50+ Facts About Cats (Interesting Facts, Not Lame Ones)

If you’re looking for inspiration to write about cats, you’ve come to the right place!

Are you looking for an interesting fact about cats? You’re in luck, we have over 50 fascinating facts about cats for you to learn today.

Whether you want to know more about their diet, their litterbox habits or even their ability to speak human languages, we have all the facts you need to know.

Facts About Cats (Interesting Facts, Not Lame Ones)

1. Cats meow for their humans, not other cats

We have data to back up our claim that felines are eternally intriguing. In this article, you will find out more about each of the 39 interesting tidbits about cats.

2. A group of cats is called a clowder or a glaring

As a result of coevolution with humans, domestic cats have learned that they may influence our behavior by using specific vocalizations and tones.

Cats have a wide variety of meows that use to express their needs, such as food, comfort, and adoption.

3. 30%-50% of cats lack the gene that makes them react to catnip

Only between the ages of 3 and 6 months will your cat, assuming it has the gene, show any signs of having the condition. Younger kittens won’t have any sort of reaction to catnip.

4. Research suggests that a cat’s purr has the power to self-heal

The most priceless information we’ve gleaned on cats.

In addition to signaling contentment, a cat’s purr may also serve as a therapeutic tool for easing their discomfort when they’re sick or stressed, and the vibrations produced by the purr may even speed up the recovery of broken bones.

5. People with cat allergies aren’t allergic to fur, but rather a protein found in a cat’s saliva, urine, and dander

Fel d 1 is the name of this protein. Male cats that haven’t been neutered create far more of it than females and neutered males. Both the Balinese and the Siberian breeds are known to have lower Fel d 1 production.

6. There’s a reason dogs look up to you and cats treat you as an equal

Domestication of cats began a lot later than that of dogs, about 5,000 years later in fact. If you want a simple explanation, it’s because cats haven’t been domesticated for long enough to recognize that you are their owner.

7. Your cat brings you prey as an act of kindness

A mother cat will kill and prepare a meal for her kittens, but she will not partake of it herself. Similarly, your cat sees you as part of the family and would prefer share her kill with you than eat it alone.

8. Your cat’s love of boxes satisfies an animal instinct

As a throwback to their wild ancestry, domestic cats have a natural tendency to seek out boxes and other confined areas for the purpose of hiding and pursuing prey.

9. Cats don’t see in black and white—but they are somewhat colorblind

In terms of the color spectrum, cats only perceive a small portion of it. They are reportedly colorblind to red and green, instead seeing the environment in shades of blue, grey, and yellow.

They just need one-sixth as much light as a person does to see clearly.

10. Cats need to scratch on things

Cats, being cats, naturally scratch things. Cats scratch not just to keep their claws in good shape, but also to reach and stretch muscles in their back and shoulders.

11. A 1-year-old kitten is developmentally equivalent to a 15-year-old human

The common misconception that multiplying a cat’s age by seven yields its equivalent in human years is unfounded. Most of a cat’s aging process occurs in the first two years of its life.

12. (Most) cats are lactose intolerant

Learn the true history of the cat. Only very young cats have the digestive system necessary to process dairy. Even yet, it is still only appropriate for them to consume milk from members of their own species.

13. Cats instinctively know to use the litter box

Prehistoric cats had to disguise their footprints and feces to avoid being discovered by predators.

As it was simpler to hide their trash in granular materials like soil or sand, these were the surfaces they preferred. (And nowadays, you can have a litter box that cleans itself!)

14. Cats’ whiskers help with directional orientation and spatial awareness

There are more nerve endings and longer roots in your cat’s whiskers than in the rest of his hair. That’s why they’re great for letting your cat see what’s up front when he dashes into uncharted area with his nose.

15. The “tabby” cat isn’t a breed—it’s a pattern

The M-shaped marking on a tabby’s forehead has been the subject of legends and stories dating back thousands of years, including those surrounding the birth of Jesus and the ancient Egyptian god Osiris.

16. Black cats as Halloween symbols is rooted in ancient tradition

Legend has it that on Samhain, the Gaelic forerunner of modern Halloween, a giant black cat with a white spot on its breast would bless the home of anybody who put a saucer of milk out for it to drink and condemn the home of anyone who didn’t.

17. Your cat has a third eyelid

You may protect your cat’s cornea with the help of his third eyelid. Researchers believe that third eyelids were originally present in the human anatomy.

As a result of natural selection, it shrank to the delicate pink crease in the outer corner of your eye.

18. Cats are imitating snakes when they hiss

Most people would agree that snakes are among the most terrifying predators in the animal realm. Like snakes, cats hiss to make themselves seem bigger and drive away potential predators.

19. Your house cat likely isn’t nocturnal

In contrast, she is crepuscular, or most active between twilight and morning.

As a result of having to spend time with their human caretakers during the day and being left alone at night, housecats have developed a routine that works for them.

This explains why your feline friend is more inclined to approach you at mealtimes around twilight and morning.

20. How long cats lives largely depends on their environment

This is a really depressing reality about cats. A healthy indoor-only cat can live anywhere from 12 to 20 years.

Alternatively, indoor-only cats tend to live little more than half as long as their outdoor counterparts (between 3 and 10 years).

21. Male cats are more likely to be left paw-dominant and females are more likely to be right paw-dominant

The 2018 study also found that animals with larger fear reactions tended to be left-pawed or ambilateral (using both paws equally). It’s just one of those random tidbits about cats that could come in handy sometime.

22. Cats almost always land on their feet due to their impressive “righting” reflex

Unlike big animals and humans, cats may attain terminal velocity (the speed at which the downward pull of gravity is equal by the upward push of wind resistance, resulting in a constant speed) significantly sooner than their larger counterparts.

23. Their pee smells so bad because cats originated in the desert

Cat pee is really potent. Cats are said to have developed in the desert, so they can drink a lot of their own pee to stay hydrated.

24. Cats are more likely to “knead” if they were separated from their mothers as young kittens

Kittens who are still nursing their mothers might help increase her milk supply by kneading on her.

As a result, it’s possible that a kitten who is raised on human breast milk from birth would not have the same aptitude for baking as one who is not.

25. Cats can hear better than humans and some dog breeds

Cats’ hearing is superior than that of humans at higher frequencies (we can hear up to 20 kilohertz, dogs hear up to 40 kilohertz, and cats hear up to 60 kilohertz).

This doesn’t explain why so many pets are terrified of loud noises, however this phobia is probably more psychological than anything else.

26. Cats knock objects over and off edges to test for hidden prey

Your cat may be suspicious of paperweights and other household ornaments because she knows mice can hide in them. It would run away from her prodding paw, offering her an entertaining game (and possibly a good lunch).

27. Cats like to eat grass because their wild ancestors did

It’s conceivable that wild cats have passed on a preference for plant-based diets to their progeny as a result of years of digesting the leafy contents of their prey’s stomach.

28. An entire ancient Egyptian city was founded to worship the feline deity Bastet

In ancient Egypt, cats were treated like royalty. In 1888, a tomb containing the remains of over 80,000 cats was uncovered in Middle Egyptian. Royal offerings included milk and mice for the cats’ last meal after death.

29. Ernest Hemingway cherished polydactyl cats

Cats with polydactyly have an additional toe on at least one paw. At the 1930s, Hemingway was given one, and up until his death, he kept them all in his Key West house. Present day Hemingway Home is home to around fifty polydactyl cats.

30. 99.9% of calico cats and tortie cats are female

In cats, the X chromosome is responsible for the variation in coat color. hence, there are two sets of genes that can influence the coat color of female cats (XX).

Tortie cats and calico cats (when they are bred with white cats) have a coat pattern that consists of black and orange because of the presence of two X chromosomes.

31. 4 in 5 orange tabby cats are male

However, nearly half of all orange tabby cats are male. We already know that the X chromosome is responsible for the colour differences seen in cats.

Male cats are more likely to pass on the ginger gene than female cats since they just require the orange gene from their moms to become a ginger.

32. Cats can’t taste sweetness

Cats are unable to detect sweetness because their taste buds have a chemoreceptor. That’s why your feline friend isn’t exactly drooling over your fruit bowl or sugary snacks.

33. Kittens can be born with a temporary “fever coat”

Fever or extreme stress during a pregnant cat’s pregnancy might temporarily give birth to kittens with a “fever coat,” or fur that is a silvery tint rather than the color that would normally develop from their genes.

34. Cats involuntarily open their mouths after smelling something

The flehmen reaction describes such an action. If you notice your cat sniffing the roof of his mouth, he is likely investigating a new or unusual fragrance.

35. A litter of kittens can have two or more fathers

Superfecundation occurs when a female mates with many males in a single reproductive cycle, resulting in the fertilization of multiple eggs.

36. Cats try to bury their food for the same reason they bury their poop

This is done to hide their tracks. The wild ancestors of domestic cats avoided being discovered by predators by covering their footprints and scent with dirt and hiding their feces.

37. Your cat likes to chase lasers because movement excites the prey drive

Because of their specialized adaptations for tracking small prey in dim light, they also like pursuing lasers.

38. Cats may be attracted to catnip and silver vine as mosquito repellents

According to a new research, cats have been applying a mixture of silver vine and catnip to their fur for hundreds of years to ward off mosquito bites.

39. Cats dream

Insofar as we can tell, cats share REM sleep with humans, which means they too have dreams.

Like humans, cats can be in two places at once, with their sense of smell and hearing remaining active for long periods of time even while they are fast sleeping.

40. Purring doesn’t always mean a cat is happy

Although purring is most commonly associated with a contented cat, it may also be heard when a cat is ill, anxious, injured, or in the process of giving birth.

41. It’s possible that purring helps bone density

An associate professor in the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis, Leslie A. Lyons, theorizes in an article for Scientific American that the purring sound frequency of 25 to 150 Hertz can improve bone density and promote healing.

It’s probable that purring is a low energy technique that activates muscles and bones without expending a lot of energy, given that cats have adapted to preserve energy by resting and sleeping for lengthy periods of time.

42. A cat’s nose has catnip receptors

You may have wondered why catnip causes cats to relax into a sleeplike state. Cats’ olfactory and gustatory senses may pick up on the chemical component nepetalactone, which is present in the plant.

Sniffing, head shaking, head rubbing, and rolling around on the ground are just some of the peculiar behaviors induced by the ingredients commonly associated with the crazy kitty weed.

43. But most cats don’t respond to catnip

Catnip doesn’t work on more than half the world’s felines. Researchers have discovered that a cat’s receptivity to the fragrant plant is determined by genes, but they have yet to determine why some cats are more sensitive to it than others.

There is a 50% probability that a kitten will develop a taste for catnip if at least one of its parents does. The likelihood of a positive outcome increases to at least 75% if both parents have an adverse reaction to ‘nip.

44. Cats make great private detectives

No money for a private investigator? It’s possible a cat could do it for nothing if given the chance.

Henry Helb, an ambassador stationed at the Dutch Embassy in Moscow in the 1960s, once witnessed his two Siamese cats arched over, clawing at a wall.

Helb suspected the cats could hear something he couldn’t, and sure enough, he discovered thirty small microphones tucked down under the floorboards.

Helb and his employees took advantage of the surveillance by griping about household repairs or goods that were detained in customs while standing in front of the mics, rather than using the information to catch the spies.

Complaints were handled by the snoops, and no one was the wiser except for Helb and his friends.

45. The wealthiest cat is named Blackie

Upon his death in 1988, wealthy British antique trader Ben Rea gave over $13 million to his beloved cat Blackie.

Three different cat shelters were given the money with the explicit instruction to keep a look out for Rea’s furry friend. Blackie still has the title of wealthiest cat in the world from his Guinness World Record win.

46. Your cat probably hates music

Composer David Teie collaborated with animal experts to create an album titled Music for Cats, which may appeal to feline ears.

According to Teie’s official website, the tracks were released in 2015 and were inspired by cat vocal communication and the noises that excite a cat’s curiosity in the natural world.

47. A group of kittens is a kindle

A group of kittens born to the same mother is also called a “kindle,” not simply an electronic reader. Meanwhile, a clowder is a gang of adult cats.

48. Many historical figures loved cats

You’re in good company if you have a soft spot for felines. Famous people throughout history who also happened to be cat lovers include: Florence Nightingale, Pope John Paul II, Mark Twain, and the Bront sisters.

49. Abraham Lincoln was a huge fan of cats

Lincoln may still be the craziest cat guy in history. When asked if President Lincoln had any interests, his wife, Mary Todd, said that he did not. What did she say in reaction to that? Cats! (Dogs were also a favorite of his.)

50. If you love cats, you’re an ailurophile

Are you interested in expanding your lexicon? Try slipping the term “ailurophile” into everyday speech.

It comes from the Greek word for cat (ailouros) and the suffix -phile, which means “lover.” The opposite of a cat lover is an ailurophobe, a term derived from the Greek words ailouros and phobe.

51. Cats first went to space in 1963

Scientists in France used a rocket to send a cat into space for the first time on October 18th, 1963. Félicette, the cat, successfully landed on the ground after a parachute landing. She’ll almost certainly be okay after landing.

52. The world’s oldest living cat is 31 years old

A white and orange cat named Rubble, who may be grumpy at times, is the oldest living cat in the world. He turned 31 in June. From 12 to 18 years is the typical lifetime.

53. The Guinness World Records don’t have an award for fattest cat

Officials don’t want to promote pet obesity, but in 2003, a Siamese cat named Katy was a leading contender for the unofficial record.

Hormones were used to prevent mating for Katy, a resident of Asbest, Russia. An unwanted consequence of the therapy emerged. It made the hungry cat eat even more, and soon she was 50 pounds.

54. Cats might be marking you as territory when they massage you

This makes perfect sense. One theory is that your cat is using the smell glands in their paws to indicate their territory (that’s you!) but experts haven’t really worked out why cats prefer to knead.

Kittens massage their mothers’ bellies to encourage milk production, and this neotenic activity may be passed on to the offspring.

Conclusion

So I went into the ‘50+ Interesting facts about cats’ post wanting to make it interesting, not too long, and to keep my readers entertained. And that’s exactly what happened.

I hope you enjoy this list of facts about cats. If you know any that aren’t on here, feel free to comment and share!

source https://catshint.com/facts-about-cats/