REGENCY DOMESTIC & EXOTIC ANIMALS BY KALOVYRNA ELEFTHERIA

1. REGENCY ANIMALS
BY KALOVYRNA ELEFTHERIA

2.  DOMESTIC ANIMALS
During the Middle Ages, cats were considered as demonic and were related to magic but, as the time was passing, cats and dogs started to
gain humans’ interest. Cats would help in parasite control while dogs could also do other tasks like pasture, hunting and guarding. As parasite
controllers, cats and dogs would be kept in houses, interjections, other buildings and even ships from which they were imported to other
countries from Europeans and were settled around the world.

3. During the Regency era, cats and dogs were kept as pets and would
possibly sleep in a bed (especially cats since dogs could also sleep in
the barns). They would share one room, even one bed with their
owner, and in bigger houses they even had their own bed. There was
furniture specially designed for pets and cats, just like nowadays,
there were window pillows where they could have a peak from the
outside world or even blankets for them to sleep in. the litter boxes
were full of sand or dirt or they were let out in the garden through a
cat door or a window. The people could have collars with little bells
to protect the birds from being caught by the cat.

4. Depending on the financial capacity of the household, cats and dog could just be fed with leftovers. though, there were also times when they
had food specially made for them.
Dog breeds have changed since the regency era. A typical example is the famous English Bulldogs which did not have the distinctive features
they hold today such as the scaly nose, the many wrinkles and the wide toes. A similar case is the Pug breed. In addition, the Great Danes, which
hold the title of the biggest dog breed, while now a male can reach up to 80 kg, during the regency era, they did not exceed 55 kg!
Other dog breeds that people would have were the Pomeranians, several spaniel breeds, terriers, Italian Greyhounds and Whippets. Many dogs
were cross bred, just like nowadays, and it was difficult and expensive to find a purer bred dog. Cats on the other hand, were usually purebred
since they were considered more valuable than dogs and it was easier to find a breeder. Some of them were shorthairs, tabbies, Manx and some
more exotic ones like the Persians and the angoras.

5.  REGENCY VETERINARY
Veterinary care was substandard. In 1791, thirty years after the first known veterinary school opened in France, the Royal Veterinary College
(then called the Veterinary College, London) was founded. The original class of four students (no women attended until the 1920s) focused
primarily on large animals such as horses and cattle.
 WORKING AND EXOTIC ANIMALS
The residents would also have unusual pets, such as foxes, rats,
mise, hedgehogs, squirrels and many other. It seems like people back
then were satisfied with any animal that they found pretty or
interesting.
Horses were an important part of making a living during the Regency
era. A usual way horses helped was by being workhorses. They
carried cargo in and around the cities and were also vital to the farms
because farming was still one of the main ways the people in regency
made a living. Additionally, people of the regency used different
workhorses depending on the type of work they needed to
accomplish: Some horses thrived in cold climates, others were better
at hauling, and others were better at plowing hilly locations. Among
some of the more common work horses used in the Regency era
were the Shire horse, Suffolk Punch, Cleveland Bays, Clydesdales and
Garrons.