The female cat reaches sexual maturity within 6 to 10 months; most veterinarians suggest spaying the female at 5 months, before her first heat period. The male cat usually reaches sexual maturity between 9 and 12 months.
People who are allergic to cats are actually allergic to cat saliva or to cat dander. If the resident cat is bathed regularly the allergic people tolerate it better.
The first cartoon cat was Felix the Cat in 1919. In 1940, Tom and Jerry starred in the first theatrical cartoon “Puss Gets the Boot.” In 1981 Andrew Lloyd Weber created the musical Cats, based on T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.
A cat lover is called an Ailurophilia (Greek: cat+lover).
During the time of the Spanish Inquisition, Pope Innocent VIII condemned cats as evil and thousands of cats were burned. Unfortunately, the widespread killing of cats led to an explosion of the rat population, which exacerbated the effects of the Black Death.
The strongest climber among the big cats, a leopard can carry prey twice its weight up a tree.
The Maine Coone is the only native American long haired breed.
On average, a cat will sleep for 16 hours a day.
Your cat's heart beats at a rate almost double that of yours, from 110-140 beats per minute.
A cat almost never meows at another cat, mostly just humans. Cats typically will spit, purr, and hiss at other cats.
Tests done by the Behavioral Department of the Musuem of Natural History conclude that while a dog's memory lasts about 5 minutes, a cat's recall can last as long as 16 hours.
The ability of a cat to find its way home is called “psi-traveling.” Experts think cats either use the angle of the sunlight to find their way or that cats have magnetized cells in their brains that act as compasses.
Unlike humans, cats cannot detect sweetness which likely explains why they are not drawn to it at all.
Cat bites are more likely to become infected than dog bites.
The Cat Fanciers Association (CFA) recognizes 44 breeds of cats.
Cats have "nine lives" thanks to a flexible spine and powerful leg and back muscles
The average litter of kittens is between 2 - 6 kittens.
The smallest wildcat today is the Black-footed cat. The females are less than 20 inches (50 cm) long and can weigh as little as 2.5 lbs (1.2 kg).
Cats' hearing stops at 65 khz (kilohertz); humans' hearing stops at 20 khz.
Cats' hearing is much more sensitive than humans and dogs.
A cat's normal pulse is 140-240 beats per minute, with an average of 195.
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.
The first cat show was organized in 1871 in London. Cat shows later became a worldwide craze.
Retractable claws are a physical phenomenon that sets cats apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. I n the cat family, only cheetahs cannot retract their claws.
British cat owners spend roughly 550 million pounds yearly on cat food.