Weird Cat Facts

WEIRD CAT FACTS (Various Sources)

• Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs only have about ten.
• The phrase "raining cats and dogs" originated in 17th century England when it is believed that many cats and dogs drowned during heavy periods of rain.
• Cat urine glows under a black-light.
• Cats, like humans, are either right or left handed... or is that paws?
• Ancient Egyptians shaved off their eyebrows to mourn the deaths of their cats.
• Catgut comes from sheep, not cats.
• Cats have five toes on each front paw and four on the back.
  
• Kittens are born with both eyes and ears closed. When the eyes open, they are always blue at first. They change color over a period of months to the final eye color.
• If a male cat is both orange and black it is ( besides being extremely rare ) sterile. To have both the orange and the black coat colors, the male cat must have all or part of both female X chromosomes. This unusual sex chromosome combination will render the male cat sterile.
• Many cats cannot properly digest cow's milk. Milk and milk products give them diarrhea.
• Unlike humans and dogs, cats do not suffer a lot from loneliness. It is a mistake to project our social feelings onto our cats. Cats are social to a degree, but they are far more concerned with territorial issues than we can even imagine.
• A cat is pregnant for about 58-65 days. This is roughly two months.
• The oldest age that a house cat has attained and has been reliably documented is the case of a female tabby named "Ma." She lived to the ripe old age of 34!
• When cats are "de-clawed" they are actually having their 3rd phalanx removed. It is the equivalent of you having your fingers cut off at the 3rd knuckle.
• Tylenol and chocolate are poisonous to cats.
• The first cat show was in 1871 at the Crystal Palace in London.
• Today there are about 100 distinct breeds of the domestic cat.
• Genetic mutation created the domestic cat which is tame from birth.
• Like birds, cats have a homing ability that uses its biological clock, the angle of the sun, and the Earth's magnetic field. A cat taken far from its home can return to it. But if a cat's owners move far from its home, the cat can't find them.
• Hunting is not instinctive for cats. Kittens born to non-hunting mothers may never learn to hunt.
• Cats bury their feces to cover their trails from predators.
• Mother cats teach their kittens to use the litter box.
• Cats sleep 16 to 18 hours per day.