Strange Facts about Cats

Cats are the most common pet owned in the United States and the world in general. While they are common place in most households, it is amazing how little people know about them. Cats can be aloof and temperamental and this has given them a certain mystique among Americans. Some know little about their cats because the cat keeps their distance for the most part. Cats do not require the same amount of time and care as their dog counterparts and as a result, people don’t know a whole lot about what makes them tick. While some of these facts might seem fairly obvious, some might surprise you:

-A domestic cat can run faster than the fastest human being. Despite being considerably smaller, cats can run 30 miles per hour if chased. The fastest human being on the planet can run just a hair under 28 miles per hour.

-Cats grow two sets of teeth in their lifetime. The first set comes in around four weeks and includes 26 deciduous teeth known as milk teeth. The second set includes 30 permanent teeth that come in completely around six months of age.

-The average lifespan of a cat is around 15 years. This is an average; some live longer or die younger. The variation depends on the care received during their life time.

-Cats are among the oldest mammals found on the planet. Fossil records from early cats date back to over 35 million years ago.

-Cats do not have shoulder blades. While cats have skeletons comparable with humans, we have 206 bones and cats have around 245, they do not have shoulder blades. This allows for a much greater range of motion than many other mammals. Their collarbones do not connect to other bones either so they can basically squeeze through any space the size of their head or smaller.

-Cats can move their upper and lower whiskers independently of each other. Each row of whiskers can move through the use of separate muscles. Cats are predators and use their whiskers for environmental scanning. A cat’s whiskers can detect the slightest of changes in the breeze which helps them to track prey.

-Cats have about 30 muscles to control their ears compared to the 6 that humans have. In fact, cats can rotate their ears a full 180 degrees. Cats can hear at 65 kilohertz while human hearing stops at 20. Cats can actually hear better than their canine rivals.

-Cats jaws move only up or down and never from side to side. Their teeth lock together and their jaws allow for no lateral movement. This can pose a problem for dental care and means that eating or chewing on toys will not clean the teeth properly. Cats should always have their teeth cleaned by a professional.

-A cat’s field of vision is a little less than 200 degrees. This allows for excellent peripheral vision and aids in detecting the movement of potential prey. Cats also see well at night because of a reflective layer behind the retina. This layer allows more light to pass into the retina and also causes those giant glowing spheres that appear when you take a flash photo of your cat.

-People who are allergic to cats are allergic to their sebum which is a fatty substance secreted from the sebaceous glands. Some people think that they are allergic to the fur, saliva or dander and while that may be true in dogs, it is the sebum cats produce that sends human’s allergies haywire.

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