I had such a good response to my article “Thirteen Strange Feline Facts” that I did some more searching and found 12 more interesting facts about the cute little critters. Here
they are, in no special order:
1. Cats learn to control you with their behavior. (Are you surprised?) For example, if they want something, they can adapt their cries to make you think they are in urgent need. They can make about 100 different sounds, but they normally greet people or announce their presence with a short sound.
2. A cat taken from its home can accurately return to the place it lived most of the time (this is called “psi traveling”), but if it’s owners move really far away, the cat cannot find them.
3. The taste buds of a cat cannot taste sugar (poor things).
4. Cats regularly rub scent from their cheeks on objects in their home environment. The scent marks it as a safe place. They also have scent glands between the pads of their paws for the same purpose.
5. A cat has extra scent organs in the roof of it’s mouth. When you see him with a slightly open mouth, he is collecting extra scent information. This is called Flehmen’s response.
6. Cats’ jaws only move up and down, so they cannot chew with a grinding motion like we do. That’s why they swallow their food whole.
7. Cats must have fat in their diets because they cannot produce it on their own. (Lucky cats!)
8. Many cats are lactose intolerant; milk will give them diarrhea.
9. Cats were so revered in ancient Egypt that many people mummified them after the pet died.
10. The claws on a cat’s back paws aren’t as sharp as those on the front. It’s because the back ones don’t retract like the front ones, so they get worn down over time. That’s why you only need to clip nails on the front paws.
11. Did you know that there has been a cat astronaut? In 1963, France sent a cat named Felicette into space. And yes, she survived.
12. My favorite: A cat’s purr is medically therapeutic for many illnesses as well as for broken bones!
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