Some Interesting Facts About Cats

Hi, my name is Liliya. I’ve got a pet. It’s a cat Luna. I like playing with her and sometimes I feed her. I never empty her litter try and I never take her to the vet. Mum does it. My cat is lovely but she has some bad habits. She scratches the furniture and steals food from the table.

I should admit that cats are my favourite animals. I think they are amazing! I found some interesting facts about cats and I would like to share them with you.

• As kittens they have 26 “baby”, teeth. As adult cats they have 30 permanent teeth.
• House cats share 95.6% of their genetic makeup with tigers as well as the same behavior habits such as scent and urine marking, prey stalking and pouncing.
• It’s impressive that cats can jump 5 times their own height.
• A housecat can run to the speed of about 30 mph (miles per hour) over short distances. This means that a cat can outrun superstar runner Usain Bolt in a 200 meter dash!
• Have you ever wondered why your feline friend would often put their rear end by your face? This is actually a sign of trust and your cat signaling that they feel safe and secure around you.
• Cats can have a dominant front paw. Studies have shown that male cats tend to favor their left paw while female cats may have a dominant right paw.
• Most cats have 18 toes, 5 on their front paws and 4 on their back paws. However, some cats can be born with “extra toes”, a condition called polydactylism.
• The oldest cat to ever live was Creme Puff, who lived to be 38 years and 3 days old. Creme Puff lived from August 3, 1967 to August 2005 with her owner in Austin, Texas.
• Cats have a whopping 32 muscles in each of their ears, allowing them to swivel their ears to hone in on the exact source of a noise. Cats can rotate their ears to 180 degrees!
• Cats are nearsighted, but their peripheral vision and night vision are far superior compared to humans.
• The whiskers on a cat aren’t just cute, they serve a very important function in assisting cats with getting around, especially at night. Whiskers are embedded deep in the cat’s body and are connected to the cat’s sensitive muscular and nervous systems, acting as touch receptors (or a “kitty radar”). Whiskers allow a cat to detect and respond to changes in their surroundings. Cats have whiskers not only on their face, they also have a set of whiskers on the back of their front legs.
• The wealthiest cat in the world, Blackie, had a fortune of £7 million or $12.5 million in US dollars. When Blackie’s millionaire owner passed away, the owner refused to acknowledge any human family members in his will and instead gifted his massive fortune to his last surviving cat.
• The oldest known pet cat existed around 9,500 years ago. In 2004, a French archeologist found a grave of a cat in Cyprus dating back to 9,500 years ago, meaning that humans have owned cats as pets since then.
• A female cat can become pregnant as young as 4 – 6 months of age. Spaying and neutering your cat around this age is the best way to prevent any unexpected litters and help reduce cat overpopulation.
• Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, absolutely loved cats and would play with them for hours. He owned several cats during his time in the White House.
• A group of kittens are more commonly called a litter, they can also be known as a “kindle” of kittens.
• Cats usually sleep around an average of 15 hours per day. This means that a cat spends 70% of their lives sleeping.
• Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA may be known as the “Happiest Place on Earth” but it’s also home to a squad of feral cats that freely roam around the theme park. Feral cats have been living at the Disneyland Resort for decades and are actually used to help control the rodent population within the park. Mickey Mouse better watch out!
• In Ancient Egypt, members of a family would shave their eyebrows in mourning if their cat died. Cats were also sometimes mummified and placed in tombs with their owners.

If you know any some other interesting facts about cats, leave your comment.