Cat Trivia

*Cats are only in the early stages of domestication, their ancestors were only domesticated 5,000 years ago.

*Like humans cats inherit tendencies to be shy, outgoing, and even tempers.

*Cats have a bathing process that starts by licking their lips and ends ten steps later with their tail.

*Kittens raised away from humans tend to be shy.

*Cats are right brained dominate, this makes them intuitive.

*A cat in New York fell 27 floors off a skyscraper and lived!

*Cats run at 31 mph.

*The pad on a cats back legs are to stop and prevent skidding.

*Cats sleep an average of 15-18 hours per day!

*Cats instinctively close their eyes if a whisker is brushed.

*Cats hear at 100,000 cycles per sec! equal to a mouse squeak!

*A tail waving side to side means contentment.

*Quick back and forth movement means anger.

*Ears pointed forward mean relaxed.

*Erect and forward means alert.

*Twitching ears are a sign of nervousness.

*Flat ears mean annoyance.

*In ancient Egypt, killing a cat was a crime punishable by death.

*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.

*In the Middle Ages, during the Festival of Saint John, cats were burned alive in town squares.

*Today there are about 100 distinct breeds of the domestic cat.

*Genetic mutation created the domestic cat which is tame from birth.

*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 take far from its home can return to it. But if a cat's owners move far from it’s home, the cat can’t find them.

*Hunting is not instinctive for cats. Kittens born to non-hunting mothers may never learn to hunt.

*Cats bury their feces to cover their trails from predators.

*Mother cats teach their kittens to use the litter box.

*Among other tasks, cats can be taught to use a toilet, come, sit, bed, eat with their paws, heel, jump through a hoop, play a piano, play dead, roll over, open a door, hide food in boxes, shake, and fetch.

*In Great Britain, black cats are thought to bring good luck.

*Besides smelling with their nose, cats can smell with an additional organ called the Jacobson's organ, located in the upper surface of the mouth.

*Cats can't taste sweets.

*The chlorine in fresh tap water irritates sensitive parts of the cat’s nose.

*The average cat food meal is the equivalent to about 5 mice.

*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 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.

*Ten human years translate to about 60 cat years. A one year old cat is similar in age to an 18 year old human.

*Ailurophilia is the "love of cats."

*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.

*25% of cat owners blow dry their cats hair after a bath.

*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.

*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.

*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 a 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.

*Sir Isaac Newton, discoverer of the principles of gravity, also invented the cat door.

*A cat will amost never "meow" at another cat. This sound is reserved for humans.

*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 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.

*A cat's normal body temperature is 101.5 degrees. This is slightly warmer than a humans.

*People who own pets live longer, have less stress, and have fewer heart attacks.

*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.

*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 in1987.

*When falling, a cat needs only 1.8 seconds to right itself. The 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.

*The most popular names for female cats in the U.S. are Missy, Misty, Muffin, Patches, Fluffy, Tabitha, Tigger, Pumpkin and Samantha.

*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.

*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.

*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.

*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, people may appear hazy when standing in front of them.

*Cats need 1/6th the amount of light that humans do to see. Their night vision is amazing!

*Cats can see up to 120 feet away. Their peripheral vision is about 285 degrees.

*Cats eyes come in three shapes: round, slanted and almond.

*The color of a kitten's eyes will change as it grows older.

*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.

*Kittens begin dreaming at just over one week old.

*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.

*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.

*Many experts report that cats will purr when feeling any intense emotion (pleasure or pain).

*Cats are more active during the evening hours.

*Cats spend 30% of their waking hours grooming themselves.

*95% of all cat owners admit they talk to their cats.

*Backward-pointing spikes on a cat's tongue aid in their grooming.

*The average cat weighs 12 pounds.

*If an overweight cat's "sides" stick out further than its whiskers, it will lose its sense of perception and stability.

*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.

*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.

*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 are more aggressive when they are not neutered or spayed.

*21% of U.S. households have at least one cat.

*"Pair bonds" can develop between two cats who live together, or between a cat and a person.

*A cat that bites you after you have rubbed his stomach, is probably biting out of pleasure, not anger.

*An adult cat has 32 teeth.

*According to myth, a cat sleeping with all four paws tucked under means cold weather is coming.

*Egyptians shaved their eyebrows as a sign of mourning when they lost a beloved cat.