The loudness is 3 times more sensitive in a cat than in a human.
PET Consideration: Domestic cats have been part of the family for as long as people can remember and are now common household animals. But if you think you know your cat like yourself, we assure you: there are always surprising facts about cats to reveal whenever they want to take you by surprise. For a layman, a domestic cat is, perhaps, one of the most intimate and familiar pets worldwide. As readers, you are welcome to familiarize yourself with interesting and peculiar facts about these animals, which will help you see them from a different perspective.
Cats and dogs had a common ancestor
Scientists believe that cats and dogs evolved from a single ancestor – small carnivores from the Miacidae family, which lived mainly in trees approximately 66 million years ago.
The first cats appeared before humans.
The ancestors of all modern cats formed in the Miocene epoch, which ended more than 5 million years ago, and upright humans appeared almost 3 million years later.
The path to the domestication of cats took 120 thousand years
Approximately this amount of time passed from the moment of separation of the subspecies of the steppe cat, from which all domestic cats originated, to the beginning of their life together with humans.
Cats began to live with people 10 thousand years ago
It was then that the rapid development of agriculture in the territories of the countries of the modern Middle East encouraged people and cats to live together. Pets helped people save the harvest from numerous rodents.
Ancient Egypt – the cradle of cat civilization
Probably, nowhere were cats treated better than in this country. In Egypt, they were considered sacred animals that were protected. Egyptians deified cats themselves as the goddess known by the name of Bastet. If a pet died, owners of the deceased shaved their eyebrows as a sign of grieving. And for the rough treatment, murder, and smuggling of cats to other countries, the guilty are waiting for severe punishment, including the death penalty.
The Middle Ages are the worst time in cat history
These animals were treated quite differently in Medieval Europe. At that time, cats were considered the spawn of the devil and accomplices of the “dark” forces. Black cats were especially “unlucky” – it was believed that witches kept such cats to help with magical rituals. For this, the unfortunate pets were often burned at the stake along with their owners.
The fight against cats in the Middle Ages led to epidemics
The merciless destruction of domestic cats at that time became one of the sources of the terrible plague epidemics that killed about half the population of Europe. The carriers of this disease were mainly rodents infected with plague fleas. But there was simply no one to hunt them.
Cats are the most popular pets on Earth
Lucky for us, religious bigotry is out, and cats are in. Researchers believe that there are at least 600 million domestic cats in the world nowadays. Australia is the leader in this regard: for ten people, there are nine pets.
There are about 200 breeds of domestic cats in the world
However, one can easily count them on the fingers, and, probably, only today one can enumerate more than 10-15 of them. At the same time, there are only about 40 “natural” breeds; the rest are bred by crossing, sometimes even with wild relatives.
Cats are extremely prolific
Studies showed that from one pair of cats, its offspring can give rise to more than 400,000 new cats within seven years.
Record offspring
A cat is known to deliver 1 to 6 kittens on average for each litter. Joy reported the highest yielding of 18 kittens, of which there were 15 acceptable offspring. And the most prolific cat is considered to be a spotted tabby named Dusty, who lives in Texas, USA. The owners calculated that she gave birth to more than 400 kittens in her entire life. Moreover, the last time she “became a mother” was already at the age of 19.
Cats can cause diseases
And in fact, it’s not even about being allergic to cat hair. There are two officially established mental illnesses: ailurophilia, which is a type of OCD or obsessive-compulsive disorder in which the patient is obsessed with cats, and ailurophobia, which is an irrational fear of domestic cats.
It’s not just humans who can suffer from cat allergies
However, they may also be allergic to “people”, or, in other words, to things that belongs to these people. To illustrate this, cigarette smoke fumes, fragrances, and even pet dander will make pets allergic.
There are also long-lived cats among cats
The life expectancy of cats is 12-15 years when fed and cared for appropriately. Pets can sometimes live to be 20 or even more years of their lives. But there are absolute record holders. For example, a cat named Crimm Puff from the USA lived 38 years and 3 days.
Giant cats are not a myth
The world of cats has its own giants. Of course, the largest representatives of non-hybrid domestic breeds are Maine Coons. Their body length can reach 120 cm, and the weight of cats is 12-15 kg.
Eternal kittens
There are also “babies” among domestic cats. Thus, the smallest of the natural breeds is considered to be the Singapore. Male cats of this breed grow no more than 3 kg, and female cats – less than 2 kg.
More facts
The heaviest cat in the world
Representatives of the Guinness Book of Records refuse to register records of heavyweight cats on principle. This is done specifically so that, some owners lacks the desire to feed their pets intensively in order to become famous. The feeding standards should always be followed in order for the cats not to become unhealthy and become too obese.
Cats have more bones in their bodies than humans
The human body consists of 206 bones, but cats have 250. This explains their spines’ extraordinary flexibility.
Cats move their ears using 32 muscles
Thanks to them, the ears of pets can rotate 180 degrees, and cats do not need to constantly turn their heads, “listening” for prey.
Cats’ daytime vision is not superior to humans in all respects
For example, these animals are characterized by farsightedness. Cats have trouble distinguishing small objects at a distance of up to 70 centimeters but can see them perfectly well, 60 meters ahead.
At night, cats see 6 times better than humans
Pets need just over 15% of the light that a person would need to see something in the dark to see perfectly at night.
Cats are not color blind
They distinguish three colors: red, green, and blue. This was established as a result of experiments. Everything else they see as gray.
Kittens are born not only blind but also deaf
Surely, many people know the expression “like blind kittens”. But newborn babies also lack hearing and develop their vision along with their eyesight during the first two weeks of life.
Cats hear better than dogs, and people
Considering the fact that kittens are born deaf, they will certainly develop an excellent sense of hearing at some point in the future. They have especially advanced hearing with Cats having a hearing range of up to 65 kHz, dogs 40 kHz and humans only 20 kHz. Feline animals also have the ability to hear sounds that are produced in the ultrasonic range which rodents apply to perform signals.
Cats can produce up to 100 different sounds
They express their mood, warn about something, and communicate with each other and with humans. For comparison, dogs can only make up to 10 different sounds.
Cats only communicate with people by meowing
Pets do not employ this noise in communicating something to a relative, although kittens are able to get the cat’s attention by purring.
Cats’ vocal cords can vibrate up to 26 times per second
This occurs during breathing in and out and purring in prices, as in cats.
If a cat purrs, it doesn’t mean it’s happy
Welfare cats are capable of purring not always in response to happiness, but often in the result of fear, anxiety, or pain.
Cats’ sense of smell is 14 times sharper than humans
This is made possible by around eight million receptors posted within the nasal cavity of a cat. They allow them to distinguish odors that are absolutely elusive to the human nose.
Cats smell with more than just their noses
They can detect them with a special Jacobson’s organ located behind the incisors on the upper palate. With its help, pets analyze unfamiliar and interesting smells. Moreover, they do this in a rather funny way – freezing and opening their mouths.
The pattern on each cat’s nose is unique
The “patterns” on each pet’s nose are different and cannot be the same, just like the papillary patterns on human fingertips.
A cat needs its nose not only for breathing
This most important olfactory organ also plays a significant role in the thermoregulation of the entire organism and helps the animal cool down when the secretion released by special glands evaporates from its surface.
Cats are excellent jumpers
They can easily jump to a height that is 5 or more times their height. If a person had the same ability, he could jump 8-9 meters up.
Domestic Cat Runs Faster Than Usain Bolt
Cats overall are known to move a rate of 45-50 kilometres per an hour particularly when hunting. The top record of the legendary racer in 100 meters run was rather close to the speed that does not exceed 43 km/h.
A cat’s heart beats much faster than a human’s
The pulse rate in cats at rest should range from 140-145 beats per minute which is equivalent to running at a good speed for a human being.
Cats are one of the “laziest” mammals
That means they can sleep for an average of 16-18 hours daily, and the older the cat, the more time it spends sleeping. Hence, it is in this state that pets are not only found to spend up to 70% of their entire existence.
Cats spend most of their waking hours grooming themselves
Yes, if they are not sleeping, they are most likely busy taking care of their “fur coat.” This takes up 30 to 50% of their time, minus sleep.
When grooming your cat, you lose a lot of fluid
By licking its fur, a cat gets rid of dirt and “foreign” odors. At the same time, saliva is actively secreted. And in order to completely clean the “fur coat,” the animal’s body spends as much liquid as it secretes when urinating.
Cats don’t sweat
Their fur and skin have no smell of their own. Cats have sweat glands only on their paw pads and play an important role in marking their territory.
Cats hunt for more than just food
The hunting instinct is triggered in a pet even if it is not hungry, but sees prey. Cats also hunt to share the prey with the owner or to teach their offspring.
Cats love heights
Surely, all pet owners have noticed their desire to climb as high as possible. This is not simple curiosity – at a height, the cat feels safe, as it has better control over its territory and can detect a threat in advance.
Cats can’t climb down trees upside down
Anatomically, cat claws are designed in such a way that animals can only grab onto something when moving upward. Therefore, pets often find themselves in a difficult situation when climbing a tree or climbing up a carpet or curtains.
Not all cats are afraid of water
Among them, there are those who are not against water procedures and even love them – these are cats of the Turkish Van, Maine Coon, Kurilian Bobtail, and other breeds. As a rule, these breeds originated in coastal areas, and their representatives are not afraid of water, swim well, and even hunt in it.
Cats are born tricolor only 0.1% of the time
And in 99.9% of cases, female cats are born with a tricolor coat color. This is due to the difference in the number of sex chromosomes responsible for the color. Therefore, cats with a tricolor coat color are incredibly rare, and they are considered a symbol of good luck in many countries.
Cats don’t like sweets
More precisely, they are unable to distinguish sweet tastes due to a gene mutation. And despite the fact that many cats love ice cream, yogurt, or condensed milk, they are attracted not by the sweetness but by the milky taste of these products.
Cats are often hostages to stereotypes
The most popular of them, imposed by cartoons, fairy tales, and movies, is that cats love raw fish and milk the most. Raw fish is most often harmful to pets due to the possible presence of small bones and parasites. Milk cannot be digested by most adult animals due to intolerance to milk sugar-lactose.
Cats have been in space, too
What about Belka and Strelka, with whom every inhabitant of the Union knows that the first dogs who were sent into space? But little do people realize that on 18th October 1963, a French cat called only Felicette was launched into near-earth orbit, after that was recovered alive.
Cats can be wealthy
A British antique dealer who died in 1988 left his paneling and the majority of his fortune to his cat, Blackie, and thousand pounds were distributed between three charities which agreed to look after Blackie for the rest of her life at the cost of one million each. She remains the richest cat in the history record books.
Cats are not lazy at all
Pets who are a little less fortunate than Blackie work honestly and receive a “salary” for it. For example, cats have been serving in the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg since the 18th century. They protect museum exhibits from rodents, are officially listed as employees, have all the necessary veterinary documents, and receive compensation for their work.
Cats take leadership positions
For instance, Stubbs the Cat held the position of mayor in the town of Talkeetna in Alaska for 15 years. And in one of the cities of Japan, there is the main railway station, the cat called Nitama.
These are the amazing creatures that live next to us. It is not for nothing that they have managed to conquer the hearts of millions of people around the world! Love your cat and pay more attention to it—who knows, maybe your pet will delight you with a hidden talent or an interesting ability.
