99 Facts About Cats

8/11/2019 99 Facts About Cats

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Cats

1. Every year, nearly four million cats are eaten in Asia. h

2. On average, cats spend 2/3 of every day sleeping. That means a nine-year-old cat has

een a!a"e for only three years of its life.i

3. #nli"e dogs, cats do not have a s!eet tooth. $cientists elieve this is due to a mutation

in a "ey taste receptor.d

%. &hen a cat chases its prey, it "eeps its head level.'ogsand humanso their heads

up and do!n.i

(. The technical term for a cat)s hairall is a *e+oar.f

. A group of cats is called a *clo!der.g

. emale cats tend to e right pa!ed, !hile male cats are more

often left pa!ed. 0nterestingly, !hile of humans are right handed,

the remaining 1 of lefties also tend to e male. l

4.

. A cat can)t clim head first do!n a tree ecause every cla! on acat)s pa! points the same !ay. To get do!n from a tree, a cat must

ac" do!n.i

1. 5ats ma"e aout 1 different sounds. 'ogs ma"e only aout 1. i

11. A cat)s rain is iologically more similar to a human rain than it is

to a dog)s. 6oth humans and cats have identical regions in their rains

that are responsile for emotions.i

12. There are more than ( million domestic cats in the !orld, !ith appro7imately %

recogni+ed reeds."

13. Appro7imately 2% cat s"ins can ma"e a coat.e

1%. &hile it is commonly thought that the ancient Egyptians !ere the first to domesticate

cats, the oldest "no!n pet cat !as recently found in a ,(-year-old grave on the8editerranean island of 5yprus. This grave predates early Egyptian art depicting cats y

%, years or more.g

1(. 'uring the time of the $panish 0n9uisition, :ope 0nnocent ;000 condemned cats as evil

and thousands of cats !ere urned. #nfortunately, the !idespread "illing of cats led to an

e7plosion of the rat population, !hich e7acerated the effects of the 6lac" 'eath.g

1. 'uring the 8iddle Ages, cats !ere associated !ith !ithcraft, and on $t.


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soft, !arm, and fu++y.D

22. Appro7imately %, people are itten y cats in the #.$. annually.g

23. According to ere! legend, =oah prayed to Cod for help protecting all the food he

stored on the ar" from eing eaten y rats. 0n reply, Cod made the lion snee+e, and out

popped a cat.i

2%.

A cat)s hearing is etter than a dog)s. And a cat can hear high-fre9uency sounds up tot!o octaves higher than a human.a

2(. A cat can travel at a top speed of appro7imately 31 mph ?% "m@ over a short distance.a

2. A cat can Dump up to five times its o!n height in a single ound.a

2. $ome cats have survived falls of over ( feet ?2 meters@, due largely to their *righting

refle7. The eyes and alance organs in the inner ear tell it

!here it is in space so the cat can land on its feet. Even cats

!ithout a tail have this aility.d

24.

2. A cat rus against people not only to e affectionate ut

also to mar" out its territory !ith scent glands around its face.

The tail area and pa!s also carry the cat)s scent.a

3. Besearchers are unsure e7actly ho! a cat purrs. 8ost

veterinarians elieve that a cat purrs y virating vocal folds deep in the throat. To do this, a

muscle in the laryn7 opens and closes the air passage aout 2( times per second. i

31. &hen a family cat died in ancient Egypt, family memers !ould mourn y shaving off

their eyero!s. They also held elaorate funerals during !hich they dran" !ine and eat

their reasts. The cat !as emalmed !ith a sculpted !ooden mas" and the tiny mummy !as

placed in the family tom or in a pet cemetery !ith tiny mummies of mice.d

32. 0n 1444, more than 3, mummified cats !ere found an Egyptian cemetery. They

!ere stripped of their !rappings and carted off to e used y farmers in England and the

#.$. for fertili+er.i

33. 8ost cats give irth to a litter of et!een one and nine "ittens. The largest "no!n litter

ever produced !as 1 "ittens, of !hich 1( survived.c

3%. $muggling a cat out of ancient Egypt !as punishale y death. :hoenician traders

eventually succeeded in smuggling felines, !hich they sold to rich people in Athens and

other important cities.g

3(. The earliest ancestor of the modern cat lived aout 3 million years ago. $cientists

called it the Proailurus, !hich means *first cat in Cree". The group of animals that pet cats

elong to emerged around 12 million years ago. d

3. The iggest !ildcat today is the $ierian Tiger. 0t can e more than 12 feet ?3. m@ long

?aout the si+e of a small car@ and !eigh up to pounds ?31 "g@. a

3. The smallest !ildcat today is the 6lac"-footed cat. The females are less than 2 inches

?( cm@ long and can !eigh as little as 2.( ls ?1.2 "[email protected]

34. 8any Egyptians !orshipped the goddess 6ast, !ho had a !oman)s ody and a cat)s

head.i

3. 8ohammed loved cats and reportedly his favorite cat, 8ue++a, !as a tay. egend

says that tay cats have an *8 for 8ohammed on top of their heads ecause 8ohammad

!ould often rest his hand on the cat)s head. i

%. &hile many parts of Europe and =orth America consider the lac" cat a sign of ad luc",

in 6ritain and Australia, lac" cats are considered luc"y.g

%1. The most popular pedigreed cat is the :ersian cat, follo!ed y the 8ain 5oon cat and

the $iamese cat.a

%2. The smallest pedigreed cat is a $ingapura, !hich can !eigh Dust % ls ?1.4 "g@, or aout

five large cans of cat food. The largest pedigreed cats are 8aine 5oon cats, !hich can

!eigh 2( ls ?11.3 "g@, or nearly t!ice as much as an average cat !eighs. i

A cat rubs against people to mark them

as their territory


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%3.

%%. $ome $iamese cats appear cross-eyed ecause the

nerves from the left side of the rain go to mostly the right eye

and the nerves from the right side of the rain go mostly to the

left eye. This causes some doule vision, !hich the cat tries to

correct y *crossing its eyes.i

%(. Besearchers elieve the !ord *tay comes from

Attaiyah, a neighorhood in 6aghdad, 0ra9. Taies got their name ecause their striped

coats resemled the famous !avy patterns in the sil" produced in this city. i

%. 5ats hate the !ater ecause their fur does not insulate !ell !hen it)s !et. The Tur"ish

;an, ho!ever, is one cat that li"es s!imming. 6red in central Asia, its coat has a uni9ue

te7ture that ma"es it !ater resistant.i

%. The Egyptian 8au is proaly the oldest reed of cat. 0n fact, the reed is so ancient

that its name is the Egyptian !ord for *cat.d

%4. The costliest cat ever is named ittle =ic"y, !ho cost his o!ner F(,. e is a clone of

an older cat.i

%. A cat usually has aout 12 !his"ers on each side of its face.f

(. A cat)s eyesight is oth etter and !orse than humans. 0t is etter ecause cats can see

in much dimmer light and they have a !ider peripheral vie!. 0t)s !orse ecause they don)t

see color as !ell as humans do. $cientists elieve grass appears red to cats. d

(1. $panish-


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2. A cat)s ac" is e7tremely fle7ile ecause it has up to (3

loosely fitting verterae. umans only have 3%.d

3.

%. Appro7imately 1/3 of cat o!ners thin" their pets are ale to

read their minds.f

(. All cats have cla!s, and all e7cept the cheetah sheath

them !hen at rest.f

. T!o memers of the cat family are distinct from all others>

the clouded leopard and the cheetah. The clouded leopard does not roar li"e other ig cats,

nor does it groom or rest li"e small cats. The cheetah is uni9ue ecause it is a running catI

all others are leaping cats. They are leaping cats ecause they slo!ly stal" their prey and

then leap on it.a

. A cat lover is called an Ailurophilia ?Cree"> [email protected]

4. 0n


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4. oods that should not e given to cats include onions, garlic, green tomatoes, ra!

potatoes, chocolate, grapes, and raisins. Though mil" is not to7ic, it can cause an upset

stomach and gas. Tylenol and aspirin are e7tremely to7ic to cats, as are many common

houseplants. eeding cats dog food or canned tuna thatHs for human consumption can cause

malnutrition.g

4.

A 2 Callup poll revealed that oth men and !omen !ere e9ually li"ely to o!n a cat.g

44. A cat)s heart eats nearly t!ice as fast as a human heart,

at 11 to 1% eats a minute.i

4.

. 5ats don)t have s!eat glands over their odies li"e

humans do. 0nstead, they s!eat only through their pa!s.g

1. 0n Dust seven years, a single pair of cats and their offspring

could produce a staggering total of %2, "ittens. i

2. Belative to its ody si+e, the clouded leopard has the iggest canines of all animalsH

canines. 0ts dagger-li"e teeth can e as long as 1.4 inches ?%.( [email protected]

3. 5ats spend nearly 1/3 of their !a"ing hours cleaning themselves. d

%. Cro!n cats have 3 teeth. Gittens have aout 2 temporary teeth, !hich they lose !hen

they are aout months old.d

(. A cat called 'usty has the "no!n record for the most "ittens. $he had more than %2

"ittens in her lifetime.i

. The largest cat reed is the Bagdoll. 8ale Bagdolls !eigh et!een 12 and 2 ls ?(.%-

. "@. emales !eigh et!een 1 and 1( ls ?%.(-.4 "@.c

. 5ats are e7tremely sensitive to virations. 5ats are said to detect earth9ua"e tremors 1

or 1( minutes efore humans can.d

4. 0n contrast to dogs, cats have not undergone maDor changes during their domestication

process.a

. A female cat is called a 9ueen or a molly.g

1. 0n the 13s, t!o Bussian iologists discovered that color change in $iamese "ittens

depend on their ody temperature. $iamese cats carry alino genes that !or" only !hen the

ody temperature is aove 4M . 0f these "ittens are left in a very !arm room, their points

!on)t dar"en and they !ill stay a creamy !hite.g

11. There are up to million feral cats in the #nited $tates alone. "

12. The oldest cat to give irth !as Gitty !ho, at the age of 3, gave irth to t!o "ittens.

'uring her life, she gave irth to 214 "ittens.c

13. The most traveled cat is amlet, !ho escaped from his carrier !hile on a flight. e hid

for seven !ee"s ehind a pane. 6y the time he !as discovered, he had traveled nearly

33, miles ?, "[email protected]

1%. The most e7pensive cat !as an Asian eopard cat ?A5@-'omestic $horthair ?'$@

hyrid named Neus. Neus, !ho is A5 and 1 '$, has an as"ing price of 1,

?F1(%,@.c

1(. The cat !ho holds the record for the longest non-fatal fall is Andy. e fell from the

1thfloor of an apartment uilding ?aout 2 ft/. "m@ and survived.c

1. The richest cat is 6lac"ie !ho !as left 1( million y his o!ner, 6en Bea. c

1. The cla!s on the cat)s ac" pa!s aren)t as sharp as the cla!s on the front pa!s

ecause the cla!s in the ac" don)t retract and, conse9uently, ecome !orn.g

Cats sweat only through their paws

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99 Facts About Cats