•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.
•In
ancient Egypt, killing a cat was a crime punishable by
death.
•Cats
lack a true collarbone. Because of this, they can
generally squeeze their bodies through any space they can
get their heads through. Their skeleton contains
more than 230 bones and the pelvis and shoulders are loosely
attached, increasing their flexibility. A cat's backbone
has 26 more vertabrae than a human's has.
•Cats
sleep 16-18 hours per day.
•A
large majority of white cats with blue eyes are deaf. White
cats with only one blue eye are only deaf in the ear closest
to the blue eye.
•A
cat uses 32 muscles to control its ears, and they can pivot
180 degrees.
•The
black plague in Europe was partially due to the fact that
people believed cats were evil, so all cats were collected
and burned, leaving the rats (carrying disease-causing
parasites) to run free and multiply. Those people
who secretly kept cats were among the many that survived.
•The
domestic cat, the camel, and the giraffe are the only animals
who walk by moving both their front and hind legs on one
side, then the other.
•Cats
have about 100 vocal sounds while dogs have only 10.
•Cats
can hear sounds that are almost two octaves higher than
humans can hear.
•Cats
can jump seven time the length of their tail.
•Cat
whiskers can be used as an alternative sensing device in
the dark. The extreme sensitivity of the hairs can
register very small changes in the air pressure, enabling
cats to maneuver in the dark.
•Contrary
to popular belief, cats cannot see in the dark although
they are able to see better than humans in dimly lit areas.
•All
cats are digitigrade - they walk on their toes with the
back part of their foot raised (which is yet another reason not
to declaw your cat).
•Cats
have five toes on their front paws and four on their back
paws. A polydactyl cat has more than the normal number
of toes.
•Both
wild cubs and domestic kittens are born with blue eyes. Color
changes usually occur in the 12th week.
•A
cat cannot see directly under its nose, which is why they
have a hard time finding food dropped on the floor.
•Cats
with white fur and skin on their faces and ears are prone
to sunburn.
•Both
domestic and wild cats that have dark markings on the fur
have those same dark markings on their skin. For
example, if a leopard were shaved, its skin would still
make it look as if it were a leopard.
•A
six-month-old cat is developmentally equivalent to a child
of approximately 10 to 14 years old.
•Cats
dream only during deep sleep.
•Abraham
Lincoln was the first president to bring a cat into the
White House.
•President
Rutherford B. Hayes had the first Siamese cat in the United
States.
•Selective
breeding has resulted in an extremely fat face among certain
varieties of cats.
•Colors
do not appear as vivid to cats as they do to humans. They rely more on movement when observing objects.
•According
to superstition, dreaming of a ginger cat promises luck
in money and business.
•In
Great Britain, seeing a white cat is considered bad luck.
•Studies
disagree as to whether or not cats can see the color red.
•Non-pedigree
cats generally have fewer genetic health problems than
pedigrees do.
•A
kitten first opens its eyes between 8 and 20 days of age. As
soon as a kitten's eyes are open, its sense of balance
is impeccable. A kitten's eyes change to their permanent
color at 12 weeks of age. Kittens' permanent teeth
grow in between the ages of 12 and 18 weeks.
•To
a cat's eyes, stationary objects appear slightly out of
focus.
•Like
humans, cats are either left- or right-handed.
•Abyssinians
are believed to be descended from the cats of ancient Egypt.
•Kittens
begin to run and play at approximately four weeks of age.
•Most
of a kitten's growth takes place during sleep.
•The
brain of a sleeping cat is as active as when the animal
is awake.
•No
matter the cat's age, a human companion will always be
seen as a mother figure.
•The
location of its eyes gives a cat binocular vision for better
depth perception.
•A
cat has approximately 40 more bones than a human does.
•Although
kittens play more than adults, most cats play throughout
their entire lives.
•There
are approximately 100 breeds of pedigreed domestic cats,
but the non-pedigreed "house cat" is by far the
most popular. Pedigree cats make up a
mere 10 percent of the cat population.
•A
stocky, compact body, such as that of the Persian, is termed "cobby."
•Colorpoint
patterns are affected by temperature - the cooler it is,
the darker the fur. Siamese kittens are white when
they leave the warm womb, and the extremities become their
darkest parts.
•In
cold weather, a cat's hair stands on end to stop a layer
of air that acts as insulation.
•Cats
often choose manmade physical borders as the boundaries
of their own territories.
•Even
as they sleep, cats monitor the environment for signs of
danger.
•Cat
are able to see in one-sixth of the light that humans require.
•To
a cat, being petted by a human is akin to being groomed
by the cat's own mother.
•Cats
have twice as many odor-receptor cells as humans do.
•A
cat on alert pushes its whiskers forward. The top
two rows of a cat's whiskers move independently of the
bottom two.
•Because
a cat lacks sweat glands, it sometimes licks itself to
cool down.
•A
feral cat is not a wild cat. It is a domestic cat
that has grown up in the wild.
•The
small patch of white fur on a cat's chest is known as a "locket." "Mascara
lines" describe the dark fur that extends from the
edges of a cat's eyes.
•A
kitten that is taken too early from its mother may be either
aggressive or timid later in life. If it is taken
before it is weaned it may never mature emotionally. It
may try to suck on objects, human fingers, or its own paw
for the rest of its life.
•The
hairless tip of a cat's nose is known as the "nose
leather."
•The
hair that grows out of a cat's ears is described as its "ear
furnishings."
•Jowls
are common in unneutered adult male cats.
•Tabbies
are marked on the forehead with an "M."
•A
cat with a "ruff" has fine, long hairs that frame
the face.
•Even
lions, tigers, and the other big cats engage in play in
order to sharpen their hunting skills.
•The
big cats are incapable of meowing, with the exception of
cougars and lynxes.
•Well-fed
cats make good mousers because they have more patience
than underfed cats do.
•A
group of cats is called a "clowder" or a "pounce."
•Most
cats have no eyelashes.
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