Domestic cats may have not been bred to such aesthetic extremes as all the different breeds of dogs out there, but the centuries of selective breeding have still left their mark on our feline friends. Consider this genetic weirdness: most ginger cats are boys, while calico-patterned cats can only be female.

We all know the sound a happy cat makes. But did you realise a bunch of other animals also purr, including big arse polar bears? Neither did I.

I’m jealous of dog people. You can meet a dog by just walking up to it on the street. A typical dog trusts you instantly. But the average cat must be won over. I talked to three cat behaviour experts, who explained why cats are like this, and walked through strategies for making friends with someone else’s cat, even in a single sitting.

Cutting onions is one of the easiest ways to make yourself cry and feeding them to your pet will make them extremely ill. The same chemical compounds are responsible for both adverse reactions.

Does it seem as though your cat is ignoring you? Do they not come when called? Your cat might be a jerk. Or they might just not recognise their own name.

Yesterday was International Cat Day, and the perfect way to celebrate is by enjoying the company of a local feline. Sadly, cat allergies prevent some cat admirers from enjoying their adorable smooshy faces.

But even if you’re terribly allergic, there are steps you can take to help alleviate symptoms and enjoy every day with these volatile furballs.

The charm of cats is that they’re temperamental, as likely to bite as to purr when you reach for them. There may come a time when you have developed a close enough relationship with your feline that it at least signals when it’s about to attack. In that case, why not carry it around like a baby?

Having a pet is getting to know their personality and all their quirks, feeling like you can communicate despite not really sharing a language at all. But have you ever thought about how your beloved pet sees you, your house and all the fancy toys you've bought for it to play with? Here's how your pets see the world.

Pet owners will often swear their beloved pooch or moggie does wonders for their wellbeing, and now we have empirical proof. A new study has found dog ownership is linked to improved heart health for humans. This is an important finding, given heart disease is the leading cause of death globally.

There are approximately 10 million questions I'd like to ask my cat, Herbert. "Why do you chew on my purse?" "Why do you get scared when I lotion my hands?" "Do you love me?" "Do you hate me?" At the very top of the list however, is: "Can you tell me your life story?" Bert was plucked off the streets of Harlem a few years ago and brought to the shelter where I adopted him, but I don't know anything about him prior to that.

Chrome, Firefox: It's been a rough week for many of us and it's likely you're a little stressed out right now.

Pet food aisles are full of packages that claim to hold "natural" and "holistic" foods, with pictures of fresh vegetables and roast chicken on the front. But there's not much difference between these foods and the cheapest by-product-filled kibble. Here's what you can expect to find in your pet's food.

It's always a bit disappointing when a friend's cat wants nothing to do with you. Fair enough if it doesn't want to be touched or held, but as veterinarian Uri Burstyn shows, there are a few steps you can take to make sure you aren't actively contributing to its fear or disinterest.

Our guest on this week's Upgrade is author Stéphane Garnier, whose book How to Think Like a Cat extols the many virtues of adopting a feline mindset.

When I was 11, I wanted to be a veterinarian. Playing with animals all day seemed like a fun gig. Around this time, Billy Joel released the pop-rap song "We Didn't Start The Fire". In it, Mr Joel barks through a litany of horrible events that occurred in the 20th Century, at one point rhyming "foreign debts" and "Bernie Goetz" with "homeless vets". When I heard that, I thought, Oh no! I don't want to be a homeless veterinarian!

According to recent research, most dogs don't enjoy being hugged or cuddled by their owners. But they put up with it anyway because they love you. This infographic lists seven scientific facts about canines that support the "man's best friend" colloquialism. In short, they might hate hugs, but they're still better than cats.

The one time I really tend to wish my pets could talk is when they're sick. Pet illnesses can seem so vague and amorphous, sometimes - a little puking here, some weird lethargy there - and it can be hard to tell the difference between a little under the weather and the start of a serious problem.

You have problems, I have advice. This advice isn't sugar-coated - in fact, it's sugar-free, and may even be a little bitter. Welcome to Tough Love.

A few weeks ago we had a few days of rain in San Francisco, which is actually a pretty rare occurrence. All that water resulted in a colony of ants deciding to relocate next to my dog's food bowl.