Amazing facts about cats?

Anne

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I want to make a nice compilation of fun cat facts with a "wow" factor. Assuming all TCS members already know all there is to know about cats and are all wowed by cats - 

If you were to try and amaze your friends with a fun cat fact, what would it be?

I'll start with one - 

Did you know that unlike with dogs, the feline genome is very very similar to the human genome as far as its arrangement?

I'm a geek, I know! 
 I'm counting on TCS members to do better where it comes to wowing people with cats 
 

kittywhiskers

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Ok I have one:

A cat’s nose pad is ridged with a unique pattern, just like the fingerprint of a human.:catguy:
 

Kat0121

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A cat lover is called an Ailurophile (Greek: cat+lover)

A cat’s jaw can’t move sideways, so a cat can’t chew large chunks of food
 

betsygee

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I'm already impressed with the interesting facts.  Good start! 
 

natalie_ca

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Cats can purr to express pain or fear in addition to expressing pleasure or contentment.

Female cats tend to be right pawed. Male cats are usually left pawed.  In humans about 10 percent are lefties, but the majority of those are male.

Sir Isaac Newton invented the cat door.

The domestic cat is the only species able to hold its tail vertically while walking. Wild cats hold their tail horizontally, or tucked between their legs while walking.

Each kitten in a litter can have a different father.

By spaying and neutering just one male and one female cat, more than 2,000 unwanted births can be prevented in just 4 years - and more than 2 million in 8 years! These numbers are based on one unspayed female, her mate and all of her offspring producing 1 litter per year, with 2.8 surviving kittens per litter.

The tufts of hair growing out of a cat's ears are called "ear furnishings."

A cat's response to catnip is based on whether they have a specific gene. About 20% of cats do not have the specific gene and won't react to catnip.

A group of cats is called a Clowder.
 
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Anne

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Well, I'm learning too! I knew some of these, but definitely not all.

Keep them coming! 

Adding this one myself - 

The frequencies of a cat's purr have been shown to improve bone density and promote healing!
 

Norachan

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When cats walk their back paws step into the track left by their front paws, which means you only see a left and right paw print, not a front and back paw print.

Cats can't taste sugar, their tongues don't have the ability to recognise sweet tastes.
 

Draco

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Cats can't see directly beneath their noses - at least I think that's true?
 
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Norachan

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Cats can't see directly beneath their noses - at least I think that's true?
I thought that was horses?

Just tried putting my finger directly under Carpet's nose to see what she would do.......she bit me. 
 

kittywhiskers

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Cats are the sleepiest of all mammals. They sleep for around 16 hours each day. This means that a seven year old cat is only awake for just two years of its life! Also, they love to groom themselves. They spend almost one third of their life grooming themselves.
 

jtbo

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I thought that was horses?

Just tried putting my finger directly under Carpet's nose to see what she would do.......she bit me. :lol3:
Cat's know that food goes under the nose, things near there might be edible, hence test nibble is needed :)

I don't know if this is a fact, but when you have a table twice the size of microwave and you have microwave in that table, then add frozen fish into microwave and start defrost program, in a moment there can be as many as five cats on that table sniffing microwave and doing head rubs against corners of microwave.

Thus it must be a fact that space required by a cat is inversely proportional to amount of yummy smell coming from microwave :D

Oh and cats can shed fur upwards too, gravity is not effecting shed fur. There are numerous occasions where I have got cat's fur in my mouth even they have been swarming on my legs at feeding time, there is no other way how that could happen, so it must be a fact :D
 

fhicat

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Cats can't see anything clearly more than 20 ft or 6 meters. They also cannot focus on very near objects, which is why they tend to sniff an outstretched finger, because at that distance, the nose and whiskers take over the eyes as perception sensors.
 

Norachan

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Cat's know that food goes under the nose, things near there might be edible, hence test nibble is needed


I don't know if this is a fact, but when you have a table twice the size of microwave and you have microwave in that table, then add frozen fish into microwave and start defrost program, in a moment there can be as many as five cats on that table sniffing microwave and doing head rubs against corners of microwave.

Thus it must be a fact that space required by a cat is inversely proportional to amount of yummy smell coming from microwave


Oh and cats can shed fur upwards too, gravity is not effecting shed fur. There are numerous occasions where I have got cat's fur in my mouth even they have been swarming on my legs at feeding time, there is no other way how that could happen, so it must be a fact
I thought that was probably it, I must smell pretty tasty to her.

You're right about the cat fur, it's not bound by the usual laws of physics. I want to know how they manage to get their fur on brand new sweaters before I've even taken them out of the bag.
 
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