•A cat's normal body temperature is 101.5 degrees. This is slightly warmer than a human.
• Calico cats are almost always female.
• The nose pad of a cat is ridged in a pattern that is unique, just like the fingerprint of a human.
• A cat's heart beats twice as fast as a human heart, at 110 to 140 beats per minute.
• The Giraffe, Camel and Cat are the only animals that walk by moving both their left feet, then both their right feet, when walking. This method of walking ensures speed, agility and silence.
• If an overweight cat's "sides" stick out further than her whiskers, she will lose her sense of perception and stability. Don't be surprised if she starts to squeeze into an opening that the rest of her can't fit into, only to back herself back out quickly!
• There are two species of wild cats in African and Europe that still hunt. These two species both resemble the domestic tabbies.
• Backward-pointing spikes on a cat's tongue aid in their grooming.
• The average cat weighs 12 pounds.
• At birth, kittens can't see or hear. Cats open their eyes after five days and begin to develop their eyesight and hearing at approximately 2 weeks. They begin to walk at 20 days.
• Cats eyes come in three shapes: round, slanted and almond.
• Cats need 1/6th the amount of light that humans do to see.
• Cats are partially color blind. They have the equivalency of human red/green color blindness. (Reds appear green and greens appear red; or shades thereof.)
• Cats don't see "detail" very well. To them, their person may appear hazy when standing in front of them.
• Cats can see up to 120 feet away. Their peripheral vision is about 285 degrees.
• The color of a kitten's eyes will change as it grows older.
• Kittens begin dreaming at just over one week old.
• Many experts report that cats will purr when feeling any intense emotion (pleasure or pain).
• Cats roll on their backs to show affection. They expose their bellies like this only when they feel totally secure.
• Cats with long, lean bodies are more likely to be outgoing personalities than their stockier cousins. They are also more protective of their home and more vocal and demonstrative.
• The behaviors shown by most house cats have a parallel in the wild.
• A cat will kill it's prey based on movement, but may not necessarily recognize that prey as food. Realizing that prey is food is a learned behavior.
• "PSI trailings" attempt to explain a cat's ability to travel a long distance to return to their home. It is said they use the earth's gravity to determine "their place" in the world, and to develop the ability to return there when necessary.
• An adult cat has 32 teeth.
• Cats are more aggressive when they are not neutered or spayed.
• Stings to the mouth can be very dangerous to cats. If your cat is stung, or ever experiences any type of sting to the mouth, take her to the vet immediately. As her mouth swells from the sting, she may be unable to breath. Stings require urgent medical care.
• A cat's ear pivots 180 degrees. They have 30 muscles in each ear, and use twelve or more muscles to control their ear movement.
• Know how old your cat really is. If your cat is 3, your cat is 21 in human years. If your cat is 8, your cat is 40 in human years. If your cat is 14, your cat is 70 in human years.
• Carnivorous animals will not eat another animal that has been hit by a lightning strike.
• Don't put your cat on an all-vegetarian diet. Cats need protein to survive.
• Cat scratch disease, a benign but sometimes painful disease of short duration, is caused by a bacillus. Despite its name, the disease can be transmitted by many kinds of scratches besides those of cats.
• Never feed your cat dog food. Cats are "obligate carnivores" and require an average of five times more protein than dogs do.
• To make sure your cat's collar fits properly, make sure you can slip two fingers under the collar, between the collar and your cat's neck.
• Domestic cats are essentially loners. When placed in a group, they develop their own hierarchy. As long as there is plenty of food on hand, a cat can learn to share it's domain with other cats.
• Cats love high places. They share this love with leopards and jaguars, who sleep in trees. If a cat begins to fall, his inner ear canal (which controls balance) will help him right himself and land on his feet.
• Like birds, cats have a homing ability that uses its biological clock, the angle of the sun, and the Earth's magnetic field. A cat taken far from its home will likely be able to return. But if a cat's owners move far from its home, the cat will not be able to locate them.
• The chlorine in tap water irritates sensitive parts of the cat's nose. Use a water purifier to remove excess chemicals!
• Give your cat fresh water at least once a day. If your cat refuses your tap water, it may be sensing chlorine or other minerals in your water. Many finicky felines will only drink bottled water, just like their human counterparts.
• A group of grown cats is called a "clowder". A group of kittens is called a "kindle."
• Your cat is probably either a "righty" or a "lefty." Only 40% of cats are ambidextrous while another 40% are either right-pawed or left-pawed.
• The domestic cat is the only cat species able to hold its tail vertically while walking. All wild cats hold their tails horizontally or tucked between their legs while walking.
• Cats have 290 bones in their bodies, and 517 muscles.
• A cat has five more vertebrae in her spinal column than her human does.
• There are three body types for a cat. Cobby type is a compact body, deep chest, short legs and broad head. The eyes are large and round. Muscular type is a sturdy body and round, full-cheeked head. Foreign type is a slender body, with long legs and a long tail. The head is wedge-shaped, with tall ears and slanting eyes.
____Behavioral
•Cats roll on their backs to show affection. They expose their bellies like this only when they feel totally secure.
•If your cat is near you, and her tail is quivering, this is the greatest expression of love your cat can give you. If her tail starts thrashing, her mood has changed --- Time to distance yourself from her.
•Cats wag their tails when it is in a stage of conflict. The cat wants to do two things at once, but each impulse blocks the other. For example: If your cat is in the doorway wanting to go outside, and you open the door to find it raining, the cat's tail will wag because of internal conflict. The cat wants to go outside, but doesn't want to go into the rain. Once the cat makes a decision and either returns to the house or leaves into the rain, the tail will immediately stop wagging.
•Cats knead with their paws when they're happy.
•A cat will amost never "meow" at another cat. This sound is reserved for humans.
•Your cat loves you and can "read" your moods. If you're sad or under stress, you may also notice a difference in your cat's behavior.
•An adult lion's roar can be heard up to five miles away, and warns off intruders or reunites scattered members of the pride.
•Cats get their sense of security from your voice. Talk to your cats! And be mindful of your tone of voice. Cats know when you're yelling at them (though they may not care).
•The more cats are spoken to, the more they will speak to you.
•Cats are the sleepiest of all mammals. They spend 16 hours of each day sleeping. With that in mind, a seven year old cat has only been awake for two years of its life!
•A falling cat will always right itself in a precise order. First the head will rotate, then the spine will twist and the rear legs will align, then the cat will arch its back to lessen the impact of the landing.
•"Sociable" cats will follow you from room to room to monitor your activities throughout the day.
•What kind of "mood" is kitty in? Her eyes, whiskers and ears will tell you. Learn to read the signs she gives you.
•A large majority of white cats with blue eyes are deaf. White cats with only one blue eye are deaf only in the ear closest to the blue eye. White cats with orange eyes do not have this disability.
•Cats rub up against other cats, and people, in an attempt to "mark" them with their scent glands. They most often use the scent glands between their eye and ear (near the temple area) or their scent glands near the base of their tail.
•People who own pets live longer, have less stress, and have fewer heart attacks.
•Cats love to chew on grass, catnip, parsley or sage. Become a green thumb and plant an indoor garden for your cat! But be careful -- many plants are toxic to your cat!
____Historical
•In English, cat is "cat." In French, cat is "Chat." In German, your cat is "katze." The Spanish word for cat is "gato," and the Italian word is "gatto." Japanese prefer "neko" and Arabic countries call a cat a "kitte."
•In the 17th century, a cat washing her face meant a storm was brewing. But if the cat washes her face in front of a group of people, the first person she looks at will get married. And if you think a black cat is bad luck, seeing a white cat at night is a harbinger of death.
•Ailurophilia is the "love of cats."
•Sir Isaac Newton, discoverer of the principles of gravity, also invented the cat door.
•There have been three different cats who have played the famed "Morris the Cat." The first Morris was adopted from a shelter in 1968. In 1969 he landed the role of Morris the Cat in the famous 9 Lives Cat Food commercials...and was an overnight success! The first Morris died in 1978 and was subsequently replaced by two more cats who played "Morris." All three of the "Morris the Cat" cats were rescued from shelters.
____Record Holders
•The tiniest cat on record was Tinker Toy from Illinois. A male Himalayan-Persian, he weighed 1 pound, 8 ounces fully grown and was 7.25" long and 2.75" tall!
•In 1952, a Texas Tabby named Dusty set the record by having more than 420 kittens before having her last litter at age 18.
•The richest cat in the Guinness Book of World Records is a pair of cats who inherited $415,000 in the early '60s. The richest single cat is a white alley cat who inherited $250,000. (Now that will buy a lot of catnip!)
•According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the heaviest cat on record was Himmy, an Australian cat, who weighed 46 pounds, 15.25 ounces in 1986. Himmy's waist was 33 inches! The previous record-holder had been Spice, a ginger-and-white tom cat from Connecticut, who weighed 43 pounds when he died in 1977.
•The largest cat breed is the Ragdoll. Males weigh twelve to twenty pounds, with females weighing ten to fifteen pounds. The smallest cat breed is the Singapura. Males weigh about six pounds while females weigh about four pounds.
•The largest known litter (with all surviving) was that of a Persian in South Africa named Bluebell. Bluebell gave birth to 14 kittens in one litter!
•The average age for an indoor cat is 15 years, while the average age for an outdoor cat is only 3 to 5 years.
•The oldest cat on record was Puss, from England, who died in 1939 just one day after her 36th birthday. (We wish we could have them all that long!)
•The weirdest cat on record was a female called Mincho who went up a tree in Argentina and didn't come down again until she died six years later. While treed, she managed to have three litters with equally ambitious dads.
____Cleaning Tips
•The easiest way to pick up cat hair? Spray an anti-static spray on the area you want to clean. Wait one minute, then wipe up the hair with a six inch brush.
•The fumes from moth balls destroy a cat's liver cells. Use cedar in your closet instead.
•Cats love to hide! If yours comes up "missing," be sure to check in the bathtub, in your closet, in the dresser drawers, under a blanket or rug...or anywhere else you can possibly think of!
•Try hanging an orange or lemon scented air freshener in the inner branches of your Christmas tree, if your cat is a seasonal "climber."
•The Henry Ford Health System in Detroit followed 833 children from birth to age 6 or 7, and found that children who were exposed to dogs and cats 1 year or younger were significantly less likely to test positive for allergies later in life than those who were not.
•Give your cat a quality scratching post to deter her from scratching your furniture. Still scratching? Try putting lemon scent or orange scent on the area. Cats hate these smells.
____Myths
•According to myth, a cat sleeping with all four paws tucked under means cold weather is coming.
•Hebrew folklore believes that cats came about because Noah was afraid that rats might eat all the food on the ark. He prayed to God for help. God responded by making the lion sneeze a giant sneeze -- and out came a little cat!
•It is believed that a white cat sitting on your doorstep just before your wedding is a sign of lasting happiness. White cats are a symbol of good luck in America, while black cats are a sign of bad luck.
•Some people believe that cats suck the breath from newborns. Somewhere in the depths of history, a cat was seen licking the milk from a baby's lips, and the infant's mother interpreted this as "stealing the baby's breath." Although this isn't actually the case, a cat may indeed be attracted to the milk, and there may be some risk of accidental suffocation. It's never a good idea to leave a pet alone with an infant, be it dog or cat.
These are common misunderstandings that veterinarians frequently hear from pet owners, according to the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA). Following is a list of popular myths that AAHA veterinarians and The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) would like to dispel. Myth: Cats always land on their feet. Fact: While cats instinctively fall feet first and may survive falls from high places, they also may receive broken bones in the process. Some kind of screening on balconies and windows can help protect pets from disastrous falls.
Myth: Cats should drink milk everyday. Fact: Most cats like milk, but do not need it if properly nourished. Also, many will get diarrhea if they drink too much milk. If it is given at all, the amount should be small and infrequent.
Myth: Cats that are spayed or neutered automatically gain weight. Fact: Like people, cats gain weight from eating too much, not exercising enough or both. In many cases, spaying or neutering is done at an age when the animal's metabolism already has slowed, and its need for food has decreased. If the cat continues to eat the same amount, it may gain weight. Cat owners can help their cats stay fit by providing exercise and not over-feeding.
Myth: Cats cannot get rabies. Fact: Actually, most warm-blooded mammals, including cats, bats, skunks and ferrets, can carry rabies. Like dogs, cats should be vaccinated regularly according to local laws.
Myth: Indoor cats cannot get diseases. Fact: Cats still are exposed to organisms that are carried through the air or brought in on a cat owner's shoes or clothing. Even the most housebound cat ventures outdoors at some time and can be exposed to diseases and worms through contact with other animals feces.
Myth: Tapeworms come from bad food. Fact: Pets become infected with tape worms from swallowing fleas, which carry the parasite. Also, cats can get tapeworms from eating infected mice or other exposed animals.
Myth: Putting garlic on a pet's food will get rid of worms. Fact: Garlic may make the animal's food taste better but has no effect on worms. The most effective way to treat worms is by medication prescribed by a veterinarian.
Myth: Pregnant women should not own cats. Fact: Some cats can be infected with a disease called toxoplasmosis, which occasionally can be spread to humans through cat litter boxes and cause serious problems in unborn babies. However, these problems can be controlled, if the expectant mother avoids contact with the litter box and assigns daily cleaning to a friend or other family member.
Myth: A cat's sense of balance is in its whiskers. Fact: Cats use their whiskers as "feelers" but not to maintain their balance.
Myth: Animals heal themselves by licking their wounds. Fact: Such licking actually can slow the healing process and further damage the wound.
____Statistics
•In an average year, American cat owners spend $2.15 billion on cat food and $295 million on kitty litter.
•Each year Americans spend four billion dollars on cat food. That's one billion dollars more than they spend on baby food!
•It costs $7000 to care for one household cat over its lifetime. This covers only the necessities; the pampered pet will carry a higher price.
•32% of those who own their own home, also own at least one cat.
•34% of cat-owning households have incomes of $60,000 or more.
•The number of pet-owning households is expected to grow nearly 12% between 1993 and 2000, and another 6% between 2000 and 2010.
•21% of U.S. households have at least one cat.
•Expect to spend an average of $80 per year on vet bills, for the lifetime of each cat you own.
•The Travel Industry Association of America notes, that of the pets traveling with their owners, dogs are the most common type of pet to take along (78%). Cats came in a distant second with 15%, while others report traveling with birds (2%) and either a ferret, rabbit, or fish (3%).
•Cats spend 30% of their waking hours grooming themselves.
•Domestic cats spend an average of 70% of their lives sleeping and 15% of their lives grooming. That leaves only 15% of their lives for eating and ordering people around...
•25% of cat owners blow dry their cats hair after a bath.
•During her life, one female cat could have more than 100 kittens.
•95% of all cat owners admit they talk to their cats.
•There are more than 500 million domestic cats in the world, with 33 different breeds.
•25% of cat owners blow dry their cats hair after a bath.
•An average cat has 1-8 kittens per litter, and 2-3 litters per year.
•During her productive life, one female cat could have more than 100 kittens.
•A single pair of cats and their kittens can produce as many as 420,000 kittens in just 7 years.
•More than 35,000 kittens are born in the U.S. each year. Spay or neuter your cat.
•The American cat population reached nearly 68 million in 1996. American Demographics magazine estimates that's about 200 million kitty yawns per hour and a whopping 425 million catnaps each day!
•The greatest number of mice killed by one cat? 28,899! Towser, a tortoise-shell tabby in charge of rodent control in Scotland, killed 28,899 mice in her 21 years. This is about four mice per day, every day, for 21 years. Towser died in 1987.
•The most popular names for female cats in the U.S. are Missy, Misty, Muffin, Patches, Fluffy, Tabitha, Tigger, Pumpkin and Samantha.
•The first cat show was held in 1895 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.
____Entertainment
(there are currently no facts in the "Entertainment" category)
____Strange laws (remember, these laws are only in place because at least one (and probably more) people did it…)
•In Ventura County, California, cats and dogs are not allowed to have sex without a permit.
•Egyptians shaved their eyebrows as a sign of mourning when they lost a beloved cat.
•Never leave your cat in a vehicle alone. On summer days, temperatures in an automobile can reach 160 degrees in just minutes, even with the windows cracked.
•In ancient Egypt, mummies were made of cats, and embalmed mice were placed with them in their tombs. In one ancient city, over 300,000 cat mummies were found.
•Cats may not yowl after 9 PM in Columbus, Georgia.
•Fights between cats and dogs are prohibited by statute in Barber, North Carolina.
•In Sterling, Colorado, it is unlawful to allow a pet cat to run loose without a taillight.
•The local council in Lorinc, Hungary issued new regulations in 2001, saying cats can only be taken on to the street on leads. Officials say the measure will protect the public from the "dangerous menace of free range cats."
•Cats in International Falls, Minnesota, are not allowed to chase dogs up telephone poles.
•Cats living in Cresskill, New Jersey, must wear three bells to warn birds of their whereabouts.
•French Lick Springs, Indiana, once passed a law requiring all black cats to wear bells on Friday the 13th.
•In Kentucky, dogs are not allowed to attack or bother cats, though they can legally fight with each other.
•In Baltimore, Maryland, it's illegal to take a lion to the movies.
•It is illegal to set a mousetrap without a hunting license, if the mice live in Cleveland, Ohio or California.
