Cat Trivia

Various facts & trivia about our feline friends..

• Both humans and cats have identical regions in the brain responsible for emotion.
• A cat's brain is more similar to a man's brain than that of a dog.
• A cat has more bones than a human; humans have 206, but the cat has 230 (some cites list 245 bones, and state that bones may fuse together as the cat ages).
• Cats have 30 vertebrae (humans have 33 vertebrae during early development; 26 after the sacral and coccygeal regions fuse)
• The cat's clavicle, or collarbone, does not connect with other bones but is buried in the muscles of the shoulder region. This lack of a functioning collarbone allows them to fit through any opening the size of their head.
• The cat has 500 skeletal muscles (humans have 650).
• Cats have 32 muscles that control the outer ear (compared to human's 6 muscles each). A cat can rotate its ears independently 180 degrees, and can turn in the direction of sound 10 times faster than those of the best watchdog.
• Cats' hearing is much more sensitive than humans and dogs.
• Cats' hearing stops at 65 khz (kilohertz); humans' hearing stops at 20 khz.
• A cat sees about 6 times better than a human at night, and needs 1/6 the amount of of light that a human does - it has a layer of extra reflecting cells which absorb light.
• Recent studies have shown that cats can see blue and green. There is disagreement as to whether they can see red.
• A cat's field of vision is about 185 degrees.
• Blue-eyed, pure white cats are frequently deaf.
• It may take as long as 2 weeks for a kitten to be able to hear well.  Their eyes usually open between 7 and 10 days, but sometimes it happens in as little as 2 days.
• A cat has approximately 60 to 80 million olfactory cells (a human has between 5 and 20 million).
• Cats have a special scent organ located in the roof of their mouth, called the Jacobson's organ. It analyzes smells - and is the reason why you will sometimes see your cat "sneer" (called the flehmen response or flehming) when they encounter a strong odor.
• A cat has a total of 24 whiskers, 4 rows of whiskers on each side. The upper two rows can move independently of the bottom two rows. A cat uses its whiskers for measuring distances.
• Cats have 30 teeth (12 incisors, 10 premolars, 4 canines, and 4 molars), while dogs have 42. Kittens have baby teeth, which are replaced by permanent teeth around the age of 7 months.
• A cat's jaw has only up and down motion; it does not have any lateral, side to side motion, like dogs and humans.  For this reason, don't rely on feeding dry food as a dental care program - cats need to have their teeth cleaned by a vet.
• When a cat drinks, its tongue - which has tiny barbs on it - scoops the liquid up backwards.
• Cats purr at the same frequency as an idling diesel engine, about 26 cycles per second.
• Domestic cats purr both when inhaling and when exhaling.
• The cat's front paw has 5 toes, but the back paws have 4. Some cats are born with as many as 7 front toes and extra back toes (polydactl).
• Cats step with both left legs, then both right legs when they walk or run.
• Cats walk on their toes.
• A domestic cat can sprint at about 31 miles per hour.
• The heaviest cat on record weighed 46 lbs.
• A kitten will typically weigh about 3 ounces at birth.  The typical male housecat will weigh between  7 and 9 pounds, slightly less for female housecats.
• Cats take between 20-40 breaths per minute.
• Normal body temperature for a cat is 102 degrees F.
• A cat's normal pulse is 140-240 beats per minute, with an average of 195.
• Cat's urine glows under a black light.
• Cats lose almost as much fluid in the saliva while grooming themselves as they do through urination.
• Almost 10% of a cat's bones are in its tail, and the tail is used to maintain balance.
• The domestic cat is the only species able to hold its tail vertically while walking. You can also learn about your cat's present state of mind by observing the posture of his tail.
• If a cat is frightened, the hair stands up fairly evenly all over the body; when the cat threatens or is ready to attack, the hair stands up only in a narrow band along the spine and tail.
• It has been scientifically proven that stroking a cat can lower one's blood pressure.
• In 1987, cats overtook dogs as the number one pet in America (about 50 million cats resided in 24 million homes in 1986). About 37% of American homes today have at least one cat.
• If your cat snores or rolls over on his back to expose his belly, it means he trusts you.
• Cats respond better to women than to men, probably due to the fact that women's voices have a higher pitch.
• In an average year, cat owners in the United States spend over $2 billion on cat food.
• According to a Gallup poll, most American pet owners obtain their cats by adopting strays.
• When your cats rubs up against you, she is actually marking you as "hers" with her scent. If your cat pushes his face against your head, it is a sign of acceptance and affection.
• Contrary to popular belief, people are not allergic to cat fur, dander, saliva, or urine - they are allergic to "sebum," a fatty substance secreted by the cat's sebaceous glands. More interesting, someone who is allergic to one cat may not be allergic to another cat. Though there isn't (yet) a way of predicting which cat is more likely to cause allergic reactions, it has been proven that male cats shed much greater amounts of allergen than females. A neutered male, however, sheds much less than a non-neutered male.
• Cat bites are more likely to become infected than dog bites.
• Some notable people who disliked cats:  Napoleon Bonaparte, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Hitler.

A few famous cat lovers..

Pope Benedict XVI
(born Joseph Alois Ratzinger, 1927- ) Reigning head of the Roman Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State

His cat Chico, a black-and-white domestic short hair, continues to live at the pope’s home in Tübingen, Germany (pets are not allowed in the Vatican). Cardinal Roger Mahony, archbishop of Los Angeles, who was in Rome for the pope’s inauguration, says “The street talk that the pope loves cats is incorrect. The pope adores cats.”

Sir Winston Churchill
(1874-1965) British politician (notably, UK prime minister during World War II)

Churchill's marmalade cat Jock slept with his master, shared his dining table, and attended numerous war-time Cabinet meetings. If Jock was late for meals, Churchill would send servants to find him, waiting to eat til the cat was present. Jock was said to have been with his master when he died. Churchill also had a cat, Nelson, named after the famous British admiral.

Charles Dickens
(1812-1870) Author (works include Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickelby, David Copperfield, A Christmas Carol)

Charles' cat, Willamena, produced a litter of kittens in his study. Dickens was determined not to keep the kittens, but he fell in love with one female kitten who was known as "Master's Cat". She kept him company in his study as he wrote, and when she wanted his attention she was known to snuff out his reading candle.

Abraham Lincoln
(1809-1865) American President

Abraham Lincoln came into presidential office accompanied by Tabby, his son's cat. Tabby was the first of several White House cats.

Florence Nightingale
(1820-1910) Humanitarian

One of Florence's cats was a large Persian named "Bismarck". She owned more than 60 cats in her lifetime. 

Nostradamus
Seer and Prophet (1503 - 1566)

This French astrologer had a cat named Grimalkin.  The definition of a grimalkin evolved to "A cat, especially an old female cat."

Mark Twain
(Samuel Clemens) (1835-1910)  American humorist, novelist, writer and lecturer

Twain kept eleven cats at his farm in Connecticut. He wrote, "I simply can't resist a cat, particularly a purring one. They are the cleanest, cunningest, and most intelligent things I know, outside of the girl you love, of course."  He also quipped, "If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way" and "The cat, having sat upon a hot stove lid, will not sit upon a hot stove lid again. But he won't sit upon a cold stove lid, either.”