April 18/2018

Feature:

…Interesting Facts about Cats (Part 2)

“51. 2 members of the cat family are distinct from all others: the clouded leopard & the cheetah. The clouded leopard does not roar like other big cats, nor does it groom or rest like small cats. The cheetah is unique because it is a running cat; all others are leaping cats. They are leaping cats because they slowly stalk their prey & then leap on it.

52. A cat lover is called an Ailurophilia (Greek: cat+lover).

53. In Japan, cats are thought to have the power to turn into super spirits when they die. This may be because according to the Buddhist religion, the body of the cat is the temporary resting place of very spiritual people.

54. Most cats had short hair until about 100 years ago, when it became fashionable to own cats & experiment with breeding.

55. One reason that kittens sleep so much is because a growth hormone is released only during sleep.

56. Cats have about 130,000 hairs per square inch (20,155 hairs per square centimeter).

57. The heaviest cat on record is Himmy, a Tabby from Queensland, Australia. He weighed nearly 47 lbs. (21 kg). He died at the age of 10.

58. The oldest cat on record was Crème Puff from Austin, Texas, who lived from 1967 to August 6, 2005, 3 days after her 38th birthday. A cat typically can live up to 20 years, which is equivalent to about 96 human years.

59. The lightest cat on record is a blue point Himalayan called Tinker Toy, who weighed 1 lb., 6 ounces (616 g). Tinker Toy was 2.75 inches (7 cm) tall & 7.5 inches (19 cm) long.

60. Approximately 1/3 of cat owners think their pets are able to read their minds.

61. The tiniest cat on record is Mr. Pebbles, a 2-year-old cat that weighed 3 lbs (1.3 k) & was 6.1 inches (15.5 cm) high.

62. A commemorative tower was built in Scotland for a cat named Towser, who caught nearly 30,000 mice in her lifetime.

63. In the 1750s, Europeans introduced cats into the Americas to control pests.

64. The first cat show was organized in 1871 in London. Cat shows later became a worldwide craze.

65. The first cartoon cat was Felix the Cat in 1919. In 1940, Tom & Jerry starred in the first theatrical cartoon ‘Puss Gets the Boot.’ In 1981 Andrew Lloyd Weber created the musical Cats, based on T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.

66. The normal body temperature of a cat is between 100.5 ° & 102.5 °F. A cat is sick if its temperature goes below 100 ° or above 103 °F.

67. A cat has 230 bones in its body. A human has 206. A cat has no collarbone, so it can fit through any opening the size of its head

68. Cats have 32 muscles that control the outer ear (humans have only 6). A cat can independently rotate its ears 180 degrees.

69. A cat’s nose pad is ridged with a unique pattern, just like the fingerprint of a human.

70. If they have ample water, cats can tolerate temperatures up to 133 °F.

71. Foods that should not be given to cats include onions, garlic, green tomatoes, raw potatoes, chocolate, grapes, & raisins. Though milk is not toxic, it can cause an upset stomach & gas. Tylenol & aspirin are extremely toxic to cats, as are many common houseplants. Feeding cats dog food or canned tuna that’s for human consumption can cause malnutrition.

72. A 2007 Gallup poll revealed that both men and women were equally likely to own a cat.

73. A cat’s heart beats nearly twice as fast as a human heart, at 110 to 140 beats a minute.

74. In just 7 years, a single pair of cats & their offspring could produce a staggering total of 420,000 kittens.

75. Relative to its body size, the clouded leopard has the biggest canines of all animals’ canines. Its dagger-like teeth can be as long as 1.8 inches (4.5 cm).

76. Cats spend nearly 1/3 of their waking hours cleaning themselves.

77. Grown cats have 30 teeth. Kittens have about 26 temporary teeth, which they lose when they are about 6 months old.

78. Cats don’t have sweat glands over their bodies like humans do. Instead, they sweat only through their paws.

79. A cat called Dusty has the known record for the most kittens. She had more than 420 kittens in her lifetime.

80. The largest cat breed is the Ragdoll. Male Ragdolls weigh between 12 & 20 lbs (5.4-9.0 k). Females weigh between 10 & 15 lbs.

81. Cats are extremely sensitive to vibrations. Cats are said to detect earthquake tremors 10 or 15 minutes before humans can.

82. In contrast to dogs, cats have not undergone major changes during their domestication process.

83. A female cat is called a queen or a molly.

84. In the 1930s, 2 Russian biologists discovered that color change in Siamese kittens depend on their body temperature. Siamese cats carry albino genes that work only when the body temperature is above 98° F. If these kittens are left in a very warm room, their points won’t darken & they will stay a creamy white.

85. There are up to 60 million feral cats in the United States alone.

86. The oldest cat to give birth was Kitty who, at the age of 30, gave birth to 2 kittens. During her life, she gave birth to 218 kittens.

87. The most traveled cat is Hamlet, who escaped from his carrier while on a flight. He hid for 7 weeks behind a panel on the airplane. By the time he was discovered, he had traveled nearly 373,000 miles (600,000 km).

88. In Holland’s embassy in Moscow, Russia, the staff noticed that the 2 Siamese cats kept meowing & clawing at the walls of the building. Their owners finally investigated, thinking they would find mice. Instead, they discovered microphones hidden by Russian spies. The cats heard the microphones when they turned on.

89. The most expensive cat was an Asian Leopard cat (ALC)-Domestic Shorthair (DSH) hybrid named Zeus. Zeus, who is 90% ALC & 10% DSH, has an asking price of £100,000 ($154,000).

90. The cat who holds the record for the longest non-fatal fall is Andy. He fell from the 16th floor of an apartment building (about 200 ft/.06 km) & survived.

91. Rome has more homeless cats per square mile than any other city in the world.

92. The richest cat is Blackie who was left £15 million by his owner, Ben Rea.

93. The claws on the cat’s back paws aren’t as sharp as the claws on the front paws because the claws in the back don’t retract &, consequently, become worn.”

Karin Lehnardt

August 19/2016

factretriever.com/cat-facts

Cute Cat Pic

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