Did you know...
- The first cat show was in 1871 at the Crystal Palace in London.
- A healthy cat has a temperature between 38 and 39 degrees Celcius.
- Today there are about 100 distinct breeds of the domestic cat.
- A cat has four rows of whiskers on each side.
- It has been scientifically proven that owning cats is good for our health and can decrease the occurrence of high blood pressure and other illnesses.
- In ancient Egypt, killing a cat was a crime punishable by death
- Cats can't taste sweets.
- 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.
- Stroking a cat can help to relieve stress, and the feel of a purring cat on your lap conveys a strong sense of security and comfort.
- Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs only have about ten.
- A cat cannot see directly under its nose.
- Chocolate is poisonous to cats.
- The ancient Egyptians were the first civilisation to realise the cat's potential as a vermin hunter and tamed cats to protect the corn supplies on which their lives depended.
- A cat has more bones than a human being; humans have 206 and the cat has 230 bones.
- A cat's hearing is much more sensitive than humans and dogs.
- A cat can jump several times its own height.
- The cat's tail is used to maintain balance.
- Cats sight is six times better in the dark than humans.
- Cats eat grass to aid their digestion and to help them get rid of any fur in their stomachs.
- Cats have the largest eyes of any mammal.
- The female cat reaches sexual maturity at around 6 to 10 months and the male cat between 9 and 12 months.
- A female cat will be pregnant for approximately 9 weeks or between 62 and 65 days from conception to delivery.
- The average litter of kittens is between 2 - 6 kittens.
- Ailurophile is the word cat lovers are officially called.
- Purring does not always indicate that a cat is happy. Cats will also purr loudly when they are distressed or in pain.
- All cats need taurine in their diet to avoid blindness. Cats must also have fat in their diet as they are unable to produce it on their own.
- When a cats rubs up against you, the cat is marking you with it's scent claiming ownership.
- The average lifespan of an outdoor-only cat is about 3 to 5 years while an indoor-only cat can live 16 years or much longer.
- On average, a cat will sleep for 16 hours a day.
- A domestic cat can run at speeds of 30 mph.
- The life expectancy of cats has nearly doubled over the last fifty years.
- Blue-eyed, white cats are often prone to deafness.
- The cat's front paw has 5 toes and the back paws have 4.
- An adult cat has 30 teeth, 16 on the top and 14 on the bottom.
- There are approximately 60,000 hairs per square inch on the back of a cat and about 120,000 per square inch on its underside.
- Cats and kittens should be acquired in pairs whenever possible as cat families interact best in pairs.
- A cat's tongue consists of small hooks which come in handy when tearing up food.
- Americans spend more annually on cat food than on baby food.
- In Asia and England , black cats are considered lucky.
- Cats have five toes on each front paw, but only four toes on each back paw.
- A cat has over 30 muscles in each ear.
- Desexing a cat extends it's life span by two or three years.
- Newborn kittens have closed ear canals that don't begin to open for nine days. When the eyes open, they are always blue at first. They change colour over a period of months to the final eye colour.
- People who are allergic to cats are actually allergic to cat saliva or to cat dander.
- Cats lack a true collarbone. Because of this, cats can generally squeeze their bodies through any space they can get their heads through. You may have seen a cat testing the size of an opening by careful measurement with the head
|
