Cat Facts

Cat Facts:

There is so much we don't know about our mysterious feline friends, they are a solitary animal when wild, yet choose to live quite well with us humans.

It sounds strange, yet they would not do this with their own species, only getting together when it is time to mate.

Cats, our cousin to the big cats of the world, share our house and lives, there are more cats per household in the Western world than even dogs these days. And that it mainly because the cat being a solitary animal does not need us there constantly, and makes them the best pet for a busy lifestyle.

• Worlds Smallest Cat The most recent smallest cat on record is Mr Peebles. Verified by Guinness, the domestic short hair resides in Pekin, Illinois. He is only 6.1 cm's tall and 19.2 cm's long and weighs 3-pounds. He is full size, and fully grown.
  
   
• Cats are the only four-footed animal, with the exception of camels and giraffes, that walk by moving their front and hind legs first on one side and then the other. Only four cats really roar: lions, tigers, leopards and jaguars.

• The top two rows of a cat's whiskers can move independently of the lower two rows. This allows maximum perception of the cat's immediate surroundings.
   
• A cat's jaws cannot move sideways.

• The lightness of a feline's tread can be attributed to the fact that they walk on their toes--the soles of their feet rarely touch the ground. The pillow-like balls of their paws allow them to prowl noiselessly in the wild.
   
• Domestic cats spend about 70% of their day sleeping and 15% of the day grooming. Non-pedigree cats generally live longer than pedigree cats. Cats were domesticated about 3,000 B.C. in Egypt.

• With powerful leg muscles especially in their hind legs, the domestic cat has been known to reach running speeds of up to twenty-five miles an hour. A frightened cat can run up to 30 mph -- while the fastest human can only run up to 27.89 mph.

• A cat will clean itself with paw and tongue after a dangerous experience or when it has fought with another cat. This is an attempt by the animal to soothe its nerves by doing something natural and instinctive.

• The cat’s skeleton is quite close to that of the human, but it’s lack of a shoulder blade allows freedom of movement of the foreleg, which can be turned in almost any direction and a cat also has around 290 bones and 517 separate muscles.

• A cat uses whiskers to determine if a space is too small to squeeze through. The whiskers act as antennae, helping the animal to judge the precise width of any passage.

• Cats outnumber dogs by millions as house pets. In the US alone, there are about sixty million. In the US, thirty seven percent of houses have at least one pet cat. In the UK, about twenty five percent of houses have at least one pet cat. In Australia, twenty six percent of houses have at least one pet cat. There are about five hundred million pet cats in the world.

•  The earliest ancestor of the cat was the miacis, which lived over fifty five million years ago. The miacis had a long body and tail, short legs and looked somewhat like a weasel. The ancestor of all domestic cats is African wild cat. All domestic cats are members of same species, Felis Catus.

• A cat can run about 20 kilometres per hour (12 miles per hour) when it grows up. This one is going nowhere today - it is too lazy !.

• Cats are one of the oldest mammals on the earth.

• African wild cats were found in fossil form as early as thirty eight million years ago. The average life span of a cat is twelve years, this can vary with health, diet and breed.

• Pouncing is powered by a cat's thighs. These muscles are so powerful that if you had a cat's thigh muscles, your thighs would be as big as your waist and you could jump from the ground to the top of a house.

• Of all the parts of the body, the cat's paws have the most sensitive touch receptors. They are exquisitely pressure-sensitive, and some researchers believe they can even sense tiny vibrations.

• Cats spend about 70 percent of their day sleeping and 15 percent grooming. This is not only true for domestic cats. In the wild, a lion will sleep 20 hours a day.

• In the Siamese cat, a lower temperature causes more dark coloration in the growing hairs. This is why newborn kittens, warm from their mother's womb, are white all over. As they grow up in normal temperatures, the hottest areas of their body, around the stomach and back, remain pale in color, while their cooler extremities gradually become darker.

• The Egyptian sun god Ra was believed to assume the form of a tomcat each night for his battle with the serpent of darkness.

• The largest litter of kittens on record was born to a Siamese-Burmese mother, who had 19 kittens.

• Cats of all types get more sleep than just about any other animal. They average 16 hours of sleep a day, most of it in short naps that allow the cat to quickly become fully alert. Almost half of all cats receive Christmas gifts.

• The Russian Blue is considered lucky in Russia, and a new bride will sometimes be given a picture of one. Big cats can roar, but they cannot continuously purr. Small cats can purr, but they cannot roar.

• During deep sleep, a cat may twitch his whiskers, flex his paws or move his tail. Judging by the amount of electrical activity in the brain, scientists also think cats dream.

• Breeds that developed in cold climates, like the Siberian, Maine Coon Cat, and Norwegian Forest Cat, have slightly oily, water-repellent top coats and thick, insulating undercoats.

• The taste buds on a cat's tongue are specialized to detect the amino acids in meats, but are less able than ours to detect the carbohydrates in plants and grains.

• One female cat and her offspring, left to breed at will, can produce 420,000 kittens in just seven years.

• Small Egyptian amulets representing cats may date from as early as 2300 B.C.E. The oldest picture of a cat was found in the tomb of Baket III. It dates from 1950 B.C.E. and shows a cat confronting a rat.

• A female cat can mate with more than one male when she is in heat, meaning different kittens in a litter may have different fathers.

• Cats have three blood types: A, B and AB. The majority are type A.

• Cats have twice as many smell-sensitive cells in their noses as we do, which means they can smell things we are not even aware of.

• The cat receives much respect in Islam, because of tales that the Prophet Mohammed was a cat lover. One story says a cat saved Mohammed from being bitten by a deadly snake. In another, when Mohammed’s cat Muezza fell asleep on his sleeve, the Prophet cut off his sleeve rather than disturb his cat.

• In Buddhist temples across Asia, cats are kept as mousers. These temple cats have a pointed pattern, and may be ancestors of the Siamese breed.

• An ancient Persian legend says that the cat was born from a lion's sneeze.

• Cats can make more than 100 different vocal sounds. Dogs can make about 10.

• A Spanish stamp commemorating Charles Lindbergh's record-breaking flight from New York to Paris showed his cat Patsy watching as his plane took off. Pasty often accompanied Lindbergh on his flights, but did not go on the 1930 flight that made him famous.

• The cat population in the United States is more than 75 million.

• Humans and cats have a similar range of hearing when it comes to low-pitched sounds, but cats have a much greater ability to hear very high notes-better, even, than dogs.

• All the big cats, including lions and tigers, react to catnip just the way our little cats do. In fact, some zoos give their big cats catnip as part of a general program of environmental enrichment.

• Cats like to be a lot warmer than we do. We start to feel uncomfortable when our skin temperature gets higher than about 112(F (44.5(C), but cats don't start to feel uncomfortable until their skins reaches about 126(F (52(C).

• In the language of the ancient Egyptians, the word for cat was miou. The name has been somewhat revived in the modern breed the Egyptian Mau.

• Cats can judge within three inches the location of a sound being made one yard away. This is an essential skill for a predator who needs to catch a mouse hiding in tall grass. The Ragdoll and the Maine Coon are the biggest breeds. Both can weigh 20 pounds or more.

• More than 20 muscles in each ear enable a cat to move her ears like radar dishes and pinpoint the source of a sound. The two ears can rotate in different directions, as well.

• A cat's heart beats about twice as fast as your heart—about 110 to 140 times a minute in the average cat.

• Cats seem to have an instinctive ability to find their way home; tests have shown that they use the earth’s magnetic fields to navigate.

• Our beloved housecats are descended from the African wildcat, a small brown tabby that today is an endangered species.

• Cats can compress or elongate their spine, making them smaller to sleep in snuggly places or longer to leap across wide open spaces.

• Protruding eyes give cats a wider angle of vision than we have. They also have great peripheral vision. Both these adaptations are advantages to animals who are both predator and prey in the wild.

• The Persian is the most popular breed of cat, followed by the Siamese and the Maine Coon Cat.

• Pouncing is powered by a cat's thighs. These muscles are so powerful that if you had a cat's thigh muscles, your thighs would be as big as your waist and you could jump from the ground to the top of a house.
   
• Of all the parts of the body, the cat's paws have the most sensitive touch receptors. They are exquisitely pressure-sensitive, and some researchers believe they can even sense tiny vibrations.
   
• Cats spend about 70 percent of their day sleeping and 15 percent grooming. This is not only true for domestic cats. In the wild, a lion will sleep 20 hours a day.
   
• In the Siamese cat, a lower temperature causes more dark coloration in the growing hairs. This is why newborn kittens, warm from their mother's womb, are white all over. As they grow up in normal temperatures, the hottest areas of their body, around the stomach and back, remain pale in color, while their cooler extremities gradually become darker.
   
• The Egyptian sun god Ra was believed to assume the form of a tomcat each night for his battle with the serpent of darkness.
   
• The largest litter of kittens on record was born to a Siamese-Burmese mother, who had 19 kittens.
   
• Cats of all types get more sleep than just about any other animal. They average 16 hours of sleep a day, most of it in short naps that allow the cat to quickly become fully alert.

• Almost half of all cats receive Christmas gifts.

• The Russian Blue is considered lucky in Russia, and a new bride will sometimes be given a picture of one.

• Big cats can roar, but they cannot continuously purr. Small cats can purr, but they cannot roar.
   
• During deep sleep, a cat may twitch his whiskers, flex his paws or move his tail. Judging by the amount of electrical activity in the brain, scientists also think cats dream.
   
• Breeds that developed in cold climates, like the Siberian, Maine Coon Cat, and Norwegian Forest Cat, have slightly oily, water-repellent top coats and thick, insulating undercoats.
   
• The taste buds on a cat's tongue are specialized to detect the amino acids in meats, but are less able than ours to detect the carbohydrates in plants and grains.
   
• One female cat and her offspring, left to breed at will, can produce 420,000 kittens in just seven years.
   
• Small Egyptian amulets representing cats may date from as early as 2300 B.C.E. The oldest picture of a cat was found in the tomb of Baket III. It dates from 1950 B.C.E. and shows a cat confronting a rat.
   
• A female cat can mate with more than one male when she is in heat, meaning different kittens in a litter may have different fathers.
   
• Cats have three blood types: A, B and AB. The majority are type A.
   
• Cats have twice as many smell-sensitive cells in their noses as we do, which means they can smell things we are not even aware of.
   
• The cat receives much respect in Islam, because of tales that the Prophet Mohammed was a cat lover. One story says a cat saved Mohammed from being bitten by a deadly snake. In another, when Mohammed’s cat Muezza fell asleep on his sleeve, the Prophet cut off his sleeve rather than disturb his cat.
   
• In Buddhist temples across Asia, cats are kept as mousers. These temple cats have a pointed pattern, and may be ancestors of the Siamese breed.
   
• An ancient Persian legend says that the cat was born from a lion's sneeze.
   
• Cats can make more than 100 different vocal sounds. Dogs can make about 10.
   
• A Spanish stamp commemorating Charles Lindbergh's record-breaking flight from New York to Paris showed his cat Patsy watching as his plane took off. Pasty often accompanied Lindbergh on his flights, but did not go on the 1930 flight that made him famous.
   
• The cat population in the United States is more than 75 million.
   
• Humans and cats have a similar range of hearing when it comes to low-pitched sounds, but cats have a much greater ability to hear very high notes-better, even, than dogs.
   
• All the big cats, including lions and tigers, react to catnip just the way our little cats do. In fact, some zoos give their big cats catnip as part of a general program of environmental enrichment.
   
• Cats like to be a lot warmer than we do. We start to feel uncomfortable when our skin temperature gets higher than about 112(F (44.5(C), but cats don't start to feel uncomfortable until their skins reaches about 126(F (52(C).
• In the language of the ancient Egyptians, the word for cat was miou. The name has been somewhat revived in the modern breed the Egyptian Mau.

• Cats can judge within three inches the location of a sound being made one yard away. This is an essential skill for a predator who needs to catch a mouse hiding in tall grass.

• The Ragdoll and the Maine Coon are the biggest breeds. Both can weigh 20 pounds or more.

• More than 20 muscles in each ear enable a cat to move her ears like radar dishes and pinpoint the source of a sound. The two ears can rotate in different directions, as well.
   
• A cat's heart beats about twice as fast as your heart—about 110 to 140 times a minute in the average cat.
   
• Cats seem to have an instinctive ability to find their way home; tests have shown that they use the earth’s magnetic fields to navigate.
   
• Our beloved housecats are descended from the African wildcat, a small brown tabby that today is an endangered species.
   
• Cats can compress or elongate their spine, making them smaller to sleep in snuggly places or longer to leap across wide open spaces.
   
• Protruding eyes give cats a wider angle of vision than we have. They also have great peripheral vision. Both these adaptations are advantages to animals who are both predator and prey in the wild.
   
• The Persian is the most popular breed of cat, followed by the Siamese and the Maine Coon Cat.
• Cats seem to have an instinctive ability to find their way home; tests have shown that they use the earth’s magnetic fields to navigate.
   
• A cat has 250 bones in his body, compared to 206 in our bodies.
• One female cat and her offspring, left to breed at will, can produce 420,000 kittens in just seven years.
   
• Cat's urine glows under a black light!.
• If a cat is frightened, put your hand over its eyes and forehead, or let him bury his head in your armpit to help calm him!
   
• George Washington's favorite horse was named Lexington. Napoleon's favorite was Marengo. U.S. Grant had three favorite horses: Egypt, Cincinnati, and Jeff Davis.
   
• The catgut formerly used as strings in tennis rackets and musical instruments does not come from cats. Catgut actually comes from sheep, hogs, and horses.
   
• A cat has four rows of whiskers.
   
• The gene for the Siamese coloration in animals such as cats, rats or rabbits is heat sensitive. Warmth produces a lighter color than does cold. Putting tape temporarily on Siamese rabbit's ear will make the fur on that ear lighter than on the other one. Don't try this at home folks!
   
• Americans spend more annually on cat food than on baby food.
   
• A cat uses his whiskers to determine if a space is too small to squeeze through.
   
• In mythology, the cat is believed to have great influence on the weather. Witches that rode on storms were said to take the form of cats. The dog is a signal of wind, and a dog was an attendant of Odin, the storm king. So cats symbolize down-pouring rain, and dogs symbolize strong gusts of wind.

• A group of youngsters [kittens] is called a kindle; those old-timers [adult cats] form a clowder.

• Black cat superstitions are as American as apple pie. In Asia and England, black cats are considered lucky.

• A cat's tongue consists of small "hooks," which come in handy when tearing up food.

• When a domestic cat goes after mice, about one pounce in three results in a catch.

• In the last 4000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.

• The color of the points in Siamese cats is heat related. Cool areas are darker. In fact, Siamese kittens are born white because of the heat inside the mother's uterus before birth. This heat keeps the kittens hair from darkening on the points.

• Studies show that if a cat falls off the seventh floor of a building it has about thirty percent less chance of surviving than a cat that falls off the twentieth floor. It supposedly takes about eight floors for the cat to realize what is occurring, relax and correct itself.

• A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

• Dogs have 42 teeth, cats about 30.

• Cats purr at about 26 cycles per second, the same frequency as an idling diesel engine.

• Cats have a third eyelid called a haw and you will probably only see it when kitty isn't feeling well.

• A cat sees about six times better than a human at night because of the tapetum lucidum , a layer of extra reflecting cells which absorb light.

• In ancient Egypt, entire families would shave their eyebrows as a sign of mourning when the family cat died.

• In 1987 cats overtook dogs as the number one pet in America.

• Adult cats with no health problems are in deep sleep 15 percent of their lives. They are in light sleep 50 percent of the time.

• Cats are the only animal that walk on their claws, not the pads of their feet.

• Cats step with both left legs, then both right legs when they walk or run. The only other animals to do this are the giraffe and the camel.

• If you don't want a cat to jump in your lap, don't make eye contact with it.

• There should be one more litter pan than the number of cats in your household. Sharing litter pans is probably the leading cause of house soiling problems in cats. If you only have one cat, and it isn't reliably using the litter pan, give it two litter pans and clean them frequently.
   
• Both humans & cats have identical regions in the brain responsible for emotion.

• A cat's brain is more similar to a mans brain than a dog.

• Cats do not have a collar bone and can fit through any opening than size of their head.

MILD VERSUS WILD

Don't try so hard to fit in when you are born to stand out!

"My precious, precious child. I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you"
Kristone, "FOOTPRINTS"

Cat facts will have probably amazed you, and you will needless want to know more cat facts. I will put them on this page as I find them. Knowing that cat facts is a quick learning curb for us all to learn more about our curious companion.

I am sure there have been a few cat facts that you would have found more interesting than others, and learnt some amazing things about our cat.

They are masters of balance and precise speed, built for the hunt and also how to relax, and we know how they like to relax.