Dogs: Man's best Luddite

IF YOUR dog has swallowed your remote or your cat has thrown up a hair ball on your smartphone, you're not alone. A survey released last month by Square Trade found that 28 million pet owners have had a pet damage an electronic device, with smartphones accounting for almost 30 percent of the damaged items. Electronics are most at risk from male dogs (86 percent more likely than females to damage devices) or puppies (three times more likely to damage a device than older pets).

* How are new cat breeds created? Some are developed after kittens with natural, or spontaneous, mutations appear in litters, while others are the result of crossing two already established breeds. Mutations can occur as skeletal changes, such as the stumpy tail of the Manx or the folded ears of the Scottish fold; new coat types, such as the waves of the Cornish rex or the wiry fur of the American wirehair; or new colors, such as the red Abyssinian. Examples of breeds created through crossing two or more breeds - known as hybridization - include the Havana brown, Oriental shorthair and Tonkinese.