- Cats have five toes on each front paw, but only four toes on each back paw.
- Cats have true fur, in that they have both an undercoat and an outer coat.
- Contrary to popular belief, the cat is a social animal. A pet cat will respond and answer to speech , and seems to enjoy human companionship.
- If left to her own devices, a female cat may have three to seven kittens every four months. This is why population control using neutering and spaying is so important.
- Kittens are born with both eyes and ears closed. When the eyes open, they are always blue at first. They change color over a period of months to the final eye color.
- When well treated, a cat can live twenty or more years.
- A cat cannot see directly under its nose. This is why the cat cannot seem to find tidbits on the floor.
- The gene in cats that causes the orange coat color is sexed linked, and is on the X sex chromosome. This gene may display orange or black. Thus, as female cat with two X chromosomes may have orange and black colors in its coat. A male, with only one X chromosome, can have only orange or black, not both. If a male cat is both orange and black it is ( besides being extremely rare ) sterile. To have both the orange and the black coat colors, the male cat must have all or part of both female X chromosomes. This unusual sex chromosome combination will render the male cat sterile.
- Cats have AB blood groups just like people.
- A form of AIDS exists in cats.
- Siamese coat color and crossed eyes may be caused by the same gene.
- The color of the points in Siamese cats is heat related. Cool areas are darker. Siamese kittens are born white because of the heat inside the mother’s uterus before birth. This heat keeps the kittens’ hair from darkening on the points.
- Though rare, cats can contract canine heart worms.
- People who are allergic to cats are actually allergic to cat saliva or to cat dander. If the resident cat is bathed regularly the allergic people tolerate it better. Studies now show that the allergen in cats is related to their scent glands. Cats have scent glands on their faces and at the base of their tails. Entire male cats generate the most scent. If this secretion from the scent glands is the allergen, allergic people should tolerate spayed female cats the best.
- Cats do not think that they are little people. They think that we are big cats. This influences their behavior in many ways.
- Cats are subject to gum disease and to dental caries. They should have their teeth cleaned by the vet or the cat dentist once a year.
- Cats, especially older cats, do get cancer. Many times this disease can be treated successfully.
- Most cats have no eyelashes.
- Many cats cannot properly digest cow’s milk. Milk and milk products give them diarrhea.
- Cats lack a true collarbone. Because of this lack, cats can generally squeeze their bodies through any space they can get their heads through. You may have seen a cat testing the size of an opening by careful measurement with the head.
- Cats with white fur and skin on their ears are very prone to sunburn. Frequent sunburns can lead to skin cancer. Many white cats need surgery to remove all or part of a cancerous ear. Preventive measures include sunscreen, or better, keeping the cat indoors.
- Cats can get tapeworms from eating fleas. These worms live inside the cat forever, or until they are removed with medication. They reproduce by shedding a link from the end of their long bodies. This link crawls out the cat’s anus, and sheds hundreds of eggs. These eggs are injested by flea larvae, and the cycles continues. Humans may get these tapeworms too, but only if they eat infected fleas. Cats with tapeworms should be dewormed by a veterinarian.
- Cats can get tapeworms from eating mice. If your cat catches a mouse it is best to take the prize away from it.
- There are tiny, parasitic worms that can live in a cat’s stomach. These worms cause frequent vomiting.
- Many people fear catching a protozoan disease, Toxoplasmosis, from cats. This disease can cause illness in the human, but more seriously, can cause birth defects in the unborn. Toxoplasmosis is a common disease, sometimes spread through the feces of cats. It is caused most often from eating raw or rare beef. Pregnant women and people with a depressed immune system should not touch the cat litter box. Other than that, there is no reason that these people have to avoid cats.
- Cats have a full inner-eyelid, or nictitating membrane. This inner-eyelid serves to help protect the eyes from dryness and damage. When the cat is ill, the inner-eyelid will frequently close partially, making it visible to the observer.
- You can tell a cat’s mood by looking into its eyes. A frightened or excited cat will have large, round pupils. An angry cat will have narrow pupils. The pupil size is related as much to the cat’s emotions as to the degree of light.
- A cat is pregnant for about 58-65 days. This is roughly two months.
- Tylenol and chocolate are both poisonous to cats.
- The ancestor of all domestic cats is the African Wild Cat which still exists today.
- In ancient Egypt, killing a cat was a crime punishable by death.
- In ancient Egypt, mummies were made of cats, and embalmed mice were placed with them in their tombs. In one ancient city, over 300,000 cat mummies were found.
- The first cat show was in 1871 at the Crystal Palace in London.
- Today there are about 100 distinct breeds of the domestic cat.
- Genetic mutation created the domestic cat which is tame from birth.
- Like birds, cats have a homing ability that uses its biological clock, the angle of the sun, and the Earth’s magnetic field. A cat taken far from its home can return to it. But if a cat’s owners move far from its home, the cat can’t find them.
- Hunting is not instinctive for cats. Kittens born to non-hunting mothers may never learn to hunt.
- Cats bury their feces to cover their trails from predators.
- Mother cats teach their kittens to use the litter box.
- Among other tasks, cats can be taught to use a toilet, come, sit, beg, eat with their paws, heel, jump through a hoop, play a piano, play dead, roll over, open a door, hide food in boxes, shake, and fetch.
- Cats sleep 16 to 18 hours per day. When cats are asleep, they are still alert to incoming stimuli. If you poke the tail of a sleeping cat, it will respond accordingly.
- In Great Britain, black cats are thought to bring good luck.
- 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.
- Cats can’t taste sweets.
- The chlorine in fresh tap water irritates sensitive parts of the cat’s nose. Let tap water sit for 24 hours before giving it to a cat.
- The average cat food meal is the equivalent to about five mice.
- The catgut formerly used as strings in tennis rackets and musical instruments does not come from cats. Catgut actually comes from sheep, hogs, and horses.
- A large majority of white cats with blue eyes are deaf. White cats with only one blue eye are deaf only in the ear closest to the blue eye. White cats with orange eyes do not have this disability.
- Neutering a cat extends its life span by two or three years.
- Ten human years translate to about 60 cat years. A one year old cat is similar in age to an 18 year old human.