saw a possum at the zoo, and he looked like he had 100 teeth! Do possums have more teeth than dogs?
A:
They do, but not as many as you think. Most adult dogs have 42 permanent teeth. Horses usually have about the same number, depending on the breed. Kitty cats have only 30 teeth. But possums? Well, it only looks like they have 100 of those pearly whites in their mouth. Actually, they have only about 50 teeth, just a few more than a dog. But when a possum feels threatened, he opens that mouth and it looks like there’s a real crowd in there! Â
Q:
A friend of mine showed me a dog whistle he got from his dad’s desk. He says his dad uses it to call their dogs. But when we blow on it, there isn’t any sound. My friend says that doesn’t matter. How does a dog whistle work?
A:
Dog whistles produce a sound that is ultrasonic; where the wavelength of sound is much different than what we hear. These whistles work in the frequency range of 16,000Hz to 22,000Hz.
Human ears usually only pick up sounds below 20,000Hz. But dogs are able to detect sounds in a much higher frequency and can actually be trained with these devices. So even though you and your friend might not hear anything from this whistle, you can bet the dogs know when his dad is blowing it.
