Cat Facts
When it comes to keeping your cat or cats indoors, many people have mixed feelings; should they stay indoors or be let to roam outside? "Cats can't be happy without outdoor time." "My cat (s) will be fine outdoors." These are just some of the statements I've heard from various people who do genuinely love their cat or cats but just aren't aware of some of the risks they are taking by allowing their cat(s) outdoors to roam free. In light of such attitudes I've compiled some facts here that should be of interest to all cat fanciers, especially those who allow their cat(s) outdoors. These should also give you good reason to have your cat(s) spayed or neutered.

1. The average cat has 1-8 kittens per litter and can have 2-3 litters each year.
2. During her reproductive lifetime, a cat can have up to or more than 100 kittens.
3. 420,000 kittens can be produced in just 7 years from just a single pair of cats and their kittens.
4. The average age of an indoor cat is 15 years whereas, the average age of an outdoor cat is only 3-5 years.

Interesting Cat Facts and Trivia
The domestic cat (Felis Silvestris Catus)

Kingdom: Animalae
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae Genus: Felis
Species: F. silvestris
Subspecies: F.s. catus
Trinomial name: Felis silvestris catus
The history of the cat
It is debated whether the domestic cat evolved from the African wildcat (F. s. lybica), the Asian wildcat (F. s. ornate) and the European wildcat (F. s. silvestris).
Cats are known to have been fully domesticated in Egypt circa 4000 B.C., where they were highly regarded, which lead some to think it is likely domestic cats evolved from the African wildcat.
Cats have lived amongst humans for anywhere between 3500 to 8000 years, being used for pest control, hunting, and companionship. Domestic cats are still fully capable of living in the wild.


CAT WORLD RECORDS

Most expensive cat
A Californian Spangled Cat was bought for $24,000 (£15,925) in January 1987 and was the display cat from the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book of 1986.

Longest Cat
If Frieda Ireland’s pet cat Leo were a human being he would weigh about 100 kg (220 lb) and stretch over 2.5 m (8 feet) tall. As it is, the mammoth moggie is as long as an 8-year-old child and has paws so big they can fit into a size 2 child’s shoe!
Verismo’s Leonetti Reserve Red – otherwise known as Leo – is a Maine Coon cat owned by Frieda Ireland and Carroll Damron of Chicago. Normally a large breed, Maine Coons often weigh as much as 10 kg (22 lb), but Leo weighs in at a mog-nificent 15.8 kg (35 lb) and measures a record-breaking 121.9 cm (48 in) from nose to tail.

Cat With The Most Toes
The world record for the cat with most toes belongs to Jake who has 28 toes, with 7 on each paw. Jake lives in Bonfield, Ontario, Canada with his owners, Michelle and Paul Contant (Canada).

Longest cat whiskers
The record for the longest whisker on a cat measured 19 cm (7.5 in) and belongs to Missi, a Maine coon who lives with her owner, Kaija Kyllönen. The whiskers were measured in Finland on December 22, 2005

Largest Collection of Cat Memorabilia
Since 1979, Florence Groff of France has amassed a record-breaking collection of 11,717 cat-related items. Among the collection are 2,118 different cat figurines (48 of which are fridge magnets), 86 decorative plates, 60 pieces of crystalware, 140 metallic boxes, 9 lamps, 36 stuffed toys, 41 painted eggs, and 2,666 pussy postcards.


CAT TRIVIA

• A person who loves cats is called an ailurophile; cat haters are known as ailurophobes.
• Cats have been domesticated for only half as long as dogs
• Cats use their sense of smell as a means for identification
• Americans spend more money on cat food than they do on baby food.
• Some common houseplants poisonous to cats include: English Ivy, iris, mistletoe, philodendron, and yew.
• Tylenol and chocolate are both poisonous to cats.
• Many cats cannot properly digest cow's milk. Most adult cats are lactose intolerant.
• Cats cannot be adapted to an unsupplemented vegetarian diet.
• The average cat food meal is the equivalent to about five mice.
• 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.
• A group of kittens is called a "kindle" while a group of cats is called a "clowder”
• A male cat is called a “tom” and a female cat is called a “queen.”
• Cats can't taste sweets due to a faulty sweet receptor gene
• Cats are capable of about 100 different vocalizations, compared to about 10 for dogs
• Cats can get tapeworms from eating mice. If your cat catches a mouse it is best to take the prize away from it.
• 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.
• 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.
• Domestic cats can hunt and eat about 1,000 species, while many big cats eat fewer than 100.
• 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.
• 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.
• A cat has four rows of whiskers on each side.
• The word "cat" in various languages: French - chat; German - katze; Italian - gatto; Spanish/Portugese - gato; Yiddish - kats; Maltese - qattus; Swedish/Norwegian - katt; Dutch - kat; Icelandic - kottur; Greek - gata; Hindu - katas; Japanese - neko; Polish - kot.
• The catnip plant contains an oil called hepetalactone which does for cats what marijuana does to some people. Not all cats react to it those that do appear to enter a trancelike state. A positive reaction takes the form of the cat sniffing the catnip, then licking, biting, chewing it, rub & rolling on it repeatedly, purring, meowing & even leaping in the air.
• 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 can also express happiness by slightly closing its eyes or slowly blinking
• Mother cats teach their kittens to use the litter box.
• A Calico cat is usually female
• The Ragdoll is the largest domestic breed of cat. Males can range from 12 to 20 pounds while females are 10 to 15 pounds. Sinapuras on the other hand are the smallest breed.

Biological Trivia

• Cats purr around 26 cycles per second.
• The heart of a cat beats twice as fast as that of a human heart; about 110 to 140 beats per minute
• When well treated, a cat can live twenty or more years but the average life span of a domestic cat is 14 years.
• Cats have AB blood groups just like people.
• 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 be finicky eaters because the Jacobsons’ organ becomes sensitized to a particular pattern of food.
• Although scientist are not exactly sure how cats purr, it is currently believed that it is a result of rhythmic impulses to the cat's larynx
• Cats lack a true collarbone. Because of this lack, cats can generally squeeze their bodies through any space they can get their heads through.
• An adult cat has 30 teeth, 290 bones and 527 muscles!
• A cats eyes come in 3 shapes; round, slanted and almond
• A cat can jump up to seven times it height
• Your cat can run as fast as 30 mph over a short distance
• Cats have five toes on each front paw, but only four toes on each back paw.
• Cats are sometimes born with extra toes. This is called polydactyl. These toes will not harm the cat, but you should keep his claws trimmed just like any toe.
• Cats have true fur, in that they have both an undercoat and an outer coat.
• Newborn kittens have closed ear canals that don't begin to open for nine days. When the eyes open, they are always blue at first. They change color over a period of months to the final eye color.
• Most cats have no eyelashes.
• 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.
• Cats on average will sleep 16-18 hours a day
• A cat cannot see directly under its nose. This is why the cat cannot seem to find tidbits on the floor.
• 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.
• The cat's footpads absorb the shocks of the landing when the cat jumps.
• 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.
• A cat is pregnant for about 58-65 days.

Physiology

• Both humans and cats have identical regions in the brain responsible for emotion.
• A cat's brain is more similar to a man's brain than that of a dog.
• A cat has more bones than a human; humans have 206, but the cat has 230 (some cites list 245 bones, and state that bones may fuse together as the cat ages).
• Cats have 30 vertebrae--more than humans have.
• The cat's clavicle, or collarbone, does not connect with other bones but is buried in the muscles of the shoulder region. This lack of a functioning collarbone allows them to fit through any opening the size of their head.
• The cat has 500 skeletal muscles (humans have 650).
• Cats have 32 muscles that control the outer ear (compared to human's 6 muscles each). A cat can rotate its ears independently 180 degrees, and can turn in the direction of sound 10 times faster than those of the best watchdog.
• Cats' hearing is much more sensitive than humans and dogs.
• Cats' hearing stops at 65 khz (kilohertz); humans' hearing stops at 20 khz.
• A cat sees about 6 times better than a human at night, and needs 1/6 the amount of of light that a human does - it has a layer of extra reflecting cells which absorb light.
• Recent studies have shown that cats can see blue and green. There is disagreement as to whether they can see red.
• A cat's field of vision is about 185 degrees.
• Blue-eyed, pure white cats are frequently deaf.
• It may take as long as 2 weeks for a kitten to be able to hear well. Their eyes usually open between 7 and 10 days, but sometimes it happens in as little as 2 days.
• A cat has approximately 60 to 80 million olfactory cells (a human has between 5 and 20 million).
• Cats have a special scent organ located in the roof of their mouth, called the Jacobson's organ. It analyzes smells - and is the reason why you will sometimes see your cat "sneer" (called the flehmen response or flehming) when they encounter a strong odor.
• A cat has a total of 24 whiskers, 4 rows of whiskers on each side. The upper two rows can move independently of the bottom two rows. A cat uses its whiskers for measuring distances.
• Cats have 30 teeth (12 incisors, 10 premolars, 4 canines, and 4 molars), while dogs have 42. Kittens have baby teeth, which are replaced by permanent teeth around the age of 7 months.
• A cat's jaw has only up and down motion; it does not have any lateral, side to side motion, like dogs and humans. For this reason, don't rely on feeding dry food as a dental care program - cats need to have their teeth cleaned by a vet.
• When a cat drinks, its tongue - which has tiny barbs on it - scoops the liquid up backwards.
• Cats purr at the same frequency as an idling diesel engine, about 26 cycles per second.
• Domestic cats purr both when inhaling and when exhaling.
• The cat's front paw has 5 toes, but the back paws have 4. Some cats are born with as many as 7 front toes and extra back toes (polydactl).
• Cats step with both left legs, then both right legs when they walk or run.
• Cats walk on their toes.
• A domestic cat can sprint at about 31 miles per hour.
• The heaviest cat on record weighed 46 lbs.
• A kitten will typically weigh about 3 ounces at birth. The typical male housecat will weigh between 7 and 9 pounds, slightly less for female housecats.
• Cats take between 20-40 breaths per minute.
• Normal body temperature for a cat is 102 degrees F.
• A cat's normal pulse is 140-240 beats per minute, with an average of 195.
• Cat's urine glows under a black light.
• Cats lose almost as much fluid in the saliva while grooming themselves as they do through urination.
• Almost 10% of a cat's bones are in its tail, and the tail is used to maintain balance.
• The domestic cat is the only species able to hold its tail vertically while walking. You can also learn about your cat's present state of mind by observing the posture of his tail.
• If a cat is frightened, the hair stands up fairly evenly all over the body; when the cat threatens or is ready to attack, the hair stands up only in a narrow band along the spine and tail.

Historical Trivia

• Miacis, the primitive ancestor of cats, was a small, tree-living creature of the late Eocene period, some 45 to 50 million years ago.
• Phoenician cargo ships are thought to have brought the first domesticated cats to Europe in about 900 BC.
• The first true cats came into existence about 12 million years ago and were the Proailurus.
• The ancient Egyptians were the first to tame the cat (in about 3000 BC), and used them to control pests.
• Ancient Egyptian family members shaved their eyebrows in mourning when the family cat died.
• In Siam, the cat was so revered that one rode in a chariot at the head of a parade celebrating the new king.
• Cats have been domesticated for half as long as dogs have been.
• The Pilgrims were the first to introduce cats to North America.
• The first breeding pair of Siamese cats arrived in England in 1884.
• The first formal cat show was held in England in 1871; in America, in 1895.
• The Maine Coon cat is America's only natural breed of domestic feline. It is 4 to 5 times larger than the Singapura, the smallest breed of cat.
• There are approximately 100 breeds of cat.
• The life expectancy of cats has nearly doubled since 1930 - from 8 to 16 years.

Diet, Health, and Behaviour

• Cats respond most readily to names that end in an "ee" sound.
• The female cat reaches sexual maturity within 6 to 10 months; most veterinarians suggest spaying the female at 5 months, before her first heat period. The male cat usually reaches sexual maturity between 9 and 12 months.
• Female cats are "polyestrous," which means they may have many heat periods over the course of a year. A heat period lasts about 4 to 7 days if the female is bred; if she is not, the heat period lasts longer and recurs at regular intervals.
• A female cat will be pregnant for approximately 9 weeks - between 62 and 65 days from conception to delivery.
• Female felines are "superfecund," which means that each of the kittens in her litter can have a different father.
• Many cats love having their forehead gently stroked.
• If a cat is frightened, put your hand over its eyes and forehead, or let him bury his head in your armpit to help calm him.
• A cat will tremble or shiver when it is in extreme pain.
• Cats should not be fed tuna exclusively, as it lacks taurine, an essential nutrient required for good feline health.
• Purring does not always indicate that a cat is happy and healthy - some cats will purr loudly when they are terrified or in pain.
• Not every cat gets "high" from catnip. If the cat doesn't have a specific gene, it won't react (about 20% do not have the gene). Catnip is non-addictive.
• Cats must have fat in their diet because they can't produce it on their own.
• While many cats enjoy milk, it will give some cats diarrhea.
• A cat will spend nearly 30% of her life grooming herself.
• When a domestic cat goes after mice, about 1 pounce in 3 results in a catch.
• Mature cats with no health problems are in deep sleep 15 percent of their lives. They are in light sleep 50 percent of the time. That leaves just 35 percent awake time, or roughly 6-8 hours a day.
• Cats come back to full alertness from the sleep state faster than any other creature.
• A cat can jump 5 times as high as it is tall.
• Spaying a female before her first or second heat will greatly reduce the threat of mammary cancer and uterine disease. A cat does not need to have at least 1 litter to be healthy, nor will they "miss" motherhood. A tabby named "Dusty" gave birth to 420 documented kittens in her lifetime, while "Kitty" gave birth to 2 kittens at the age of 30, having given birth to a documented 218 kittens in her lifetime.
• Neutering a male cat will, in almost all cases, stop him from spraying (territorial marking), fighting with other males (at least over females), as well as lengthen his life and improve its quality.
• Declawing a cat is the same as cutting a human's fingers off at the knuckle. There are several alternatives to a complete declawing, including trimming or a less radical (though more involved) surgery to remove the claws. Instead, train your cat to use a scratching post.
• The average lifespan of an outdoor-only (feral and non-feral) is about 3 years; an indoor-only cat can live 16 years and longer. Some cats have been documented to have a longevity of 34 years.
• Cats with long, lean bodies are more likely to be outgoing, and more protective and vocal than those with a stocky build.
• A steady diet of dog food may cause blindness in your cat - it lacks taurine. Related page: Cat Munchies
• An estimated 50% of today's cat owners never take their cats to a veterinarian for health care. Too, because cats tend to keep their problems to themselves, many owners think their cat is perfectly healthy when actually they may be suffering from a life-threatening disease. Therefore, cats, on an average, are much sicker than dogs by the time they are brought to your veterinarian for treatment.
• Never give your cat aspirin unless specifically prescribed by your veterinarian; it can be fatal. Never ever give Tylenol to a cat. And be sure to keep anti-freeze away from all animals - it's sweet and enticing, but deadly poison. Related pages: Substances that are Toxic to Cats; Plants that are Toxic to Cats; First Aid Kit for your Cat; First Aid for Plant Poisoning
• Most cats adore sardines.

Cats and People

• It has been scientifically proven that stroking a cat can lower one's blood pressure.
• In 1987, cats overtook dogs as the number one pet in America (about 50 million cats resided in 24 million homes in 1986). About 37% of American homes today have at least one cat.
• If your cat snores or rolls over on his back to expose his belly, it means he trusts you.
• Cats respond better to women than to men, probably due to the fact that women's voices have a higher pitch.
• In an average year, cat owners in the United States spend over $2 billion on cat food.
• According to a Gallup poll, most American pet owners obtain their cats by adopting strays.
• When your cats rubs up against you, she is actually marking you as "hers" with her scent. If your cat pushes his face against your head, it is a sign of acceptance and affection.
• Contrary to popular belief, people are not allergic to cat fur, dander, saliva, or urine - they are allergic to "sebum," a fatty substance secreted by the cat's sebaceous glands. More interesting, someone who is allergic to one cat may not be allergic to another cat. Though there isn't (yet) a way of predicting which cat is more likely to cause allergic reactions, it has been proven that male cats shed much greater amounts of allergen than females. A neutered male, however, sheds much less than a non-neutered male.
• Cat bites are more likely to become infected than dog bites.
• Some notable people who disliked cats: Napoleon Bonaparte, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Hitler.
• Related page: A Few Famous Cat Lovers

Miscellaneous

• Six-toed kittens are so common in Boston and surrounding areas of Massachusetts that experts consider it an established mutation.
• The silks created by weavers in Baghdad were inspired by the beautiful and varied colors and markings of cat coats. These fabrics were called "tabby" by European traders.
• Cat families usually play best in even numbers. Cats and kittens should be acquired in pairs whenever possible.
• Cat litter was "invented" in 1947 when Edward Lowe asked his neighbor to try a dried, granulated clay used to sop up grease spills in factories. (In 1990, Mr. Lowe sold his business for $200 million.) Related page: Other Things You Can Do with Kitty Litter
• Cats lived with soldiers in trenches, where they killed mice during World War I.
• The cat appears to be the only domestic animal not mentioned in the Bible.
• Sir Isaac Newton invented the cat-flap door.

Interesting & Weird Cat Facts!
The following are some really weird cat facts that I've had stored in the back of my mind for 20 billion years (I'm 36 billion years old!).
1) Tylenol and chocolate are both poisonous to cats.
2) In ancient Egypt, killing a cat was a crime punishable by death.
3) Declawing a cat is equal to cutting off your finger at the knuckle.
4) In the Middle Ages, during the Festival of Saint John, cats were burned alive in town squares.
5) Using its biological clock, the angle of the sun, and the Earth's magnetic field, a cat can find where its home if it is lost. 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.
6) 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.
7) 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. (I had a cat named George who had one blue eye and one yellow eye, but fortunately, he was not deaf)
8) Lincoln loved cats and had 4 of them while he lived in the White House.
9) Napoleon was terrified of cats.
10) Cats spend 16-18 hours a day sleeping (of course, this is not totally true; cats leave their clones to sleep all day while they go off on secret business, but I've said too much already...)
11) Recent studies show that cats can see red, green, and blue.
12) A cat can jump 5 times as high as it is tall!
13) 37% of homes now have at least one cat!!! Woohoo!
14) Common plants that are poisonous to cats include: Iris, English Ivy, Philodendron, and Mistletoe!!

Odd Facts About Cats
Cats are never mentioned in the Bible. Cat's urine glows under a blacklight. Cats purr at 26 cycles per second, the same as an idling diesel engine. The maximum running speed of a cat is 31 mph. Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs only have about ten. A cat has 32 muscles in each ear. Most cats are left-handed. Studies show that if a cat falls off the seventh floor of a building it has about thirty percent less chance of surviving than a cat that falls off the twentieth floor. It supposedly takes about eight floors for the cat to realize what is occurring, relax and correct itself.