Long before people had fancy breeds of dogs, they had some pretty strange ways of making tiny pets. In the 15th century, one idea was to soak bread in water that had been used to wash hands and then feed it to puppies. This was supposed to keep the dogs small enough to fit in your hand!
Hi, I’m Erin McCarthy, editor-in-chief of Mental Floss, and welcome to the List Show. Today, I’m sharing some unusual pet advice from medieval times. But remember, these tips are more for fun than for trying at home. Back then, animals weren’t just pets; they had jobs. Cats caught mice, and dogs helped with hunting or guarding sheep.
In the Middle Ages, having a pet just for fun was something only rich people could afford. If someone had a pampered pet, they were likely a woman or part of the church. Aristocratic ladies often had lap dogs, exotic birds, monkeys, and even squirrels. These pets were mainly for entertainment and companionship and stayed indoors.
One interesting use for a lapdog was as a kind of heating pad. People believed pressing a small dog against the body could help with pain and sickness. Wealthy pet owners also liked to dress up their pets with fancy collars made of gold, silver, or leather, often decorated with jewels.
Figuring out how much a pet was worth wasn’t easy. According to an old Irish document, a cat that could purr and hunt mice was worth three cows. A lazy cat was worth less, and a kitten was only worth a fraction of its mother’s value. In Wales, kittens were valued by their age and abilities, while in Germany, if someone killed a cat, they had to pay a hefty fine in grain.
Men also kept animals, but mainly for hunting or sports. They liked animals that were strong and loyal, like hunting dogs and horses. These animals were kept outside and cared for by hired help.
Hunting dogs had a diet of meat, milk, bread, and sometimes porridge. Bread was a big part of their meals, similar to how modern dog food often includes grains. Some people thought this food should go to the poor instead.
There were also some strange tips for training pets. To stop a dog from barking, people were told to feed it roasted cheese while saying a biblical phrase. Dogs weren’t allowed at the dinner table, and feeding them from your plate was a no-no. Pets were fed at specific times depending on the season to keep them fit for hunting.
Overfeeding pets was frowned upon, as it showed misplaced priorities. Albertus Magnus warned against spoiling dogs with rich diets, which could lead to health issues. He suggested feeding them oatmeal or soft bread and milk for better digestion.
Petting animals had its own rules. Cats loved attention, but it was considered bad manners to pet them during meals. In some places, men were discouraged from being too affectionate with their pets, while in others, like Islamic countries, regular petting was encouraged.
Medieval veterinary advice was quite odd. For example, if a dog had worms in a wound, wild tansy juice was recommended. To treat a swollen limb, a compress of marshmallow and water was used. Some advice was even more bizarre, like using a trivet to protect a dog from rabies.
For cats, there were tips to keep them from wandering, like turning them around a pot hook or rubbing butter on their legs. Cats were also seen as weather predictors; if a cat licked itself by the window, rain was coming.
One of the strangest pieces of advice was for women who wanted their husbands to like their friends and family. They were told to secretly add the friends’ dog’s urine to the husband’s drink. Supposedly, this would make him friendlier to both the dog and its owners.
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Imagine you are living in the Middle Ages and have just acquired a new pet. Create a guide that includes tips on feeding, training, and caring for your pet based on the medieval advice discussed in the article. Illustrate your guide with drawings or images to make it visually appealing.
In groups, role-play as different medieval pet owners. Each group should choose a type of pet owner (e.g., an aristocratic lady with a lapdog, a hunter with a hunting dog) and prepare a short skit showing how they would care for and interact with their pets. Present your skits to the class.
Participate in a debate comparing modern pet care practices with those from medieval times. Discuss the pros and cons of each era’s methods. Consider aspects like diet, training, and the role of pets in society. Use evidence from the article to support your arguments.
Using materials like paper, fabric, or string, design a collar for a medieval pet. Think about the materials and decorations that would have been used, such as gold, silver, or jewels. Present your design to the class and explain why it would be suitable for a medieval pet.
Research how pets were valued and cared for in another historical culture, such as ancient Egypt or the Roman Empire. Compare your findings with the medieval pet advice from the article. Create a presentation or poster to share your research with the class.
Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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Long before the days of designer dogs, people had some unusual methods of creating a pocket-sized pet. One 15th-century manuscript suggests that breeders soaked some bread in water they had previously washed their hands with. They would then feed that soggy bread to the puppies they bred. Doing this supposedly ensured a dog would not grow any bigger than a person’s hand.
Hi, I’m Erin McCarthy, editor-in-chief of Mental Floss, and welcome to the List Show. This soggy bread tip is just the first bit of unusual advice for medieval pet owners that I’m going to share with you today. A couple of disclaimers up front: most of these tips come with a big “do not try this at home” attached to them. And when I say “pets,” keep in mind that in the Middle Ages, most animals had a purpose. Even creatures we typically think of as pets today, like cats and dogs, had jobs to do. Cats were meant to catch mice and keep homes rodent-free, while dogs could be trained for a range of jobs, from tracking and hunting prey to guarding flocks of sheep.
During this time, having a pet for pure pleasure was a luxury only the elite could afford to enjoy. If a medieval person was going to have a pampered house pet, they had better be a woman or a member of the clergy. Pets were particularly common among aristocratic ladies. Wealthy women kept everything from little lap dogs to exotic birds, monkeys, and even squirrels. Unlike beasts of burden, the main purpose of these animals was to entertain and provide companionship. They were also kept indoors; the outdoors was the domain of men. Because clerics spent much of their time indoors, they too could own pets.
A woman’s lapdog may not have been good for hunting or any sort of actual labor, but they could serve one interesting purpose: one bit of medieval medical advice suggested using a small dog as a heating pad by pressing it against the body to deal with pain and sickness. If someone really wanted to show off their wealth, they’d get their pet some fancy accessories. In the Middle Ages, wealthy women adorned their pet dogs and squirrels with delicate collars made from gold, silver, or fine leather, often adorned with jewels.
Figuring out the value of a pet itself wasn’t as straightforward as purchasing an accessory. According to the Kotlochta, a medieval Irish legal document about felines, a cat that could both purr and hunt mice was worth three cows. If a cat was on the lazier side and preferred to just sit around purring rather than hunting mice, it was only worth one and a half cows. A kitten, meanwhile, was only worth one-ninth of its mother’s value until it was weaned.
10th-century Welsh King Hau Al-tha had a different set of rules for assessing a pet’s value. Kittens were worth one penny until they opened their eyes, two pence once their eyes opened, and four pence once they started hunting. According to a medieval German law, if someone killed an adult cat, they had to pay its owner 60 bushels of grain. Dogs, on the other hand, were priced based on their owner’s status; a king’s pet dog could fetch a pound, whereas a serf’s pup was worth a mere four pence.
Medieval men could keep animals, but they were used for hunting or sport—think falconry, hunting dogs, and fancy horses. Though these animals were valuable, they weren’t spoiled the way house pets were. Men liked to have animals that reflected certain desirable personality traits; they wanted creatures that were strong, fierce, and loyal, not something frivolous like a fluffy dog or a squawking parrot. Their animals were kept outdoors and were taken care of by hired help, rather than sleeping on a luxurious pillow like an indoor pet.
Hunting dogs were fed a diet that included meat, milk, bread, and sometimes a bit of porridge. Bread, usually made from wheat, was a big part of a pet dog’s diet back then. That may seem like an odd choice, but remember that a lot of modern dog food includes grains like wheat too. There was some controversy around these dog diets, though; some people felt that the dogs’ daily feasts of bread, milk, and meat should have gone to less fortunate people who weren’t able to afford such fare.
The Distaff Gospels, a collection of old wives’ tales from the Middle Ages, suggested that to keep a dog from barking, a person should feed it a nice hunk of roasted cheese while uttering a phrase from a biblical psalm. According to 15th-century etiquette rules, a person should not make a dog their fellow at the table—translation: no dogs in the dining hall and no feeding a pet from a person’s own dinner plate either. There were also guidelines about when to feed a pet; in winter, dogs should only be fed at sunset to keep them fit for the next morning’s hunt, while in warmer months, they should get multiple small meals per day.
It was unwise to feed animals too much, then as now, though maybe for different reasons. People often viewed a fat pet as a bad reflection of its owner’s values, as it showed that they cared more for their pets than for the poor. Albertus Magnus, writing in the 13th century, warned of the dangers of overfeeding a pet, saying that it was often ladies who spoiled their beloved little dogs. According to Magnus, these overweight pups were prone to constipation because of their rich diets. He advised feeding them a porridge of oatmeal and warm water or soft bread and milk to help with digestion. A dog that was too thin, on the other hand, should be fed a lot of butter to fatten it up.
Speaking of pampering, a pet owner had to be careful with their affection. The amount of time a medieval person would spend petting their animal depended on the species. Like modern cats, medieval cats demanded attention. Albertus Magnus wrote that this animal loves to be lightly stroked by human hands and also noted that they can be quite playful. Etiquette books in the 15th century claimed it was poor manners to pet a cat or dog during meals. People were also advised not to pet their dogs due to a fear that they would lose their tracking ability if they were motivated to seek out the people they liked.
In medieval Europe, it was also frowned upon for men to be overly affectionate with their animals. In Islamic countries, however, owners were encouraged to regularly pet their hunting dogs. They were advised to comb their fur with a soothing material like silk and to stroke, scratch, and touch the dogs daily. But just because European dog owners couldn’t be overly affectionate with their animals doesn’t mean they couldn’t be kind. In the 14th century, Gaston Phoebus, the Count of Foix, basically wrote the book on medieval hunting. When it came to training hunting dogs, he believed in the power of positive reinforcement. According to Phoebus, a hunter should address his canine companion as “brother” or “friend,” and if a dog failed to follow its master’s command, the handler—not the pup—was to blame for the miscommunication.
Though it wasn’t considered particularly manly to have a cat, men were still advised to appreciate them. According to the Distaff Gospels, “young men should not hate cats because they are the cause of great happiness and can assist in achieving success in matters of love with young and charming ladies.”
Veterinary advice for medieval pet owners was pretty dubious by today’s standards. Albertus Magnus wrote that if your dog has worms in its wound, you should treat it with wild tansy juice. To mend a swollen limb, apply a compress of ground marshmallow and water. The Distaff Gospels suggest letting a dog that has been exposed to rabies drink from a trivet, which would somehow magically protect them from the disease. The medical advice for owners injured by their pets was a bit iffy as well. If someone got bitten by their pet monkey, they were told to put a blend of crushed salt, onions, and honey on the wound.
Speaking of being injured by an animal, a medieval person had to be careful if they were near a hunting cat. If they got scratched, bitten, or otherwise injured by a cat that was in pursuit of a mouse and wanted retribution, they were out of luck. According to the Kotlochta, a cat is not liable if it happens to hurt someone who “had no business being there” while it was hunting a rodent.
Cats being cats often like to wander. The Distaff Gospels offered medieval cat owners some pretty odd advice on how to keep their felines from straying too far. A person must turn the cat three times around a pot hook, then rub its leg against their chimney wall. If they do that, the cat will never leave. If that solution didn’t appeal to the owner, they could slather the cat’s legs with butter for three nights to make them stay put.
The Distaff Gospels also advised people to use their cats as a weather predictor. According to an account documented in the manuscript, if a cat is sitting in the window licking itself and rubbing its ears, that means a person should hold off on doing laundry because rain is coming. To keep a male cat from causing trouble, which was apparently something they were said to think about day and night once they turned four years old, a person should cut off a chunk of tail the size of their palm—definitely not advisable. If a person’s cat was more of a thief than a hunter, they should rub its nose three times in what it has damaged to prevent it from stealing again.
We’ll leave you with this interesting piece of advice from the Distaff Gospels: if a woman wants her husband to learn to like her family and friends, she’ll need to use their dog’s urine. When said friends and family members visit with their dog, a woman should collect the dog’s urine and secretly put it in her husband’s beer or soup. Once the man has drunk the urine-spiked beverage, he’ll become friendly with both the dog and the people who own it.
Remember to subscribe to Mental Floss and check in for new videos every Wednesday. Thanks for watching!
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This version maintains the content while removing any inappropriate or sensitive language.
Medieval – Relating to the Middle Ages, a period in European history from about the 5th to the late 15th century. – During the medieval period, castles were built as fortified homes for nobility.
Pets – Animals kept for companionship and enjoyment. – In ancient Egypt, cats were often kept as pets and were considered sacred animals.
Dogs – Domesticated mammals often kept as pets or for work, known for their loyalty and companionship. – In medieval times, dogs were used for hunting and guarding homes.
Cats – Small domesticated carnivorous mammals often kept as pets, known for their independence and agility. – Cats were revered in ancient cultures for their ability to control pests and were often depicted in art.
Hunting – The activity of pursuing and capturing or killing wild animals, often for food or sport. – Hunting was a common practice in medieval times, providing food and materials for clothing and tools.
Advice – Guidance or recommendations concerning prudent future action, typically given by someone regarded as knowledgeable. – Medieval physicians often gave advice on health based on the balance of the four humors in the body.
Health – The state of being free from illness or injury. – In the past, health was often attributed to the balance of bodily fluids, known as humors, in medieval medicine.
Training – The action of teaching a person or animal a particular skill or type of behavior. – Knights in medieval times underwent rigorous training to prepare for battle and tournaments.
Value – The importance, worth, or usefulness of something. – The value of spices in medieval trade was immense, often worth more than gold due to their rarity and demand.
Etiquette – The customary code of polite behavior in society or among members of a particular profession or group. – Medieval knights followed a strict code of etiquette, which included rules of chivalry and conduct in court.
