Cat Facts!
Little known facts about cats!!
- Cats have an average of 24 whiskers, arranged in four horizontal rows on each side.
- To prevent your cat from tearing a litterbox liner with its claws, place a few sheets of newspaper or a flattened brown paper bag at the bottom of the box, between the liner and the litter.
- To minimize litter scatter, place a large towel or sheet of newspaper under the litter box, or set the box in the bathtub or shower stall.
- To keep cats away from previously soiled carpet or from other forbidden zones, cover the area with clear plastic runner, placed upside down with the bumpy grippers exposed.
- Of all the species of cats, the domestic cat is the only species able to hold its tail vertically while walking. All species of wild cats hold their talk horizontally or tucked between their legs while walking.
- Claw clipping is best attempted when your cat is sleepy. Clip only the sharp white nail tips, avoiding the pink "quick".
- The American Cat Association is the oldest cat registry in the United States. It was established in 1904.
- Cat families usually play best in even numbers. Cats and kittens should be aquired in pairs whenever possible.
- When tackling a litter-box behavior problem, remember that basics are best. Start with unscented, plain clay litter and a large uncovered litter box. Set the box in a quiet area.
- The spots on a tabby cat's belly are called buttons.
- Most cats have 18 toes. Cats with extra toes are called polydactyl cats.
- Put a ping-pong ball inside a shoe box. Cut holes in the sides, big enough for your cat to put her arm through, but not as big as the ball. Your cat will have hours of fun trying to get the ball out.
- Baking chocolate is the most dangerous chocolate to your cat.
- You check your cats pulse on the inside of the back thigh, where the leg joins to the body. Normal for cats: 110-170 beats per minute.
- To kill fleas without chemicals, try this: Plug in a night light and put a wide glass pan partly filled with water underneath. Since fleas are attracted to the light,they'll jump toward the light and drown in the water!
- Jaguars are the only big cats that don't roar.
- Domestic cats purr when breathing in as well as out-tigers only purr when breathing out.
- A cats field of vision is about 185 degrees.
- According to a Gallop pole, pet owners in the United States primarily obtain their cats by adopting strays, and the average American Cat is a mixed-breed- or " alley cat"- named "Baby".
- Cats have individual preferences for scratching surfaces and angles. Some are horizontal scratchers while others exercise their claws vertically.
- If a normally fastidious cat stops using the litter box, call the vet as soon as possible.
- For several years the Maine Coone Cat has been gaining popularity and in 1992, it passed the Siamese to become the second most frequently registered breed in the Cat Fanciers Association. As recently as the 1970's, one cat registry had declared the breed extinct.
- The Maine Coone is the only native American long haired breed and comes in a variety of colors and patterns. Perhaps the best known color and pattern combinations are the brown classic tabby and the brown mackerel tabby, but more breeders are showning solids, tortiseshells, smokes and parti-colors.
- Tabby cats are thought to get their name from Attab, a district in Baghdad, now the capital of Iraq.
- Although a cats sight has poorly developed color, it can see far better in the dark due to the crystalline layer in the retina that enables it to absorb 50% more light than humans.
- Ancient Egyptians preserved the bodies of sacred animals, such as cats.
- To kill a cat in ancient Egypt was believed to bring immediate death. To Egyptians cats were sacred to Bast, the cat headed goddess of pleasure, and cat funerals were so numerous that animal cemetaries are still used by modern Egyptians as a source of rich soil.
- Retractable claws are a physical phenomenon that sets cats apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. I n the cat family, only cheetahs cannot retract their claws.
- A typical cat with hairballs vomits one to three times a week, eliminating a tubular shaped mat of hair.
- Cats sleep an average of 18 hours a day.
