Interesting Cat Facts
| Published: 11th March 2007 18:35 |
The mother's purr acts as a homing device, announcing to her babies that nursing time has arrived. Kittens begin to purr in return at about one week of age - perhaps as a gesture of gratitude, or maybe as a request for milk - and continue to purr for the rest of their lives.
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After cats eat, they always immediately bathe themselves. This is because their instinct tells them to get the food scent off them so that predators will not smell the food and come after them.
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When cats are happy or pleased, they sqeeze their eyes shut.
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How a cat 'speaks' is quiet remarkable. They don't speak phrases to express affection, outrage, hunger, loneliness, boredom, confusion, happiness and fear in their natural frequency range, which would be inaudible to humans, but at a much lower frequency that humans can hear. Some researchers believe they may have learned we can't hear them in their natural range and have adapted so they can relate to us on our terms.
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The ancient Egyptians worshipped cats as Gods. Any cat owner can tell you that cats have never gotten over it!
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The reason for the lack of mouse-flavored cat food is due to the fact that the test subjects (cats, naturally!) turned up their noses at the formula!
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The cat uses it's tail like a tight-rope walker uses a long pole - as a counterweight to aid balance. Even though the tail is useful for this, it is also used for communication purposes. Cats born without tails do manage, though. There are other methods of balancing
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Did you know that cats can listen for prey by rotating their ears independently? Or that their whiskers can detect movements 2,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair? Or that house cats, unlike other domesticated animals, have changed very little over the past 4,000 years?
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The infamous Black Plague in Europe was due in part to the fact that people believed those with cats were witches. So all the cats were rounded up, caged and burned, leaving the rats (with their disease causing parasites) to run free and multiply. Those harbouring cats were often those who survived.
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Cats see so well in the dark because their eyes actually REFLECT light. Light goes in their eyes, and is reflected back out; their eyes actually work as built-in flashlights.
25% of cat owners blow dry the cat's hair after giving it a bath.
A fall of 30 feet can be survived my most cats.
A house cat spends 70% of its time sleeping.
A leopard's vision is so good it can practically see in the dark.
Cheetahs are the fastest land animal and can reach speeds up to 72mph.
In 1888, an Egyptian peasant discovered an estimated three hundred thousand mummified cats in Beni Hassan, Egypt. Of the cats that were not stolen once, the find was made public, the remaining mummified cats were shipped to Great Britain to be used as agricultural fertilizer.
In a lifetime, the average house cat spends approximately 10,950 hours purring.
In the 1800's cats were used to deliver mail. In 1879, in Belgium 37 cats were used to deliver mail to villages, however they found that the cats were not disciplined enough to do this.
In their lifetime, house cats spend approximately 10,950 hours purring
Just like fingerprints, every cats nose pad is different.
One out of four American households own a cat.
Only 5 to 10 percent of cheetah cubs make it to adulthood.
Panthers are known as black leopards, as they are the same species of leopard. If looked at closely, black spots can be seen on a panther.
Pound for pound, leopards are said to be seven times stronger than humans.
The majority of cats do not have any eyelashes.
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