50 Facts About Cats Most People Don't Know

A cat plays blissfully with many cat toys
  1. Cats have 5 toes on their front paws and 4 toes on their back paws. This helps them climb more easily.
  2. A cat's nose print is unique just like a human's fingerprint. No two cat nose prints are alike.
  3. Cats have flexible bodies and teeth adapted for hunting small animals such as mice and rats. Their night vision helps them hunt in the dark.
  4. Cats have an inner eyelid called a nictitating membrane that keeps their eyes lubricated and protected.
  5. A cat's heart beats between 160-220 times per minute, almost twice as fast as a human heart.
  6. Cats spend 70% of the day sleeping and 15% of the day grooming themselves.
  7. The oldest cat on record lived to 38 years old. The average indoor cat lifespan is 13-17 years.
  8. Cats have 30 teeth compared to a human's 32 teeth. They have 4 canine teeth used to kill prey.
  9. A cat's brain is 90% similar in structure to a human brain, more similar than to a dog's brain.
  10. Cats require a high amount of protein in their diet compared to dogs and people.
  11. Cats have an extra organ called the Jacobson's organ in the roof of their mouth used to detect pheromones.
  12. A group of cats is called a clowder while kittens are called a kindle.
  13. Cats can jump up to 6 times their length in a single bound thanks to powerful muscles in their hind legs.
  14. The first cat show was held in London, England in 1871 and was organized by Harrison Weir.
  15. Isaac Newton is credited with building the first cat flap door for his house in 1665.
  16. A cat rubs against people to mark its territory by leaving their scent on them from glands around its mouth, cheeks, or tail area.
  17. Purring does not always indicate a cat is happy and content. Injured cats may purr too, likely as a healing mechanism.
  18. neutered cats live 62% longer than unneutered felines, owing to roaming and disease risk reduction with neutering.
  19. Cats bring "gifts" home to their owners like live animals or dead bugs because they think owners are useless hunters they must feed.
  20. Cats sweat through the pads on their paws helping them grip surfaces better. Their body temperature is also lower than humans at 102°F.
  21. Jaguars are the largest cats able to roar while lion, tiger, leopards, and snow leopards can't roar.
  22. Cats have an acute sense of taste with over 500 taste buds compared to a human's 9,000. They can't taste sweet things well.
  23. Cats meow to communicate with humans but they rarely meow to each other as adults. Kittens meow to their mother though.
  24. The world's largest cat measured 48.5 inches long named Himmy from Australia.
  25. Ancient Egypt first domesticated cats over 4,000 years ago to help protect stores of grain from rodents.
  26. Cats conserve energy by sleeping so much allowing for quick bursts of activity for hunting or escaping danger. Their prey drive can come out suddenly during play.
  27. Cats scratch objects to mark territory, relieve stress on their feet and nails, and stretch their bodies and flex their feet and claws. It is normal behavior.
  28. Black cats became associated with bad luck in Europe during the Dark Ages when witchcraft involved black cats as witches' "familiars used in rituals."
  29. Cats have an excellent sense of balance aided by their long tail and flexible spine allowing them to walk along fences or narrow edges easily.
  30. Relative to their size, cats have exceptional night vision senses allowing light entering their eyes 6 times better than humans in very little light situations.
  31. Cats have triple eyelids — a third inner eyelid they can close called a nictitating membrane for eye protection but still see partially under it.
  32. A cat never attains terminal velocity, which means they can always right themselves to land on their paws without getting hurt falling from heights.
  33. Cats have floating clavicle bones not attached completely to their skeletons allowing them to fit through very tight spaces.
  34. The largest cat breed is the Ragdoll cat weighing up to 30 lbs. The smallest breed is a Singapura under 4 lbs.
  35. Cats have true fur — coated with hair that grows from hair follicles in their skin used as insulation for warmth or coolness regulation easier than dogs have. This air trapping ability allows cats to swim well too compared to many other mammals.
  36. Cats are digitigrades walking on their toes like most mammals while dogs are plantigrades walking on the soles of their feet. Cats on their toes help them move quietly stalking prey.
  37. A house cat is faster than Usain Bolt's peak speed for short distances up to 30 mph owing to their light body weight and powerful muscles.
  38. Cats make over 90 different vocal sounds like meowing or purring to communicate needs and desires to humans or other cats. Dogs make only 10-15 sounds by comparison.
  39. Like lions, house cats also spend many hours quietly observing their territories and daily routines to learn the patterns of movements and behaviors of humans and smaller animals around them when not resting or playing. They seem to spend time "information gathering" daily.
  40. Cats have scent glands along their tail, forehead, mouth, cheeks, chin, near the ears and between their front paw pads leaving traces of scent when they rub, scratch objects, or other cats.
  41. Catnip is an herb that can make cats euphoric temporarily when they eat, lick, or sniff it because it mimics feline "happy" pheromones. Not all cats react to catnip though.
  42. Cats can fall from over 32 stories without dying providing they don't hit the ground at a hard angle according to a study, likely owing to their unusually flexible spine and lack of a rigid collarbone along with their unique righting air reflex ability to correct their body position mid-air to control the impact.
  43. Cats eat grass to help them cough up hairballs the grooming causes them to ingest from their fur. The fibrous grass also may provide supplemental nutrition in certain vitamins and minerals.
  44. Cats have nearly 200 million odor-sensitive cells in their nose epithelial tissue, far beyond a human's 5 million odor detecting cells.
  45. Cats should have a high protein diet not high in carbohydrates they can't digest well. Dry food has too many carbs so should be limited for cats but many enjoy the crunchy texture anyway so it's fine as a treat.
  46. It's rare or non existent but male calico and tortoiseshell cats can be born but they are nearly always sterile and infertile according to genetics owing to their extra X chromosome causing issues.
  47. Cats are crepuscular meaning they are most active at dawn and dusk for hunting opportunities when temperatures are optimal and visibility is still good for their sharp vision senses.
  48. The current world record for the largest cat is a Maine Coon named Stewie with the world's longest tail at 48.5 inches long from Reno, Nevada.
  49. Cats claws all curve downward enabling them to remain sharp as they are retracted into the paws when not being used for hunting, climbing, scratching or hooking prey.
  50. Istanbul, Turkey has the most stray cats with over 100,000 on city streets. Second is Rome Italy with 250,000 cats followed by 200,000 stray cats roaming Moscow, Russia.

Sources:

https://www.aspca.org/animal-homelessness/shelter-intake-and-surrender/pet-statistics
https://pets.webmd.com/cats/ss/slideshow-facts-about-cats
https://www.inverse.com/science/cats-use-quantum-physics
https://www.businessinsider.com/amazing-facts-about-cats-2013-10#cats-have-30-teeth-1 https://pets.thenest.com/cats-have-retractable-claws-12368.html https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/62104/41-purr-fect-facts-about-cats https://bestlifeonline.com/crazy-cat-facts/

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