Cat Facts

From "The Encyclopedia Britannica". All cats are members of the family Felidea. Interestingly enough, the cat family split from the other mammals at least 40,000,000 years ago, making them one of the oldest mammalian families. All cats share certain characteristics that are unique to the cat family. Cats are pure carnivores. They need a high level of protein in their diets - around 30% - and lack the digestive equipment to do well on a diet of grains, fruits or vegetables. In fact, if you were to design a creature to live from hunting mammals you would have trouble doing better than the design of the cat. If you know cats at all, you know that they have powerful jaws, long, sharp teeth, and claws that draw back into their paws when not in use. Cats hear extremely well. Their eyes are adapted for vision in dim light for hunting just before dawn and just after dusk, the prime hunting periods.


Don't be alarmed when your cats bring you gifts of birds, mice or other wild critters. This is a natural part of their gift ritual, and they do it to please you.


Cats purr to communicate.


Cats have five toes on each front paw, but only four toes on each back paw.


Cats have true fur, in that they have both an undercoat and an outer coat.


Contrary to popular belief, the cat is a social animal. A pet cat will respond and answer to speech, and seems to enjoy human companionship.


If left to her own devices, a female cat may have three to seven kittens every four months. This is why population control using neutering and spaying is so important.


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.


When well treated, a cat can live twenty or more years.


Cats live 14 to 20 years, some 30.


Cats beat dogs for the #1 spot as the most popular pet in the United States.


Dogs and cats are color-blind.


If you sneeze whenever you're around cats, chances are it's not the cat hair that sets you off, but the saliva that remains on their fur.


Aspirin is poisonous to cats.


A smooth, shiny coat is the sign of a healthy cat.


Cat saliva contains a detergent that keeps their fur clean.


Dogs and cats that are not around people before they reach the age of three months seldom turn out to be good pets.

More Cat Proverbs

Cat mighty dignified till the dog come by.


They agree like cats and dogs.


Don't trust the weak appearance of the wolf or the disappearance of the
cat: they'll both make a come-back.


Kick the cat out; she'll come back sure enough.


A good cat deserves a good rat.


By scratching and biting cat and dog come together.


It is a bold mouse that makes her nest in the cat's ear.


Young cats will mouse, young apes will louse.


Don't buy a cat in a bag.


Care killed the cat.


The cat that catches nomice does not earn his keep.


Curiosity killed the cat.


But, satisfaction brought it back.


A scalded cat dreads even cold water.


Keep no more cats than will catch mice.


At home an elephant, abroad a cat.


When rats infest the Palace a lame cat is better than the swiftest horse.
- Chinese Proverb


He who plays with a cat must bear its scratches.


When the cat and the calf play the fiddle, you are caught in the middle.


Keep an eye on the cat and another on the frying pan.


The cat in gloves catches no mice.


The cat shuts his eyes while he steals the cream.


The eye of the housewife makes the cat fat.


The old cat refuses to admit that the face in the looking-glass is her own.


If you give your milk to the cat you must drink water out of the sink.


What joy fills the mouse when the cat is out of the house.


When a weasel and a cat kiss, the future is not very bright.


If you play with a cat, you must not mind her scratch.


The widow gave orders to her cat and the cat gave them to its tail.


When the cat sleeps the mice play.


The cat loves fish, but she's loth to wet her feet.


Lions are not terrified of cats.


If the cat had wings she'd choke all the birds in the air.


The kind man feeds his beast before sitting down to dinner. Hebrew Proverb


The cat loves fish, but hates wet feet. Medieval Proverb


The cat dreams of garbage. Hindu Proverb


All cats are grey in the dark.


The dog may be wonderful prose, but only the cat is poetry.
- French Proverb


A cat is a lion in a jungle of small bushes.
- Indian Proverb


Those that dislike cats will be carried to the cemetery in the rain.
- Dutch Proverb

Cat Sayings

• "Honest as the Cat when the meat's out of reach." - Old English saying

• "A cat's eyes are windows enabling us to see into another world." - Irish Legend

• "Cat's motto: No matter what you've done wrong, always try to make it look like the dog did it." - Unknown

• "When the cat's away, the mice will play" - Folk Saying

• The cat is mighty dignified until the dog comes by. - Southern Folk Saying

• "Whenever the cat of the house is black, the lasses of lovers will have no lack" - Folk Saying

• "Who would believe such pleasure from a wee ball o' fur?" - Irish Saying

• "A cat is a lion in a jungle of small bushes." - Indian Saying

• Touch not a Cat but a glove.

• What can you have of a Cat but her skin?

• When the Cat's away the mice will play.

• Cat and Fiddle.

• Cat and Kittens.

• Cat and Mouse Act.

• To play cat and mouse.

• Cat-o'-nine-tails.

• Cat-call.

• Cat-eyed.

• In Ireland, if something is funny we say: "It would make a cat laugh."

• Let the Cat out of the Bag

• Put (or set) the Cat among the Pigeons (British Informal)

• Rain Cats and Dogs

• The Cat's Pyjamas (or Whiskers)

• Fat Cat

• Look what the Cat dragged in

• Curiosity killed the Cat

• Nervous as a Cat in a room full of rocking chairs

• Like a Cat on a hot tin roof

• Cat got your tongue

• Not enough room to swing a Cat

• To grin like a Cheshire Cat

• Better one cat tofay than no cats tomorrow.