40 Interesting Facts about Cats
Did you know… Cats are America’s most popular pets. With 88 million cats compared to 74 million dogs, cats are taking over the world one meme at a time. Learn more interesting cat facts from our list below.
1. Every year, nearly four million cats are eaten in China as a delicacy.
2. Approximately 24 cat skins can make a coat.
3. A group of cats is called a “clowder.
4. Cats sleep for 70% of their lives.
5. Cats can spend up to a third of their waking hours grooming.
6. Cats dislike citrus scents.
7. The longest cat ever measured 48.5 inches (1.23 m) when fully stretched out.
8. Cats have 230 bones, while humans only have 206.
9. Cats use their long tails to balance themselves when they are jumping or walking along narrow ledges.
10. Owning a cat can reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes by more than a third, researchers found.
11. Cats have a unique “vocabulary” with their owner — each cat has a different set of vocalizations, purrs and behaviors.
12. Cat breeders are called catteries.
13. The CIA spent US$20 million in the 60s training cats to spy on the Soviets. The first spy cat was hit by a taxi.
14. There are more than 70 cat breeds.
15. Cats have three eyelids.
16. In Korea and Japan, there is a Cat Cafe where you can go to drink coffee and hang out with cats for hours.
17. A fingerprint is to a human as a nose is to a cat.
18. The world’s smallest cat is called “Tinker Toy” and he’s just 2.75 inches (7 cm) tall.
19. The most popular pedigreed cat is the Persian cat, followed by the Main Coon cat and the Siamese cat.
20. Cats can’t see directly below their noses.
21. More than 86,000 people are injured by tripping over their cats and dogs every year in the U.S.
22. Cats cannot taste anything sweet.
23. Cats sweat through their paws.
24. Cats can dream. They produce the same brain wave patterns that we do when we dream.
25. Cats have sandpaper-like tongues that they use to clean groom themselves.
26. The first cloned cat was called “CC”, short for “Carbon Copy.”
27. Cats can get sick or die from eating chocolate.
28. The oldest breed of cat is the Egyptian Mau.
29. In Ancient Egypt, killing a cat, even accidentally, incurred the death penalty.
30. Cats make about 100 different sounds. Dogs make only about 10.
31. A cat can jump up to five times its own height in a single bound.
32. Many Egyptians worshiped the goddess Bast, who had a woman’s body and a cat’s head.
33. A cat’s jaw can’t move sideways, so a cat can’t chew large chunks of food.
34. Approximately 1/3 of cat owners think their pets are able to read their minds.
35. Cats have 32 muscles that control the outer ear (humans have only 6). A cat can independently rotate its ears 180 degrees.
36. Cats spend nearly 1/3 of their waking hours cleaning themselves.
37. The largest cat breed is the Ragdoll. Male Ragdolls weigh between 12 and 20 lbs (5.4-9.0 k). Females weigh between 10 and 15 lbs (4.5-6.8 k).
