Cats purr about 26 cycles per second. That’s the same frequency as an idling diesel engine.
Egyptians shaved their eyebrows as a sign of mourning when they lost a beloved cat.
Cats spend 16-18 hours each day sleeping.
A cat can pivot its ears 180 degrees. They have 30 muscles in each ear, and use twelve or more muscles to control their ear movement.
Cat Tidbits
Cats can see up to 120 feet away. Their peripheral vision is about 285 degrees.
A cat cannot see directly under its nose. This is why the cat cannot seem to find tidbits on the floor.
Cats are partially color blind. They have the equivalency of human red/green color blindness.
Cats need 1/6th the amount of light that humans do to see.
A cat’s normal body temperature is 101.5 degrees.
Cat Tidbits
The average age for an indoor cat is 15 years, while the average age for an outdoor cat is only 3 to 5 years.
A single pair of cats and their kittens can produce as many as 420,000 kittens in just 7 years. An average cat has 1-8 kittens per litter, and 2-3 litters per year.
In ancient Egypt, killing a cat was a crime punishable by death. 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 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 captured, caged and burned, leaving the rats (with their disease causing parasites) to run free and multiply. Those people with cats were often those who survived.
The catgut formerly used as strings in tennis rackets and musical instruments does not come from cats. Catgut actually comes from sheep, hogs, and horses.
Cat Tidbits
Cats have five toes on each front paw, but only four toes on each back paw.
The Giraffe, Camel and Cat are the only animals that walk by moving both their left feet, then both their right feet, when walking.
A cat can jump even seven times as high as it is tall.
Cats lack a true collarbone. Because of this lack, cats can generally squeeze their bodies through any space they can get their heads through.
Many cats cannot properly digest cow’s milk. Milk and milk products give them diarrhea.
Retractable claws are a physical phenomenon that sets cats apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. In the cat family, only cheetahs cannot retract their claws.
The domestic cat is the only species able to hold its tail vertically while walking. All species of wild cats hold their tail horizontally or tucked between their legs while walking.
Almost 10% of a cat’s bones are in its tail, and the tail is used to maintain balance.
