Cats lose almost as much fluid in the saliva while grooming themselves as they do through urination.
Charles A. Lindbergh left his kitten, Patsy, at home in 1927 when he made his famous transatlantic flight because it was “too dangerous a journey” to risk her life. But a kitten named Jazz crossed the Atlantic on the first dirigible flight from England to America.
Bouhaki, the earliest cat name on record, dates back to Egyptian writings of 2000 B.C. In the hieroglyphs of that period, bou signifed “house” and “hak” was the symbol for “divine ruler.”
In ancient Egypt, entire families were forced by law to shave their eyebrows as a sign of mourning when the family cat died.
There are approximately 60,000 hairs per square inch on the back of a cat and about 120,000 per square inch on its underside.
The largest litter ever documented was produced by a Burmese/Siamese mother. There were 19 kittens in the litter.
Besides smelling with their noses, cats can smell with an additional organ called the vomeronasal organ (or Jacobson’s organ), located in the upper surface of the mouth
Sir Isaac Newton is credited with the invention of the cat flap-door.
Cat’s ears can be rotated because they are connected to thirty (30) muscles. There are only six (6) muscles connecting human ears – we can’t rotate ours. [More info on the cat's ears]
The first modern cat show, featuring two dozen show classes, was held in London in 1871.
At top speed, a domestic cat can run over 30 mph.
A cat named Towser eliminated 28,899 mice while she was employed by the Glenturret Distillery near Crieff, Tayside, Scotland.
Every cat’s nose pad, or nose leather, has unique characteristics. Just as no two humans have the same fingerprints, it’s a fact that no two feline noseprints are ever alike.
Both humans and cats have identical regions in the brain responsible for emotion.
Back in the late 1940s in Buenos Aires, a black female cat climbed a 40 foot tree where she resided for six years. Her name was Mincha and she wasn’t lonely for companionship. She had three litters while living in the tree. The local Argentinians fed her by putting her food on poles.
Casper, a gorgeous 12-year-old green-eyed feline, boards the No. 3 bus outside his home in Plymouth, Devon, at 10:55 each morning, and travels the entire 11-mile route before returning home about an hour later.
It’s an interesting ride. On the route, Casper passes an historic dockyard and naval base, a city center, several suburbs and the city’s red light district (maybe he’s looking for cat houses?) Being a cat, however, Casper snoozes through most of the ride from his favorite spot at the back of the bus.
All First Bus drivers have been alerted to look out for him and wake him up to ensure he gets off at the right stop.
Susan Finden, Casper’s owner, said, “Casper has always disappeared for hours at a time but I never understood where he was going.
“I called him Casper because he had a habit of vanishing like a ghost. But then some of the drivers told me he had been catching the bus.
“I couldn’t believe it at first, but it explains a lot. He loves people and we have a bus stop right outside our house so that must be how he got started – just following everyone on.
“I used to catch the odd bus too so maybe he saw me and got curious what I was doing.
“Casper is quite quick for his age so he just hops on to the bus before the doors close. He catches the 10:55 am service and likes to sit on the back seat.”
Rob Stonehouse, one of the drivers on the route, said, “He usually just curls up at the back of the bus. Sometimes he nips between people’s legs but he never causes any trouble.”
Just a werd of warning to all you beech bunnies hoo use the pool as yer litterbox during the summer swim seezin: acrost the country, kittehs are being forst to kleen the pool after they pee in it, as described in this artikle by Sharyn Thoma in the Kitty City Gazette:
Seattle, WA
Two Edmonds teencats are busy this afternoon, scrubbing down the now-dry walls of the Edmonds Public pool after they were caught peeing in it just yesterday afternoon.
Peeing in the pool is more common than you might think, about one in two cats admit to doing it and some admit they actually really like it.
Public pools across the country are super busy for the summer season, but the events at the Edmonds pool could make you think twice about jumping in.
Peeing in pools is a fun and thrilling hobby
Scatterby, a 6-year-old, neutered, Domestic Short Hair, and Cesar Augusto Rimbaldo, a 5-year-old, neutered, Domestic Short Hair, were both enjoying the sweltering summer day until one of them decided to let loose in the pool.
“I decided to swim away from everyone else first,“ said Scatterby, who works as a bouncer at Giggles nightclub in Seattle, “Then I started to swim back as soon as I started peeing, to avoid making a warm pocket of it for someone else to swim into.”
Scatterby’s plan didn’t work as well as he intended. A bunch of kittens started squealing about finding a “warm spot” to their momcat, who started to suspect foul play.
Cesar believes the look on his face while peeing gave him away
When Cesar saw what Scatterby was up to, he joined the fun. “I decided to walk over into the shallow end so (the pee) would spread out and not stay in one spot.”
According to a recent poll, almost half of all cats admit to one or more behaviors that contribute to an unsanitary pool. After all, peeing in pools is a fun and thrilling hobby.
And you’ve probably suspected as much, since the poll also showed 95 percent of us believe our fellow swimmers participate in pool peeing.
The momcat who witnessed the boy’s peeing notified lifeguards, who told Police. The pool was shut down and the cats were told they would be spending the next day scrubbing out the entire pool by hand.
Cesar admitted he is a nine-time offender at the Edmonds pool
“Peeing in the pool isn’t cool,” said the momcat, who wished to remain anonymous.
One in two respondents admitted to peeing in the pool, and liking it, while almost nine in ten are convinced that their fellow swimmers are guilty of this act.
About a third of all cats admitted that they jump in without showering first. Despite all this nastiness, cats said that they usually tried to put it out of their minds and just try to enjoy the swim.
Whether or not you pee in pools, you should know that unclean water can actually lead to recreational water illnesses like diarrhea, reduced sexual potency, as well as ear and skin infections.
Photos: Random
Sum sugjestions fur not gitting cawt peeing in the pool:
Drag it, so yoo don’t leeve big warm spots.
Even tho it’s a big reeleef win yoo do pee in the pool, try not to let it show on yer face, or let out a big purr of reeleef. Be cool.
Don’t pee in the pool neer kittins. Kittins are notorius tattletales.
Yoo can sumtimes git away with peeing in the pool, but yoo cannot have the sqwerts in the pool and git away with it. So win yer tummy begins to tumble, hop out and hed fur the litter box.
Cat-owners know that their little furball isn’t always just a ball of fluffiness curled up on the sofa. We all have seen our cats do some amazingly weird things, often for no (seemingly) logical reason.
Joanne Eglash recently posted an interesting article on The Daily Cat that discusses some of the strange things that cats tend to do, from licking their owners’ earlobes to pawing at their water bowls. The article suggests that while some of a cat’s behavior is caused by genes and lineage, much of it can be attributed to the notion that (and this is where all cat lovers nod their heads in agreement) cats have better senses of humor than people do. In her article, Eglash draws from the expertise of Arden Moore (author and Animal Behavior Consultant) and Karen Santos (companion animals manager at the International Fund for Animal Welfare in Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts).
The article contains a great breakdown of some common cat “types,” offering up descriptions of everything from the Esther Williams Cat to the Food Burier. Turns out that while my two cats are predominantly an Herb Loverand a Gift Giver, I noticed traits in all of the types that my little friends have been known to display.
Here are the descriptions of the Herb Lover and the Gift Giver from Eglash’s article:
The Herb Lover
The herb-loving cat is always more than eager to get its paws on catnip. Feline fans of this perennial member of the mint family roll in it, sniff ecstatically at it, and close their eyes blissfully as they indulge. But, as many as 30 percent of adult cats have absolutely no interest in catnip, according to Moore. “Some cats prefer honeysuckle, which must be moistened to release its active ingredients,” she adds.
The Gift Giver
Has your cat ever suddenly dropped a toy mouse in your lap? Several cat owners have reported receiving such unexpected gifts, whether they want them or not. The moment becomes even more memorable if the mouse was a once-live real one. Santos explains that it is your kitty’s way “of showing affection.”
To read the entire article and try to figure out which type best suits your little furry friend, click here.
dirigible flight from England to America.
Yo, kittehs! Skeezix heer.
