Cats have been for many mysterious creatures throughout the centuries. From a symbol of divinity in ancient times to a cursed symbol of a devil in the middle ages, these elegant and agile animals haven’t stopped to fascinate us.

Below are listed 35 cat facts that we believe will broaden your knowledge about our furry feline friends. Let us know in the comments if any other interesting cat facts should be added to the list.

Happy reading!

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Cat facts you didn’t know about

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1. How many cats are in the world?

It’s estimated that there are 200 million cats in the world.

 

2. Which territory has the biggest population of cats?

The greatest number of cats is in the USA (25% of the total cat population).

 

3. How long do cats live on average?

The average lifespan of a domesticated cat is on average from 12 to 15 years.

 

4. What’s the equivalent of cat years to human years?

1 year of cat’s life is an equivalent of 7 human years. A cat that has reached 2 years of age has gone through the equivalent of human childhood and the teenage years and is in its twenties. Cats are deemed middle-aged at about 7 years where they are the equivalent of a human age of 40 years. Any cat that is beyond this age can be considered to be heading for old age.

 

5. Where do cats take their personalities from?

Cat’s personality is passed on in the DNA by its parents (accounts for 75% of personality makeup), modified by the learned behavior and environmental circumstances of its birth and early life (accounts for 25% of personality makeup).

 

6. Who first domesticated cats?

Domestication of the cat begun in the ancient Middle East, in Egypt. Egyptians encouraged wild cats to live in their grain barns in order to reduce the number of rats, mice, and locusts.

 

7. What is a ‘tom’ cat and what is a ‘queen’ cat?

‘Tom’ is a name given to an un-neutered (uncastrated) male cat and ‘queen’ is a name given to an un-neutered (unspayed) female cat.

 

8. Does a black cat bring bad luck or good luck?

In the USA, a black cat is associated with bad luck, conversely, in the UK, a black cat is associated with good luck. The superstitions around cats are related to religious ideology.

 

9. What is a ‘feral’ cat?

A ‘feral’ cat is a name given to a domesticated cat that has partially regressed back to the wild.

 

10. Do domesticated cats live longer than feral cats?

A domesticated cat lives twice as long as the feral cat due to less exposure to dangers and hazards.

 

11. What time of the day cats are most active?

In the wild, cats are instinctively active at nights (from dusk to dawn), allocating daytime for sleeping and accumulating energy for the night time activities. That behavior is connected to hunting. Rats, mice and other small mammals are usually more active at nights. Even though the domestication of a cat turned it to a day-active animal, by instinct cats are nocturnal animals.

 

12. Can cats swim?

Cats hate water and avoid it like a plague. The only cat breed that likes water, and even swims, is Turkish Van.

 

13. What makes cats so balanced and fast?

Cat has more vertebrae in its backbone than human and the tail creates an extended backbone structure making it the fastest and the most balanced animal on earth.

 

14. What is a ‘tortoiseshell’ cat?

A ‘tortoiseshell’ cat is a cat that has a mottled coat of red (ginger) and black. Tortoiseshell-patterned cats are almost always females, as this type of coloration is linked to the lack of an X chromosome.

 

15. Why do cats climb down trees backward?

As clumsy and slow as it may look, the safest way for a cat to descend the tree is to do it backward due to the position if its claws. Because cat’s claws are curled forward, when cat descends backward it can maintain a secure hold of the tree and reach the ground safely.

 

16. What is a ‘cobby-shaped’ cat?

A ‘cobby-shaped’ cat refers to cats that are short and small-bodied. It’s usually associated with the British short-hair cat.

 

17. Who are the famous people who loved cats?

The adoration of cats started in ancient Egypt and has lasted for centuries up until today. Some of the famous people who have adored cats include: Honoré de Balzac, Brigitte Bardot, Charles Baudelaire, Catherine the Great, Bill Clinton, Dr. Erasmus Darwin, Thomas Hardy, Ernest Hemingway, Victor Hugo, John Lennon, Lenin, Abraham Lincoln, Freddie Mercury, Montaigne, Florence Nightingale, Pablo Picasso, Edgar Alan Poe, Theodore Roosevelt, Torquato Tasso, Mark Twain, William Wordsworth.

 

18. Why do cats have whiskers?

Facial whiskers act for cats as sensory extensions. They help cats sense the movement and temperature changes. They help to detect prey and to find their way around in the dark.

 

19. How long do cats sleep on average during a day?

Cats are predominantly nocturnal animals and it’s natural for them to sleep long hours during a day in order to restore their energy after a night full hunting for the pray. A cat spends an average of 17 hours a day sleeping.

 

20. Why cats scent mark?

Cats like to scent mark the various object and even people to communicate other cats and different animals their ownership of a territory.

 

21. Which part of its body does a cat use for scent marking?

To scent mark their perceived territory cats can use almost all parts of their body, especially the head, flanks, paws, scent glands, especially in the anal area.

 

22. Are white cats with blue eyes more prone to deafness

White-haired cats have a recessive gene that leads to inherited deafness (not always). Scientists suggest that deafness in white-haired cats (long and short-haired) is indicated by those with blue or odd-colored eyes.

 

23. Can cats see more than humans?

Cats have the same binary vision as humans. However, because the cat’s eyes are placed more widely on its face, the cat has a larger field of vision than a human. While the human’s vision covers roughly 210 degrees, the cat’s vision covers 285 degrees.

 

24. Why is a cat’s tongue rough to the touch?

The cat’s tongue has a rough texture because it’s covered with many tiny, hooked ‘papillae’. Their task is to enable the cat to clean off any flesh from the bones of prey as well as to enhance grooming.

 

25. Is it normal for cats to lick each other?

Yes, cats licking each other is known as ‘allogrooming’. To mutually groom is normal behavior which stems from litter mothers licking their kittens. The mutual grooming can occur between adult cats where there is trust and confidence between them.

 

26. Is it normal for cats to eat grass?

It’s perfectly normal and healthy for cats to nibble on grass. Grass helps cats regurgitate ingested fur (which they accumulated during grooming).

 

27. Why do cat’s eyes shine in the dark?

An effect of the shiny cat eyes in the dark is really a reflection of light. Cat’s eyes can reflect light in the dark thanks to a layer of reflective cells immediately behind the retina, known as the tapetum.

 

28. Why do cats like catnip?

The catnip (nepeta cataria), also known as catmint, produces a distinctive smell through the oil (nepetalactone) in its leaves which sends cats into a relaxed state of euphoria.

 

29. When do cats become fertile?

Young male cats become fertile at about 6 months of age, whereas young female cats become fertile at between 5 and 7 months of age.

 

30. How long does a cat pregnancy last?

The gestation in cats lasts for around 65 days. Birth can occur anywhere between 60 and 70 days, depending on the breed and the individual cat.

 

31. How many kittens can a cat give birth to in a year?

A mature female cat can have up to three litters of kittens in a year. That means that she can produce up to about 18 kittens in that period.

 

32. How many kittens are in the litter?

On average there are 6 kittens in the litter.

 

33. How many litters can a cat have during its lifetime?

There is no feline equivalent to the human menopause, therefore female cats can produce litters through their lifetime.  However, the more births the cat gives the more strained its organism becomes and exposes the cat to various health conditions. The ideal number of litters would be no more than one or two litters per year during a period of five to seven years.

 

34. For how long does the cat mother care for her kittens?

A litter mother with a strong maternal instinct will care for her kittens throughout the 9 or 10 weeks of their early life, usually until her milk begins to dry up.

 

35. Why some cats have a saggy underbelly?

The saggy underbelly in some cats is caused by being fed with entirely dried food. Once this appearance has developed the cat will show the saggy underbelly look for the rest of its life.

 

Sources used in this article:

Cats 500 Questions Answered, Dr David Sands, 2005