30+ Interesting Facts About Cats You May Not Have Known

Many people will chuckle and say they know this fact by heart, but calm down. The reason behind the cat's extending naps is they are inherited by their wild ancestors hunting behavior. Normally, wild cats sleep after hunting the prey, so do the domestic cats. Instead of hunting, they store up the energy to play with toys. 

Technically, the cat's sleeping schedules are very different from people's. A human being's sleep is normally 8 hours and the period is prolonged. A cat divides their sleep into light naps (aka cat's nap) and deeper naps. With kittens and senior cats, they can sleep up to 20 hours a day!

Another interesting question: can a cat dream? The answer is absolutely yes. Sometimes you can see them closing their eyes and purring like they are enjoying their sleep but the tail is still wiggling, the ears are going upward and downward, they even sleep talk! REM (rapid eye movement) sleeping phase also occurs in cats.

Lastly, a big fact is cats are not nocturnal animals. They are more like crepuscular animals (twilight animals) which means cats usually wake up and hunt the prey at dawn and dusk. That is why many cat owners have to wake up at 4 AM to play with cats or feed them.

This is a very successful hybridizing result of a silver Persian cat and an American Shorthair cat. Exotic cats have a Persian's outlook but still maintain the plush and short coat of the American Shorthair one. Exotic cats meet all the beautiful color coats of Persian. They look like a rounded teddy bear, no need for a lot of grooming time, and have a peculiar personality. They are quiet cats that can offer an opportunity for those who want to have a cuddly pet but still need their own space. 

This unique breed has stepped a bit further than Persians, who used to be the most popular breed in the US. In 2014, Exotic cats were chosen to be the top 1 kitty that Americans have longed for. Followed by Persian, Maine Coon, Ragdoll, British Shorthair, American Shorthair, Abyssinian, Sphynx, Siamese, and Scottish Fold. 

Stubbs the cat was a mayor of Talkeetna, a small town in Alaska before his passing on July 21, 2017. He was the one who won the mayoral election among other write-ins "catdidates". His royal posture and diva behavior earned people's hearts. Every afternoon, the meoyor "went to a nearby restaurant and drank water laced with catnip out of a wineglass or margarita glass."

The uniqueness of Stubbs was probably his tailless feature. In 1997, Lauri Stec, manager of Nagley's General Store chose Stubbs to be her companion because he was a one-of-a-kind kitten. During Stubbs's tenure, Stec indicated that he was the best mayor that the town had ever had.

"He doesn't raise our taxes - we have no sales tax. He doesn't interfere with business, and he's honest." - She said.

Being tired of the corrupt politicians in the eastern Mexican city of Xalapa, 2 students launched a campaign to "get rid of the rats". They nominated a black-and-white cat named Morris to be one of the catdidate on June 17, 2013. This campaign had been spreading out the international social media in a very short time because of Morris's cuteness and the sarcasm of the current do-nothing politicians.

Morris was not officially registered and voted on the ballot but the phenomenal event had awakened up a lot of people in Mexico. It was said that whoever voted for Morris the feline will not be counted, seemed like that had nothing to do with this remarkable meowyor who promised "to sleep, eat, yawn and play in the dirt and that is what he will do if he wins the election."

Owning a cat who has half size of a 6-foot Subway sandwich, Stephy Hirst's kitty was recorded to be the largest housecat in the world. Omar, a Maine Coon cat, when he stretches out, his rectangular 33-pound body can reach 3 feet 11 inches. As we can see in the picture, the owner takes a lot of effort to carry her cat. Stephy Hirst and Omar are living in Melbourne, Australia and he is now an Internet celeb with almost 160k followers on Instagram. The owner said she didn't expect her fluffy ball to be that huge, after a few months of raising him, Omar became abundantly large. He broke the record of the previous champion of Guinness World Record who happens to be a UK-based kitty named Ludo with 3 feet 10.6 inches in length.

But he is not alone. In Italy, there is also a cat who has the same length as Omar's, named Barivel. He is a Maine Coon kitty, too. They seem to be the record-holder duo until now.

Folks, now we are safe to say that we can enjoy the desserts in peace! Human being has a total of 6 kinds of taste buds: sour, bitter, salty, umami and sweet. Unlike us, a cat's anatomical formation doesn't attach 2 coupled proteins generated by two separate genes: known as Tas1r2 and Tas1r3. These two genes appear on normal mammals' tongues allow their sweet receptors to activate, except cats. Scientifically, cats are the only mammal that lacks taste receptors among other relative animals such as mongooses and hyenas. Cats can only taste meat that contains high proteins, amino acids, minerals, fats and fatty acids, vitamins and other bioactive components, and small quantities of carbohydrates. Aside from being sweet blind, cats can actually consume sour, bitter, and umami flavors. However, cat food production nowadays has added corn or other sweetening digestive things inside the kibble, which makes cats fatter and unhealthy. So we have to be more aware of the ingredients when we consider buying a healthy one for your cat.

Cats are highly sensitive to water, though they are not a fan of the sweetness mentioned above. Specifically, moving water is a good choice for them. Cats still remain their wild ancestor's instinct: detecting whether it's good water or stagnant one. Cats think still water is very poisonous, and they don't usually feel thirsty as dogs. Felines are considered desert dwellers, they do not recognize when they are thirsty. It may cause the risk of becoming dehydrated for some housecats.

The solution is you should give them wet canned food or buy them a cat-sized water fountain so they won't have to get some critical diseases such as kidney problems.

Actually, it was 38 years and 3 days. Creme Puff is confirmed to be the world's oldest cat according to Guinness World Records. This American domestic cat was born on August 3, 1967, her owner was Jake Perry. During her spent years on earth, Jake Perry loved her with all his heart, she was the most spoiled queen. He gave her a lot of healthy food and "an eyedropper full of red wine" to lengthen her longevity. He also turned his garage into a movie theater that displaying animal documentaries exclusively for his cats. Creme Puff passed away on August 6, 2005.

Jake Perry used to own another kitty, Granpa Rexs Allen, who was born in Paris, Texas, in 1964. Granpa was adopted before Creme Puff, he was also ranked as the fifth cat who had the longest living with the age of 34 years and 2 months in 1998.

Stop saying that black cats only bring bad omens! Blackie the little black feline is now wealthier than you who had brought his UK-based late owner Ben Rea to the peak of the riches. In 1988, unfortunately, Blackie's owner died, but he didn't give all his properties to his family members. Ben split the major of the bequeathable wealth to the cat charities. He also used the rest to honor his faithful gardener, mechanic, and plumber. He left a home to his friend Ken Randolph. Last but not least, a massive £7-million ($12.5-million) fortune belonged to Blackie, one of the 15 cats who could survive and share the mansion with Ben Rea.

Blackie was the wealthiest kitty until 2018. A current placeholder of the Guinness World Records is Tommaso, who is also a black cat with the inheritance of $13 million, lives in Italy.

When you hear a cat purring, you know that they are content with life, and they do love you. A cat purr ranges between the frequencies of 25-150Hz. These happy-go-lucky waves allow cats to heal the owner's mental health, reduce anxiety, alleviate the chance of having insomnia. Remarkably, their low and gentle rumble improves bone density, builds muscle and repairs tendons, lessens pain and swelling. That's why the purrs are the best therapeutic medication that has been highly recommended for such a long time. 

Furthermore, a cat's purrs also indicate that they are hungry. Make sure you notice them and respond to them carefully. Especially, a mama cat uses the purring sounds to Rockabye their offspring.

Besides soothing themselves by the purrs, this is also a sign of getting hurt. The dilemma has confused many scientists and cat owners a lot. We do not know whether they are actually happy or painful. And there is no other way to figure out which purr is a happy purr or a stressful one but knowing and identifying the situation, what it leads to, and we're good.

This might shock some people because when I am writing this article, I was amazed as well. Who would have thought that a cat's behavioral features have the similarity to humans? As we all know, one of the cutest parts of a cat's body is little toe beans in their 4 paws. It is squishy and relaxing to touch and rub, isn't it? Many scientists are in love with their soft and puff paws, but more than that, they have studied how cat paws are functioning based on their genders. Psychologists Deborah Wells and Sarah Millsopp of Queen's University Belfast were in this duty, they held an experiment in 3 months for 42 domestic cats - 21 females and 21 males - to figure out whether cats exhibit handedness. Deborah and the team found out some interesting behaviors via the cat's gender: female cats were more likely to use their righties to reach the narrow-mouthed jar, to step the stairs, and to step in the litter box. Whereas, male kitties prefer their left paws to do the same test.

Why a cat tower is designed to be way higher than a couch or a kitchen counter? Cats have a rooted instinct is to climb, jump, and hunt. However, there are various breeds of a cat so when you are wondering if there is the highest height a cat can leap, it depends on 5 categories: breed, age, weight, agility, and overall health. An athletic cat's hind legs are very springy and bouncy, they can jump up to 4-5 feet (6 times higher than their actual body's one). A kitten absolutely can't reach that goal since they are still young and small, meanwhile, a slender kitty like Abyssinian is the opposite. A Munchkin cat has short legs so they can't mimic that ability, but they run faster than others, for your information.

On 30 January 2018, Waffle the Warrior Cat (USA), in Big Sur, California, USA, was recorded to be a kitty who had the longest jump (213.36 cm (7 ft)).

If your cat is still young and he/she likes jumping, let them play with wand toys to strengthen the muscles in their back legs. However, you should probably keep them away from some areas you don't want them to encounter with just a fleeting jump.

Honestly, all the animals are smart but in different ways. However, the relation between a cat and a human's brain is the closest. Their head is small, though, they can compile all the features of the brain that people have. Grey and white matter, temporal, occipital, frontal, and parietal lobes of their cerebral cortex, what else can we say more? Thus, cats do have short-term and long-term memory, their brain storage can stack up to 1000 times faster and larger than an Ipad. And if anyone who compares cat's intelligence and dog's, leave them alone, because two different species have their distinctive problem-solving skills. 

Cats are equally smart, but these top 8 are more brilliant than others: Abyssinian, Balinese, Bengal, Cornish Rex, Javanese, Siamese, Siberian, and Turkish Angora/Van.

Cats have a brilliant auditory system whose ears can accept a high frequency which is up to 64,000Hz. They can even hear the softest sound of the breeze 3 feet away, which assists in the locating of prey. A human's ear consists of 3 small bones and 3 muscles while a cat's ears are threefold equipped, turns out they can hear sounds from a great distance, 4-5 times further than humans. However, that is also the reason why the ears are very sensitive and easy to get injured.

Otitis externa is one of the common diseases which is diagnosed in felines and canines. The human's ear canal is about 2.5 centimeters in length, but their ear canal is longer. An allergic skin disease, parasites, food allergies, autoimmune diseases, and foreign objects in the ears are the causes that possibly harm their ears, lead to many worse situations. So whenever you witness your fluff ball scratching or rubbing the ears, shaking their head, you can smell a bad odor in the ears, watery fluid comes from the ear, and red or swollen ear canals, please take them to the vet as soon as possible.

This input is an age-old debate across the world, but not many people have completely acknowledged it in a scientific way. There are three categories to evaluate cat and dog's intelligence: problem-solving ability, concept formation, and social intelligence. Dogs are pack animals who are taught and trained to involve in social aspects. Military dogs, service dogs, therapy dogs, food detecting dogs, bomb-detecting dogs, these "jobs" are based on the social skill of the dogs. Whereas cats were not born to be as sociable as dogs. When humans pay attention to cats, they will spend more time standing with them, that's how cats give voice to the world. But being chosen to get those jobs doesn't mean dogs are smarter than cats. In the concept formation, one interesting thing about cats is they do recognize the name they are given and they can even distinguish between their names and other familiar sounds. As mentioned above, cats have a high sense of hearing, which they can prepare themselves to deal with the prey or predators. Cat's cognitive ability is much more sensitive than dogs. Let us give an example, dogs are paid to attend training classes and stuff while most cat owners don't spend any penny to teach them. The studies demonstrate that a cat's brain contains 300 million neurons, whereas dogs have about 160 million. Cat's brain size is also smaller than dog's which is occupying 0.9% of the body. They are equally adorable and intelligent, folks.

Having the double amount of neurons as mentioned, cats have a higher chance of processing information from the environment. Pet owners will probably understand what I am talking about. While you are teaching some tricks for your dog, definitely a cat will be observing everything behind. And don't think that cats can't remember, their long-term memory is undoubtedly stronger than dogs (and maybe more than humans nowadays), they can store up all events for up to 16 hours! Speaking about vision, cats are neither colorblind nor visually sensitive. Humans have 10 times more cones than cats, which can perceive RGB colors (red, green, blue) and a broad spectrum of colors, while cats only have 2 cones so the ability to see colors is limited.

How many meowing sounds that you can recognize when it comes to vocalizing? Surprisingly, there is a phonetic instruction about cat language. We usually think a cat only has only 1 meowing sound which indicates they want to communicate with humans. In fact, when you listen to the cat's meow closely, you will find vastly different meanings. 

If a cat meows with a short and high-pitched "m-" or "mrr-" sound, they are happy and want to say hello to you, or want to be fed, or ask for a human's attention. A typical meowing sound also applies to the bond of a mama cat and her offspring. 

However, if you encounter a meow with a stressed "e" from the cat, they are hungry or cold. When you hear a "me-ahh-ow" with a prolonged 'ahh", your cat is demanding something from you. Generally, people are more likely to respond to their cute meows with the same pitch as theirs. 

A distressful kitty also meows at you, which is very important. Many cats start to meow in their litter box, which signifies the pain inside their urinary tract blockage. A long howling or moaning in a deep, guttural voice can be referred to their serious medical conditions such as kidney disease, blood clots, or traumatic injury.

Take care of the sounds of the cats, associated with other body parts and contexts, you will find they are very affectionate and lovable.

Gaining a lot of gold medals and the audience's admiration in the Olympics, a retired fastest sprinter Usain Bolt has been a star in people's hearts. This Jamaican sportsman could swift himself within 9.58 seconds for 100m at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, reaching 27.8 miles per hour. 

However, there was a funny comparison about the actual speed of the world's fastest man versus animals. If there was a race for Usain Bolt, a cheetah, a pronghorn, a greyhound, and a domestic cat, he would have been gone home without any gold medal. Let's have a narrower comparison between the man of speed Usain Bolt and our beloved feline. As Bolt's fastest, he can reach 27.8mph and a domestic cat can dash to the finish line with 30mph. So what makes the cat and other faster animals can accelerate their speeds?

There are four criteria to fully assess the speed: height, leg length, muscle density, and other minor factors. Furthermore, a human doesn't have a cat's instinct which is hunting the prey and hiding from the predators. It is fairly based on the environment and the condition to form the body's structure and strength. A normal person will take a lot of time to conquer 100m but Usain could manage himself to win over the world, so it's still a big appreciation for this human being.

Are cats obsessed with cleanliness so they always carefully bury their waste in the litter box? Half true, my dears. Back to the time when they were not tamed yet, the urine and feces of the wild cats were covered to distract the predators. In reverse, dominant cats such as tigers, lions, or jaguars tended to leave the waste to mark the territory. Cat owners can assume their waste is all the same, in fact, the special chemical inside their excrement called pheromones help a cat can claim their own space. Simply put, in the wild, big cats don't bury the poop to signal "Hey, this is my region, ain't nobody can touch it!".

So now, domestic cats still inherit their previous ancestors, and they think they are "underdogs" toward humans. If a cat ever leaves the waste, it could be a rebellious behavior arisen "I am the king of this house!", or the causes of an illness, urinary tract infection, stomach problems, or simply a lack of training in how to properly use a litter box.

Small but mighty! I am talking about their marvelous whiskers which usually tickle us when we snuggle them up. A cat usually has about 12 whiskers on each side of its face. Cats can perform themselves in 2 forms: solid and liquid. If they are in their normal figure, the whiskers are for signaling their swinging mood: whiskers are bunched up and lay flat along the face mean they are afraid of something, whiskers are directed 100% forward signifies their excitement, pointing forward whiskers mean your furry buddy is ready for hunting, and when they are happy or resting, the whiskers are still.

When a cat is stuck in a narrow space or wants to liquidize itself, the whiskers are vibrating to identify the air and then send the information immediately to its nervous system and brain. Fun fact: a cat's whiskers are not only present on either side of the nose, they could be on their upper lip, eyebrow, on their jaw, and on the backs of their front legs!

Before jumping right to the main question: why cats can rotate their ears 180 degrees, let's have an overall look at the cat's ear structure.

Each ear of a cat has 3 areas: the outer ear, middle ear, and inner ear. The outer ear consists of the pinna and an ear canal. When a cat hears a squeaky sound, the pinna receives and sends it to the ear canal and funnel to the middle ear. Interestingly, each ear of a cat owns 32 muscles, while a human's both ears are 6 muscles, and a dog's ears are18. The outer ear is mobile and is the important part to signal the other two areas. These pinnae help a cat to pinpoint the source of the sound comes from.

The middle ear includes the eardrum and ossicles. Ossicle is simply three bones that serve to transmit sounds from the air to the fluid-filled labyrinth. They will vibrate and convey the sound to the inner ear.

The inner ear is all about the sensory cells in the organ of Corti and the vestibular system. These two will help them to send electrical signals through the auditory nerve to the brain for processing.

The outer ears are the primary part to help a cat swivel their ear 180 degrees because its bones are well-functioning.

Based on the formation and its individual functions, these helpful tiny bones increase the sensitivity of hearing by 20 to 30 percent. Each ear can move independently allows a cat to prepare the upcoming movements. This makes it possible for a predator to move its body in one direction while pointing the ear in the opposite direction. Basically, it's really like a satellite or a radar. 

Additionally, there is a fold of skin forming an open pouch on the lower posterior part of the outer ear of a cat called "Henry's pocket". There is no accurate explanation and function for this part, some theories mainly indicate the slits support the hearing ability of a feline or a canine. Hair tufts that grow around and in the ears are called cat ear furnishings.

Witnessing some wet paw prints and you think that is because your cat was playing with water? No, no, not at all. Cats and water don't mix, they are frustrated with water and so many time we have convinced them to bathe with us but failed. Actually, that is a cat's sweat, the only part where a cat can sweat in when dealing with overheat weather. According to Cat Owner’s Veterinary Handbook, sweat glands are found only in the footpads of a cat. Cats are desert dwellers so they are able to bear the heat very well. When they can't stand the summer months, cats use their own saliva to groom the fur, and it releases the heat inside them, evaporating sweats make the body cooler.

Every human has their one-of-a-kind fingerprints to perform their authenticity and identification, so do the cats. But it doesn't appear to their squishy paws, their nose steals the limelight instead. If you are looking at their nose under the magnifying glass, you will see there are a lot of bumps and ridges. But there is no cat that has the same pattern. Their uniqueness is quite small but very remarkable and adorable! Who is here for the cat's nose?

Have you ever wondered why when you are scratching a cat's chin or head, they are closing their eyes with a content smile, then immediately hiss at you when you pet their tail? Here is a reason: a cat's crown of the head is where the scent glands assemble, they are cautious creatures so they want to get to know your smell before showing any affection to you. Furthermore, the head is where a cat can't reach when it comes to grooming. Even though they don't have collar bone and they can stretch out or bend the head flexibly, the face is not included in the licking session. So they need your hand, hoomans. They will feel comfier and more relaxed when you pet their head. Another love reason is when they were kittens, their mama cat used to lick their head to comfort and give love, so when a human does the same thing, they will be reminiscing the childhood, they will feel safe when you rub their head!

This is absolutely one of the 9 signs that show a cat loves you. As said, the scent glands of a cat mostly focus on their head. If it's the first time you meet a cat and they start to rub their head against you, they probably want to get the information from you or they love you at first sight!

This God-gifted litter of kittens belonged to Tarawood Antigone, a four-year-old Burmese kitty from Oxfordshire in the United Kingdom. She gave birth to the massive offspring on August the 7th 1970 and still holds the world's record of the largest litter of kittens. It was said that among 19 cuties, 4 of them were stillborn, there were 14 male cats and only 1 female. Valerie Gane, the owner of Tarawood Antigone, is an international cat breeder, whose expertise is admirable and knowledgeable. Seems like the biggest litter of kittens is a reward for the woman's caring and kindness.

You can read more here.

Although there are so many rumors about the actual origin of this cat, Egyptian Mau is still believed to be found in Egypt, not in Europe. This unique spotted coat kitty is the fastest one among domestic cats. The spots are natural, the "eyeliners" lengthen from the outer corners of the eyes to the cheeks and towards the ears. Distinctively, there is a marking "M" on their forehead. Egyptian Maus are athletic with a slender body and shorthaired. They are friendly yet possessive, so consider to have two cats in a house when you already own an Egyptian Mau.