Just Cats
1. Cats are the most popular pet in the United States: There are 88 million pet cats and 74 million dogs.
2. There are cats who have survived falls from over 32 stories (320 meters) onto concrete.
3. A group of cats is called a clowder.
4. Cats have over 20 muscles that control their ears.
5. Cats sleep 70% of their lives.
6. A cat has been mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska, for 15 years. His name is Stubbs.
7. And one ran for mayor of Mexico City in 2013.
8. In tigers and tabbies, the middle of the tongue is covered in backward-pointing spines, used for breaking off and gripping meat.
9. When cats grimace, they are usually “taste-scenting.” They have an extra organ that, with some breathing control, allows the cats to taste-sense the air.
10. Cats can’t taste sweetness.
11. Owning a cat can reduce the risk of stroke and heart attack by a third.
12. Wikipedia has a recording of a cat meowing because why not?
13. The world’s largest cat measured 48.5 inches long.
14. Evidence suggests domesticated cats have been around since 3600 B.C., 2,000 years before Egypt’s pharaohs.
15. A cat’s purr may be a form of self-healing, as it can be a sign of nervousness as well as contentment.
16. Similarly, the frequency of a domestic cat’s purr is the same at which muscles and bones repair themselves.
17. Adult cats only meow to communicate with humans.
18. The world’s richest cat is worth $13 million after his human passed away and left her fortune to him.
19. Your cat recognizes your voice but just acts too cool to care (probably because they are).
21. Basically all cartoon cats lied to us: Raw fish is off the table for cats as well.
22. The oldest cat video on YouTube dates back to 1894 (when it was made, not when it was uploaded, duh).
24. The technical term for “hairball” is “bezoar.”
25. Female cats are typically right-pawed while male cats are typically left-pawed.
26. Cats make more than 100 different sounds whereas dogs make around 10.
27. A cat’s brain is 90% similar to a human’s — more similar than to a dog’s.
28. Cats and humans have nearly identical sections of the brain that control emotion.
29. A cat’s cerebral cortex (the part of the brain in charge of cognitive information processing) has 300 million neurons, compared with a dog’s 160 million.
30. Cats have a longer-term memory than dogs, especially when they learn by actually doing rather than simply seeing.
31. Basically, cats have a lower social IQ than dogs but can solve more difficult cognitive problems when they feel like it.
50. Cats have free-floating clavicle bones that attach their shoulders to their forelimbs, which allows them to squeeze through very small spaces.
51. Hearing is the strongest of cat’s senses: They can hear sounds as high as 64 kHz — compared with humans, who can hear only as high as 20 kHz.
52. Cats can move their ears 180 degrees.
53. They can also move their ears separately.
54. A cat has detected his human’s breast cancer.
55. A cat’s nose is ridged with a unique pattern, just like a human fingerprint.
56. Cats have scent glands along their tail, their forehead, lips, chin, and the underside of their front paws.
57. A cat rubs against people to mark its territory.
58. Cats lick themselves to get your scent off.
59. When a family cat died in ancient Egypt, family members would shave off their eyebrows as they mourned.
60. They also had elaborate memorials that included mummifying the cat and either burying it in a family tomb or pet cemetery.
61. Cats were mythic symbols of divinity in ancient Egypt.
62. Black cats are bad luck in the United States, but they are good luck in the United Kingdom and Australia.
64. However, a cat called the Turkish Van does not have that insulation problem and LOVES it.
65. The Egyptian Mau is the oldest breed of cat.
66. This breed is also the fastest pedigreed cat.
67. The Egyptian word for cat is, in fact, “mau.”
68. Only 11.5% of people consider themselves “cat people.”
69. Cat people are also 11% more likely to be introverted.
70. Still, cat people are more open to new experiences than typical “dog people.”
71. Cat owners who are male tend to be luckier in love, as they are perceived as more sensitive.
72. Cat owners are 17% more likely to have a graduate degree.
73. Cat people are 25% likely to pick George as their favorite Beatle.
74. A cat’s carbon footprint is similar to that of a VW Bug, whereas a dog’s is more like a Hummer.
78. Eighty-eight percent of cats in the U.S. are spayed or neutered.
79. Only 24% of cats who enter animal shelters are adopted.
80. Cats are really cool.
81. They are also very soft.
82. If you want to adopt a cat, you can visit your local Humane Society or check out petfinder.com.