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Did you know that the first feline racetrack opened in 1936 in Dorset,
England? However cats chasing electric mice failed to attract large audiences
and the last track closed in 1949. Much more popular are today's agility
contests, better suited to feline skills.
Ailurophilia is the love of cats. The term comes from Herodotus, the Greek
historian, who called the cats he found in Egypt "ailuroi" - tail wavers.
Cats whose coats are red (orange), cream or calico can develop freckles
as they age. The spots can appear on the eyelids, mouth, nose and paw pads -
all areas of exposed skin.
Cats have five toes on the forefeet
and four on the hind feet. The fifth toe is set high on the forefoot and does
not touch the ground during walking, but it is used in grooming and capturing
prey.
Cats are almost entirely
covered with hair. One of the few bare areas is the end of the nose, which
is known as leather. Kept damp by nasal secretions, the leather is
highly sensitive to touch. A cat's version of kissing a human or another
cat, is to touch her nose leather to the other nose. It is the only part of
the cat's skin that has no sweat glands.
Cat's whiskers known as vibrissae are controlled by various facial
muscles which can point the whiskers out or pull them backwards toward the
head when eating or fighting! The long upper-lip whiskers
called mystacials and the muscles under them can move the bottom and top
rows of hairs independently. The short whiskers on the lower jaw are called
mandiculars. The whiskers on the cheeks are called genals, and the
antennae-like whiskers above the eyes are known as superciliaries.
Each front leg has backward-pointing hairs that serve the same function
as the head whiskers. All are supersensitive touch receptors.
In animal fables, the beasts usually had no proper names, and so in
Aesop's Fables they are referred to as, "the cat," "the fox," "the mouse" etc.
Occasionally, the cat in the fable did have a name...Tibert (just as the fox
was sometimes called Reynard). Exactly why and how Tibert cane to be the
stereotypical name for a cat is unknown. The name Tibert is probably the source
of the the name Tiddles, a common name for cats in Britain.
A kitten in the womb acquires whiskers before acquiring body hair. This
is appropriate because when she is born, her eyes are shut and her ears are
practically deaf at first, so the fully functioning whiskers are one of the
chief sources of information about the world around her.
A cat can't see directly under her nose-that's why they have trouble finding
treats on the floor.
The ancient Egyptians worshipped the cat-headed goddess Bastet, who symbolized
fertility, motherliness, and feminine grace. They treated their feline
companions with great affection and respect, making it a capital offense to kill
one. when cats died, they were laid to rest with ceremony. Archaeologists have
unearthed thousand of mummies, accompanied by mummified mice, presumably to keep
the cats snacking on their way to the afterlife.
In relation to body size, cats have the largest eyes of
any mammal.
Light from light bulbs or the TV can make a cat shed fur.
Light makes cats shed and that is why they tend to shed more in summer than in
winter.
A cat's peripheral vision is about 285
degrees.
Cats come in 3 body types:
Cobby - compact body, deep chest, long legs, broad head with large round eyes...Muscular - sturdy body; round, full-cheeked head...
and
Foreign - slender body, long legs, long tail, wedge-shaped head with tall ears
and slanting eyes
Feeding a cat dog food can cause
blindness. Dog food lacks taurine, a nutrient essential for cat health. Taurine
keeps their hearts healthy and their eyesight sharp.
Cats have three eyelids. The third eyelid is called the "haw" or nictating
membrane. It's the tiny triangle of pink tissue that you see in the corner of
the eye. When your cat is ill, you may see a good amount of the haw and it's
time to see the vet.
Cats almost never meow at another cat.
They use this sound to communicate with humans.
Sir Isaac
Newton invented the cat door.
Scratching is an innate feline behavior. It keeps their claws in shape by
removing the old outer husk of the nail and it just feels good; just as a
manicure feels good to humans. It does however, also serve as a territorial
marker. The sebaceous glands in a cats' paws, leave an odor at the scratched
area. Try trimming your cats nails weekly and provide a scratching post that is
at least 3 feet tall because they like to stretch during this behavior.
When a cat spots prey, her excitement is told in a swishing
tail and chattering teeth! The manner in which she is
chomping is the same killing bite she would use on prey. In
effect, she is carrying out the attack despite her inability
to reach her target.
Cats make 3 general types of sounds: murmurs, vowels and
strained high-intensity sounds...and at least 16 distinct
vocalizations and maybe more! The chatter, which
falls into the category of strained high-intensity sounds,
may come from the mother cat's training. She uses much the
same sound to alert her kittens to potential prey.
Kitty Litter was invented in
1947 when delivery man, Edward Lowe, who was out of sand,
suggested to a cat owner that she use a grease and oil
absorbent instead.
A cat generally has 24 whiskers. There are 12 on each side. They are divided
into upper and lower rows which move independently of each other. They are used
to detect objects in low light for the ability to slip through narrow openings.
Most orange cats are male and a vast majority of calicos are female.
In 1950, 4 month old kitten from Geneva, Switzerland, followed a group of
climbers to the top of the Matterhorn.
Some cats groom excessively.
Sometimes these cats are bored, perhaps because they receive little human or
feline interaction. These cats suck obsessively at their fur, some even going
so far as to mutilate themselves. Often too, the cause can be allergies. On
the other hand, a sick cat may groom less frequently or stop grooming
altogether. Consult your veterinarian with any concerns you may have .
A cat born with one blue eye is
usually deaf in the ear closest to the blue eye.
Cats with six toes are so common in Boston
and surrounding areas that they are considered an established mutation. They're
also common in Key West, where they're known as
Hemingway cats .
Feline ears are incredibly sensitive. They are able to detect
sounds as high as 65 kilohertz, and ability some believe may be even greater
than that of the dog. Not surprisingly, a cat's hearing is far better than a
human's. The highly mobile pinna, or ear flap, permits the cat to move her
ears in the direction of a sound, allowing her to determine the source of a
sound with a high degree of accuracy
A cat walks by moving both left
feet and then both right feet. This promotes speed, agility and silence. The
only other animals that walk this way are giraffes and camels.
The first official cat show in Great Britain was held at the
Crystal Palace in 1871.
The first cat show in the
United States was held in 1895 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The domestic cat is the only
type of cat that can hold its tail upright when walking. Wild cats tuck their
tails between their legs or hold them horizontally when walking.
It has been scientifically proven that stroking a cat can lower one's
blood pressure!
Cat's sense of smell is 14 times stronger than a human's!
Besides their
noses, cats can smell with something called the "Jacobson's organ", located in
the upper surface of their mouths. This is what cats are using when they
scrunch up their eyes and open their mouths after sniffing something intently!
Cats have 244 bones in their bodies! (About 40 more than humans!) and
2 muscles in each ear!
Cats only sweat
from the pads of their paws.
Cats aren't hunters by nature; their mothers teach them to hunt!
Female cats can reach adulthood in as little as five months, but male
cats can take nine months to a year to reach adulthood. Most breeds of cats
have reached their full growth by two years!
To drink, a cat laps liquid from the underside of its tongue, rather
than the top!
Cats are said to see color. Studies have been able to prove that cats
can distinguish between red and green; red and blue; red and gray; green and
blue; green and gray; blue and gray; yellow and blue, and yellow and gray!
Whiskers tell a cat whether the space they are entering is big enough
for it!
The oldest cat on record was a female tabby that lived to be 34 years
old!
Cats have about 100 different vocalization sounds.
In comparison, dogs have about 10! Cats
respond most readily to names that end in an "ee" sound!
The Maine
Coon cat is America's only "natural" breed of domestic feline. It is FOUR
TIMES larger than the Singapura (the smallest breed of cat)!
In relation to their body size, cats have the largest eyes of any
mammal!
A domestic cat can sprint at about 31 miles per hour!
The heaviest cat
on record weighed 46.8 pounds!
Cats step with both left legs, then both right legs when they walk or
run!
The cat's front paws have 5 toes, but the back paws have 4. Some cats
are born with as many as 7 front toes and even extra back toes (called
polydactyl)!
Cats walk on their toes!
The two most popular names given to feline citizens of the United States were "Tiger" and "Samantha"!
Cat people seem to use more imagination and creativity when choosing a
name for their pet than do dog fanciers!
People who like cats are called ailurophiles . This word comes from
the ancient Greek language.
If a cat is frightened, the hair stands up fairly evenly all over the
body; when the cat threatens or is ready to attack, the hair stands up only in
a narrow band along the spine and tail!
Cat families usually play best in even numbers. Cats and kittens
should be acquired in pairs whenever possible!
Cats must have fat
in their diet, because they can't produce it on their own!
Cat's urine glows under a black light!
If a cat is frightened, put your hand over its eyes and forehead, or
let him bury his head in your armpit to help calm him!
Cats with long,
lean bodies are more likely to be outgoing, and more protective and vocal than
those with a stocky build!
A cat can jump FIVE
TIMES as high as it is tall!
Cats lose almost as much fluid in the saliva while grooming themselves
as they do through urination.
Within two to three days of
birth, each kitten in a litter chooses his own teat, and from then on,
generally only takes a nip from this.
A cat will spend nearly 30% of her life grooming herself!
Cats have one thing to lord over the
"King of Beasts" and other more formidable felines. A cat can purr, but the lion
can't, nor can any big feline. The tiger can rumble a friendly greeting but only
on the exhale. No big cat can get his motor running the way household cats can,
purring constantly as effortlessly as breathing, both in and out.
The largest litter
of kittens on record was 19!!!
Cats can purr to
express pain or fear in addition to expressing pleasure. Female cats often
purr when they are in labor, as well as when they are nursing their kittens!
A cat's brain is
more similar to a man's brain than that of a dog!
Both humans and cats have identical regions in the brain responsible
for emotion!
Cats
respond better to women than to men, probably due to the fact that women's
voices have a higher pitch!
If your cat snores,
or rolls over on his back to expose his belly, it means he trusts you!
The domestic cat is the only species able to
hold its tail vertically while walking. Wild cats hold their tail
horizontally, or tucked between their legs while walking!
Tigers have striped skin, not just
striped fur.
Chinese
parents used to embroider a cat's head on the shoes of a baby learning to
walk, to make it surefooted.
People love the sound of a cat
purring but the soothing sound is not very well understood. You probably think a
purring cat is a happy cat, but this explanation doesn't cover all the bases.
Cats purr not only when they are happy but also when they are stressed - for
instance, at the vet's office.
Think of purring as the cat's equivalent of our smile, indicating no hostile
intent.
HOW cats purr has long been a mystery. In a Breton folktale, cats are said to
have developed the purr after spinning ten thousand skeins of linen thread to
help a princess break an enchantment.
It's easy to understand how a cat's purr could be compared to the whir of a
spinning wheel.
Today however, the mystery has been solved. The sound a cat makes is caused by
vibrating muscles surrounding the larynx (windpipe). Researchers have also
discovered where the purr originates: in the brain! Stimulation of a specific
area in the cat's brain causes cats to begin purring.
The purr is one of the first sounds newborn kittens make as they snuggle up to
their mother for suckling and warmth.
As they mature, their purr becomes more complex. While young cats tend to purr
in monotone, adults are capable of reaching 2-3 notes and sometimes as many as
five.
Purring can go on for hours
without a break, even while a cat is eating or sleeping. In fact, it has been
suggested that the purr is nothing more than a form of snore. Often, purring
cats drool as well. The combination of saliva, purring and paw kneading in an
adult cat may indicate a temporary regression to feeding time in kittenhood. See
also
Cat Care
It was once believed that the
Big Cats did not purr, but experts have discovered that wild members of the felis genus, which includes includes bobcats, cougars, and lynxes, can purr like
domestic cats. Members of the genus panthera - lions, tigers, leopards,
panthers, and jaguars - can purr, but only with outward breaths, unlike domestic
cats, who can purr while inhaling and exhaling. The difference may be a matter
of throat construction.
Abraham Lincoln loved
cats. He had four of them while he lived in the White House.
The term, "cat's pajamas" comes
from an English tailor of the late seventeen and early eighteen hundreds
who made fine silk pajamas for royalty and other rich patrons. His name
was E. B. Katz.
If domestic cats were left to breed on their own, without human interference,
there would be very few long haired cats and very few solid colored ones.
Genetically, the normal cat would be a tabby with a mostly grayish-brown coat
and familiar striping. That is also the typical coat of many of the world's
smaller wild cats. Most of the larger cats, such as leopards and tigers, have
spots or stripes to help conceal them when they stalk prey. Even solid colored
cats, such as lions and cougars, have coats of muted colors that serve as
camouflage. For a predator in the wild, a grey-brown coat with irregular stripes
is the perfect camouflage, so the grey-brown tabby is, because of the coat, the
perfect stalking machine!
Cats eyes reflect light. The reflective layer called the tapetum within a cat's eye intensifies any light coming in. In a low light
situation, a cat's pupils are dilated enormously and that is when you feel as if
you are looking into 2 small mirrors when you look into her eyes.
Sometimes humans seem to have eyes that are more reflective than normal and we
often say that such a person has cat eyes.
There
are three types of cat hair. The longest are the guard hairs which form the
topcoat, along with the shorter bristly awn hairs.
Underneath these is the undercoat, which insulates and is
composed of short, soft down hairs. Some hot climate breeds such as the Siamese, lack down hair,
while cold climate breeds, such as the Maine Coon, have thicker down. A cat's skin, like human skin, has erector muscles that raise or
lower the hairs in response to emotion or temperature.
The predator instinct is inborn, but, kittens also learn hunting by watching
their mothers. Most kittens can catch and kill a mouse at the age of 2 months. A
minority of cats are afraid to hunt, and those cats are also fearful of humans.
A cat who doesn't like to hunt can make a poor pet. There is an old axiom...a
good hunter is also a warm companion.
Many white cats are deaf, particularly cats with blue eyes. This
is caused by genetics and there is no known way to prevent it...yet!
There are plenty of perfectly contented deaf cats in the world. Their owners
just need to be a little extra watchful.
Cat's possess one more eyelid than we do. This is called
the haw eyelid (or nictitating membrane) The haw shuts horizontally instead of vertically. This
is an extra layer of protection for her eyes.
A cats field of
vision is 185 degrees.
Light colored cats are more likely to develop an auto immune
disease.
In the past, tabby cat meant any house cat, even though the name was used more
often to refer to a female, as in toms and tabbies. Later, it came to mean a cat
whose coat showed bands or stripes of a darker color than the base color. There
is really not a breed called "Tabby" but the word is used among cat fanciers to
refer to several types of coat patterns. The Classic Tabby has clearly defined
bands on the body. There are bars of the darker color on the face and there is a
defined M-shape of the darker color on the cat's forehead. The Mackerel Tabby is
similar to the Classic Tabby except that the stripes are narrower. The M can be
seen on the forehead. The descriptive word, mackerel comes from the mackerel
fish. Most people find "Tabbies" very sweet and affectionate. They make
wonderful pets.
Most cats have four types of hair in their
coat:
1. Down - short, fluffy with great insulating properties
2. Awn - mid-length hair
3. Guard - longer, straighter hairs and
4. Vibrissae - specialized hairs called whiskers (most cats have
24 whiskers, divided equally on opposite sides of the face and
arranged in four rows. They also have whiskers on their forelegs
that help with pat-pat-patting objects.)
There are exceptions to the four-hair model. For example, the
Cornish Rex has no guard hairs, and the down and awn hairs are
crimped, as are the whiskers. The Persian has a long coat where
even the down hairs are long, making the coat prone to matting.
And the unique hairless Sphynx typically has only a bit of fur on
the extremities, with the rest of the body covered in peach-fuzz.
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