Fun Cat Facts: Did You Know?

Some interesting cat facts for our ailurophilia sufferers! (that’s ‘love of cats’ in case you didn’t know)

As much as we love them as our little ‘fur people’, and have humanized our feline friends to fit into our world, how much do we actually know about them…?

Here’s some random cat facts for you. Some may be true, others, we’ll let you make up your own minds. But fact or fiction, observation or myth, one thing is certain, the magic of the mystical moggy remains as alluring as ever. Enjoy!

Fun Cat Fact 1. On an average, cats sleep for almost 70% of their lives, which means a nine-year-old cat has been awake for only three years of its life. 

Fun Cat Fact 2.  Cats have the ability to make over 100 different sounds, whereas dogs can make only 10. (Feel free to drop that one conversationally at parties when the ‘Dog Lovers’ arise to dis our beloveds)

Fun Cat Fact 3.  A cat has the ability to jump up to six times its length. (Key here is the word “ability” – doesn’t mean they will though if it means leaving a comfy lap)

Fun Cat Fact 4.  Normally, a cat has around 12 whiskers on each side of its face. Cats use their whiskers to figure out how wide an opening is and whether they will fit through it.

Fun Cat Fact 5. Cats have around 53 loosely fitting vertebrae, which makes their back really flexible. Humans have just 34. (And why we can’t sleep with our legs facing left, our arms right, and our heads contorted around beneath our shoulder blades!! Or bent over the back of the lounge)

Fun Cat Fact 6. One of the reasons a kitten sleeps so much is because it releases a growth hormone during sleep. (I guess we could almost say then, that cats must just keep growing!)

Fun Cat Fact 7. A cat’s body is covered with roughly 130,000 hairs for each square inch. (And 60,000 of them per square inch of fabric)

Fun Cat Fact 8. A cat’s nose has a unique pattern, similar to the fingerprint of a human. (Aww… so cute)

Fun Cat Fact 9. According to researchers, keeping a cat as a pet reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes by nearly one third. (Not that we needed justification or reasons, but does give great comeback when faced with negative comments about our obsession! Those poor ‘high-risk’ lonely people! )

Enjoy this new found knowledge! And don’t forget to show your new-found appreciation for your feline friend with an extra cuddle or two. You’ll be counting their whiskers now won’t you?