Tag Archives: cat facts

Cat Physiology Facts

From head to toe, from whiskers to tail tip, cats are unique animals! Here are some things you may not know about your cat’s body. A cat’s spine has more vertebrae than a human’s spine, making it far more flexible. The main spine has thirty vertebrae; the tail may have between fourteen and twenty-eight vertebrae, depending on the breed. Do cats always land on their feet? Not always, but a lot of the time. A cat can quickly turn downwards, thanks to amazing flexibility, strong muscles, and an amazing sense of balance. The longer the fall, the greater chance a … Continue reading →

More Crazy Cat Facts

Need more knowledge for your mental library? Didn’t get enough crazy cat knowledge yet? Here are some more amazing cat facts you may not know! Julius Caesar and Emperor Napoleon were known ailurophobes — they had a fear of cats. King Henry II and Queen Elizabeth I also feared felines. Some famous felinophiles (cat lovers) are poets Edgar Allen Poe and William Wordsworth, Renaissance poet Christina Rossetti, and writer Mark Twain. Lest you think it is only the literary types who love cats, remember cat loving American Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. Cats are not mentioned in the translated … Continue reading →

Crazy Cat Facts

Want to wow friends and family with your knowledge of all things feline? Here are some wild cat facts to add to your collection! The family Felidae is divided into four groups: Cheetahs Panthera group, including large cats like lions, tigers, and jaguars Ocelots Wild cats, including jungle and desert cats and our own domesticated cats Fossil evidence suggests that felines, canines, and bears shared a common ancestor — a land based, carnivorous mammal. The total cat population in the world is thought to be around two hundred million. Approximately a quarter of the world’s cat population resides in the … Continue reading →

The Cat In Proverb and Thought

The cat down through the ages has been ubiquitous in our literature, poetry and culture. Perhaps as a symbol there is nowhere it appears more often than in our everyday proverbs and expressions. Take for example, the phrase “to play cat and mouse.” Where did it come from and has its meaning changed through the passage of time? The torture of the poor little mouse at the hands of its oppressor, the much larger feline, is one of nature’s crueler struggles. It is a very democratic one, however, as there can be little doubt that everyone’s mind conjures the same … Continue reading →

Your Cat’s Whiskers: What Should You Know?

The average cat has twenty-four movable whiskers, usually twelve on each side of its nose. Twice as thick as ordinary hairs, the roots of whiskers are set very deeply into the cat’s tissue. Their ultra-sensitive nerve endings enhance perception of air movement, air pressure and anything the cat comes contact with. The scientific name for whiskers is vibrissae. As air circulatesaround objects, so do whiskers vibrate. These vibrations translate into messages (from Garcia the cat and others) and they are indicators of the size, presence and shape of obstacles before them, which occurs before such objects are either visible or … Continue reading →

Cats and Their Territory: Do Not Disturb!

The best way to describe how a cat might feel about their personal territory (even though my perspective can only be of the two-legged variety) might be the recounting of a picture, which they say is worth a thousand words. It is a tale of one of my favorite cats, a male tuxedo shorthair named Goliath who let me know how he felt about his space one day, a very long time ago. His favorite spot was on the wide windowsill in my bedroom. He would sit there for hours watching people and animals go by, and the other cats … Continue reading →

Allergies to Cats: Can We Live With Them?

This topic brings to mind a tee shirt I once saw someone wearing. It read: “Cat Allergic: Husband and Kids Must Go.” While this play on a real life situation is meant to be in good fun, cat allergies are a very serious subject. My sister is so allergic to my cats that when she comes to visit, she must either stand in the doorway or sit outside where the cats never go. It is estimated that approximately 2 percent of the US population is allergic to cats. One third of these (myself included) ignore medical advice and keep at … Continue reading →

Is There Finally Help For Feral Cats?

Are feral cats being given a new chance for quality life while remaining in the wild? According to an article written by Ashley Bachelor for the “Daily Times” they most certainly are! A Texas program called “Big Fix Project for Homeless Cats” employs a unique trap-neuter-return system that maintains the dignity and primal state of the feral cat. Founded in 2005, it has the help and support of Alley Cats Allies, a non-profit web site offering information on stray and feral cats and advocating trapping and neutering as a humane way to reduce the feral cat population. According to the … Continue reading →

The Calico Cat: A Patch of Joy

Have you ever wondered why some cats are calico and why they are almost always females? Well, wonder no more. Coat coloration in cats is a complex equation, but simply speaking, calico coloring and tortoise shell coloring are controlled by several genes. Both are a combination of color patterns resulting from genetic traits, and neither is specific to any particular breed of cat. A blend of colors creates the coloration; the result almost like the accidental slip of an artist’s palette of black, chocolate and cinnamon. The sizes of the patches differ greatly, ranging from a fine, speckled pattern to … Continue reading →

Ringworm: Does Your Cat Have it?

Ringworm is one of those terms that doesn’t say what it means or mean what it says. It has, in fact, nothing at all to do with worms (opening or closing cans of) or rings (trilogies, engagement, wedding, brass or through the nose). It is an infection caused by fungi that grow on the dead surface layers of the cat’s skin and claws. On an infected animal, it will show itself in small hairless patches on the head, ears and tips of the paws. These patches have a gray, scaly “cigarette ash” appearance and are often inflamed. There is a … Continue reading →