Facts About Cats
Cats are fascinating critters and learning facts about cats can only make us better cat people. Our cats require
very little from us to thrive but when they bond with us, they give us lavish and abundant affection and purr
loudly when we are near. This devotion and responsiveness in affectionate cats has caused some people to
believe a cat is intuitive and knows when it is needed.
Experiences described by friends and family confirm what I discovered on my own; if someone is crying, feeling
depressed, lonely or ill, a loving and attentive cat can help us feel better. This is not a guess or an
overstatement on my part. Numerous pet studies indicate that pets in general reduce stress and
thus reduce symptoms or expressions associated with stress.
Interesting Facts About Cats
Some stay wild in thick forests while other very similar cats are tame in our homes. Wherever they live, healthy
cats are engaged and interested in their environment as well as being very interesting creatures. They possess
exquisite characteristics which give them an air of mystique. Some interesting facts about them I've
discovered:
- I heard that cats see six times better than human beings at night. Although I could find no support for
that claim, an article about cat vision says: "Cats give up the ability to see fine detail and rich colors in
exchange for the ability to see in the dark. The level of retina illumination is about five times higher in
your cat's eye than in yours. And all those rods pooling signals from minute amounts of light allow the cat
to pick up the faintest light source." They go on to say: "In summary, the cat's eye is specialized to see
in dim and changing light. To achieve this it sacrifices the ability to focus close up, detail vision, and
some color vision. It is the vision of a hunter active in both day and night, enabling it to detect movement
under any lighting conditions, to use binocular vision to gauge distance, and to aim correctly to catch
prey."
- House cats are all over the world. National Geographic News posted an article about the origin of house cats in 2007 where
it was written "It's plausible that the ancient [domestic cat] lineages were present in the wildcat
populations back as far as 70,000 or 100,000 years ago," said study co-author Stephen O'Brien of the
National Cancer Institute in Frederick, Maryland. The article goes on to say: "The cats just sort of
domesticated themselves. People today know that you can't keep a cat inside [without barriers], and 10,000
years ago in the Fertile Crescent you couldn't just shut the window."
- Wild cats, where domestic cat lines came from, have 36 variations. An article titled Wild Cat Species and Distribution states: "The 36 species of the wild cat family are
spread across most of the globe excluding the continents of Antarctica and Australia and some island
groups." There are many excellent resources about wild cats on their fine resource site.
- Just like dogs, cats can swim... but most of them are not all that interested in swimming. Wikipedia says: "The Turkish Van is a recognized cat breed that is known for its unusual
love of water and swimming. They were created from the cats native to the Lake Van area of Turkey."
- An eighteen-hour sleep is achievable by cats in hot areas; desert-like areas and parts of the tropics.
Animal Planet says: "Although the number of hours a cat spends sleeping can vary
considerably among individuals, felines spend an average of 16 hours per day in slumber land."
- Various breeds have unusual characteristics. One cat breed of particular interest is the Sphynx, which
inspired ancient Egyptians. It has no hair at all. Wikipedia says: "The contemporary breed of Sphynx (known also as the Canadian Sphynx,
distinct from the Russian Sphynx breeds - Peterbald, Don Sphynx) started in 1966, in Roncesvalles, Toronto
when a hairless kitten named Prune was born." More details about the eventual success of the breed can be
found at Barecats Sphynx where these Sphynx breeders say: "Two different sets of hairless kittens
were discovered in North America in the 1970's. These few provided the foundation that has made the Sphynx
breed what it is today."
- There are cats called Manx which originate from the Isle of Man which have evolved without tails. They just
have this so-called stub. Martin Clunes discovered in his series Islands of Britain that this trait is a deformity and debilitating to many Manx
cats. Indeed, a Manx breeder website says: "The Manx is a breed of cat with a naturally occurring
mutation of the spine. This mutation shortens the tail, resulting in a range of tail lengths from normal to
tailless. Many Manx have a small 'stub' of a tail, but Manx cats are best known as being entirely tailless
and it is the distinguishing characteristic of the breed."
- Who doesn't know the fastest running animal? The Cheetah is of course another member of the cat family.
Extreme Science has a page devoted to the fastest animal on land where they say: "These
cats can run 70mph/112kph." I have owned vehicles that couldn't run that fast!
- There are also those which make a living catching fish. The Smithsonian says: "The fishing cat’s general distribution is southwest India, Sri
Lanka, countries of the southern Himalayas, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand, Burma, China, and the Indonesian
islands of Java and Sumatra." The San Diego Zoo has an entire page about fishing cats too.
More fun facts about felines...
A cat has it's own laundry or body soap solution, and they can wash themselves in all areas except the one area
Moms always nag about... behind the ears.
Did you ever wonder why they hate baths so much? It's because their instinct tells them they will be cold after
they getting out of the water. They hate being cold.
Some breeds do enjoy water like the Bengal cat. They love water and will jump into fish tanks or even in the shower. If
you show them any little pool of water they love to play with it.
I mention here the cat's stare. Yeah, this is one I still am trying to figure out. A cat will position itself in
graceful stillness to focus on one spot, thing, or (shudder) you, and with an unblinking, unflinching pose will
penetrate whatever (or whomever) they stare at.
I have paid close attention to this particular behavior on many occasions, and can see they are not a bored
souls just watching the air molecules move about, but are more like an all-knowing being whose eyes, when you look
deeply into them, reveal ages of reincarnated mystique. What is it that makes them seem so mysterious? Maybe their
origin has something to do with it. The ancient Egyptians certainly were captivated by cat mystique.
Did you know that they scratch and claw stuff not just to sharpen their claws? They do it to leave their scent
for other animals too. In an abstract from the Canadian Journal of Zoology, 1994 article, "Methods of scent marking in the domestic cat",
Hilary N. Feldman writes: "Semi-feral domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus) were observed to use the same means
as their wild counterparts. Adult males performed most urine spray marking. Cats scratched tree bark, producing
a visual mark, and probably used trees both as markers and for claw sharpening."
I am really not all that knowledgeable about cats but I acknowledge a deep respect for and kind of metaphysical
fascination with them. So I strive to learn something new about their behavior and what makes them the loveable and
fascinating creatures they are and that makes up the curated information found on this site.
I've really enjoyed putting these facts about cats together and dispelling some incorrect ideas I had about
cats. If you have enjoyed it too please share it with your friends and family. Thanks.
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