- The proper name for a hairball is a bezoar
- The tufts of hair inside a cat’s ear are called ear furnishings
- Cats often like olives because they have a similar chemical compound to catnip
- Cats must have fat in their diet because they can’t produce it on their own.
- An unneutered male is called a tom, a neutered male is a gib, and a female cat can be a molly or a queen
- Marmalade (ginger) cats are usually male
- Domestic cats have vertical slit-shaped pupils, while big cats have round ones
- White cats with blue eyes are almost always hearing impaired
- The official name of head boops a.k.a headbutts is ‘bunting’
- Black cats are considered lucky in some cultures
- The biggest known cat litter was 19
- The colder the temperature, the rounder the cat
- Cat tongues are barbed to hold their prey and also to groom themselves
- Cats only unsheath their front claws when necessary because they have to contract their muscles to do so. The back claws do not retract.
- One pair of cats and their offspring can total well over 400,000 in seven years
- Most adult cats are lactose intolerant
- Cats prefer foods at body temperature (which is why they tend to turn their nose up at food from the fridge
- Cats like running water, hence enjoying drinking from taps
- Cats walk with two right and two left legs, like camel and giraffe
- Cat ears rotate 180°
- Cats have five toes on their front paws and four on their back paws
- Cats only meow to humans. Mother cats chirp at their kittens though.
- Cats are colour blind
- The purring frequency — 26 Hertz — apparently aides in tissue regeneration and can help stimulate the repair of weak and brittle bones
- A cat spends about 15% of its life in deep sleep, 50% in light sleep, and 30% in awake time.
- Cats attain full alertness faster than any other creature
- Whiskers can sense differences in air pressure, movement nearby, and also gauge whether a cat can fit into a particular space
- Cats ‘puff up’ in winter by trapping a layer of air in their coat to act as insulation. The tips of the hairs can sense temperature.
- Cats can move the front and rear parts of their bodies in different directions.
- The domestic cat is the only cat that can hold it’s tail vertically. All the others carry their tail between their legs.
- When cats drink water their tongue curls under and scoops water into their mouths
- Cats swallow their food whole and do not chew. They cannot move their jaw from side to side
- Cats can make 100 different sounds, dogs can make 10
- Cats respond best to names ending in the ‘ee’ sound (like my cats Bully, Paddy, Ziggy, Fluffy)
- Cats usually have 12 whiskers on each side of their face
- In 1963, the French send a cat (Félicette) into space. She survived
- Cats know about earthquakes about 15 minutes before humans
- Cats can run at speeds of 31 miles per hour/49km per hour for short distances
SaveSave