Cute Cat Facts That Won’t Let You Read Them

Cats train humans more than the other way around.

A study has shown that cats use meowing and purring sounds to get their way with humans. One particular sound they found mimicked the same frequency as a baby, indicating they were trying to cash in on a human’s natural response to nurture a baby’s cry.

Cats were sacred in Ancient Egypt.

Cats were considered demi-gods in Ancient Egypt. They dressed them in jewels and fed them special treats. When they died, the Egyptians would mummify them. Anyone who harmed a cat would be put to death unless the population got out of hand and then they’d sacrifice them to the goddess Bast.

Purring is a possibly a method of self-healing.

Purring in cats can mean a lot of different things. Researchers discovered a cat’s purr has a frequency between 25 to 150 Hertz, which is the same frequency bones and muscles repair themselves. It’s speculated a cat’s purr can be a type of self-healing.

Cats can hydrate on salt water.

A cat’s kidneys are efficient enough to filter out the salt and use the water for hydration. If there’s one thing to be jealous about cats, that definitely ranks at the top.

A cat’s whiskers act as feeling receptors.

Called vibrissae, a cat’s whiskers aren’t like human hairs. They tie in directly to a cat’s muscular and nervous system, giving them information about the world around them. If you trim a cat’s whiskers, the cat could become seriously disoriented and frightened.

About 100 cats roam free in Disneyland.

In order to keep the rodent population down, Disneyland allows 100 cats to roam free in their park. They’re all, of course, spayed, neutered, vaccinated, and tagged. They have feeding stations, veterinary care, and are generally taken care of by the facility’s workers.

A cat fell from a 32 story building and survived.

Its well-known cats have an amazing ability to land on their feet from great heights. Still, surviving a fall from 32-stories up is pretty impressive. This cat suffered a chipped tooth and a collapsed lung but recovered.

Cats love to sleep.

To maintain proper energy while they’re on the hunt, cats need to sleep a lot of the day. They spend about 13 to 16 hours a day sleeping which is a sleepy 70% of their lives.

House cats can be traced back to a Middle East ancestor.

Researchers have traced back the domestic house cat all the way back 100,000 years ago in the Middle East to the Near Eastern wildcat which roams Israel, Saudia Arabia, and other Middle Eastern countries today. They’re believed to be first be domesticated by farmers roughly 10,000 years ago.

A cat ran for mayor in Mexico.

In the Mexican city of Xalapa, a cat named Morris supposedly ran for mayor. His Facebook page garnered 100,000 likes. His supporters say his popularity is due to frustration with corrupt politicians.

Cats are considered an invasive species.

We all know cats are really good hunters, but they also could be a little too good. They’re considered a threat to amphibians, reptiles, and birds (especially the endangered ones) due to their keen hunting ability. Because of this, they’re ranked on the 100 invasive species list.

The world’s largest domestic cat is 48.5 inches long.

A gray tabby Maine Coon cat named Stewie is the Guinness Book of World Records holder for the largest cat, measuring at 48.5 inches (123.2 cm) long, which is more than 4 feet (1.2 meters).

Humans and cats have practically identical parts of the brain that control emotion.

Cats and humans not only think in the same patterns and have similar short and long-term memory functions, but the part of their brain that controls emotion is also identical

Old cats can get a type of dementia.

Humans aren’t the only ones that can develop senility, Alzheimers, or dementia; cats can, too! Some things to look out for are odd vocalizations, loss of litter box training, or reduced attention to grooming.

Cats lick themselves to remove your scent.

Cats groom themselves for various reasons, but you might have noticed right after you pet them, they immediately lick the spot you petted. As you might have guessed, they do this to remove your scent and even own their own scent.

Cats sweat through their paws.

One way a cat cools down is by sweating through their paws. They also will try to lay in the shade and lick their fur when they’re too hot.

The world’s richest cat is worth $13 million.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the world’s richest cat is named Blackie. He inherited an estate of $13 million when his owner Ben Rea died in 1988.

A cat’s nose print is totally unique.

Much like human fingerprints, every cat’s nose print is unique. But it’s unlikely they could be used as a way to identify them considering the difficulty of inking them.

Cats bring dead animals to your doorstep to tell you you’re bad at hunting.

If you have a cat, you might have been rather dismayed to find her presenting a dead rodent at your feet. In order to teach their kittens about proper eating and hunting, the mother will frequently bring back their prey for them. Spayed female cats don’t have kittens, so they bring the prey to their owners instead.

Cats have a built in compass to always know which direction is up when they’re in mid-air.

Like a ninja, cats have a spectacular ability to right themselves in mid-air and land on their feet. How do they do this? Well, first they have an apparatus in their ear giving them the ability to know right side up. While they’re in the air, they shift the top part of their body one way and the lower part the other to force their entire body in a good landing position. On top of that, they can arch their back and use their body as an umbrella to slow their fall.

Black cats are bad luck in the United States and good luck in the United Kingdom.

Superstitions abound about cats, but they may differ depending on where you’re standing. In the United States, if a black cat walks by, it’s considered unlucky, while in the United Kingdom it’s the opposite. White cats work the same way: lucky in the US but unlucky in the UK.

Cats rarely meow at other cats.

Cats love to meow at humans, but they rarely do it at their cat peers. Rather, they like to use other forms of communication like body language and visual and scent marking.

Male cats use their left paw while females use their right paw for tasks.

Researchers studied to see which paw a cat prefers to use during various tasks. Their studies showed males almost always used the left paw, while females used the right. A theory suggests higher levels of testosterone could play a part in which paw cats use.

Cats have amazing night vision.

Humans might win the day with their ability to see bright colors and far distances, but cats rule the night with their impressive night vision. They have six to eight times more rod cells, which are sensitive to low light, allowing them to see better in the dark. Their elliptical eye shape and larger corneas also help gather more light.

Cats can’t taste sweetness

You might love to indulge in sweets from time to time, but your fluffy friend, unfortunately, can’t. The ability to taste sweets is based on the gene Tas1r2. Mutations of this gene remove the ability for certain mammals to enjoy sweets, and cats are one of those mammals.