Cat Facts

Cats are among the most beautiful, talented and friendliest creatures walking this planet. Many people in all corners of the world are cat lovers. In fact, there have been a few famous cat lovers in our history. Winston Churchill's cat, Jock, slept in bed with him, ate meals at the table with him and even went to his meetings with him. Albert Einstein had a cat named Tiger who would get depressed when it rained. Author Ernest Hemingway had more than 30 cats at his Florida home. And Florence Nightingale owned over 60 cats throughout her lifetime.

Cats have been around for a long time. The ancient Egyptians were the first to keep cats in their home to keep pests away from their food. In fact, cats in Egypt were said to be gods or goddesses and were worshiped as such. Anyone who killed cats during that time and were caught were given the death penalty. Today, cats are quickly becoming the most popular household pet.

There are over 100 million cats on this planet today and over 100 breeds of the domestic cat. Breeds of cats vary by body type, eye color, fur color and fur length. For example Bengal cats look a lot like tigers, Burmese cats have golden eyes with silky fur and Maine Coon cats have a rectangular body with large oval eyes.

Cats go through three stages during their lifetime and each stage comes with it its own nutritional needs, activity levels and vet care. Kittens become cats at a year old. Kittens grow quickly and need kitten food, vet checkups and shots and lots of playtime. The maintenance years are from the ages of a year old to 10 years old. During this time cats need more nutrition, more playtimes with interactive toys and frequent vet checkups. Cats are known as seniors at the age of 10 years old and require frequent vet visits for early disease detection.

There are a couple of things that all pet owners including cat lovers should know about and that is cat behavior and pet nutrition. Cats can showcase various types of behaviors. One such type of behavior is attention seeking. If you got your cat as an adult, they could be seeking attention because of abuse or neglect as a kitten. Most cats like people attention anyhow. The rule when it comes to aggression is to teach your cat that hands are not toys. Biting and scratching is normal behaviors when it comes to cats because that is their defense mechanism. The best form of discipline when it comes to aggressive cats is to grasp him by this scruff and say no in a firm voice. Hold him for 3 to 4 seconds and then let him go. There are several things that cats just love to chew on such as wires, cords, house plants, fabric and leather. When it comes to wires and cords you can either cover them or spray them with a spray that can be purchased at pet stores to make the cords taste bad. This will deter your cat from going near cords and wires again because they will remember the bad taste. You can do the same thing with house plants or you can simply hide or cover the plants. The same thing also applies to fabric and leather. There are many cats that have litter box avoidance. When they are kittens, they need to learn where the little box is located. As adults there could be several reasons they don't use the cat box. As a general rule cats will not use the litter box if it is near where they sleep. The cat box also needs to be large enough, needs to be cleaned often and should contain plenty of liter. Also, if you have more than one cat, each cat should have their own liter box.

Another thing that cat lovers should know is their cats’ nutritional needs. There are four basic things that cats need: protein, fat, minerals and vitamins. Dry food is more of a convenience food and is usually left out for free feeding. Canned food contains water which is good for cats because they don't regularly drink enough water. An important rule when purchasing cat is to not buy the cheaper brands of cat food because they might not contain the right amount of nutrients that your cat needs. When looking at cat food labels, the main source of protein should be chicken, beef or lamb not meat. For canned food, the proteins source should be listed as the first ingredient. Be sure to give your cat fresh water each day and make sure it is readily available. When possible use filtered or bottled water for your cat's water. Cat treats can be used for rewards or just to show your cat how special they are. The two best cat treats I have found are Bonita tuna flakes or Pounce Crunch Variety Pack. The Pounce Crunch Variety Pack comes with catnip, chicken and turkey, tuna and salmon flavors.

According to a 2001 survey by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, 68 million people are dog owners and 73 million people are cat owners. A study was done by a psychologist at the University of Texas at Austin and he concluded that dog lovers are more extroverted, agreeable and conscientious than cat lovers and that cat lovers were more neurotic. I think that the reason that people prefer cats is that cats make better companions, like to cuddle on your lap and are more independent than dogs.

Here are some interesting cat facts that cat lovers might find interesting: cats have 230 bones, 500 skeletal muscles, 30 teeth and 24 whiskers. A cats hearing stops at 65 kHz whereas a humans stops at 20 kHz. A pure white cat with blue eyes is normally deaf. Cats cannot see directly under their noses. Cats have a special sense organ on the roof of their mouth. Cats lap water on the underside of their tongue not on the top. Cats purr a total of 26 cycles per second. The front paws of a cat have five toes whereas the back has only four toes. Cats take 20 to 40 breaths per minute. A normal body temperature of a cat is 102°F. Cats love to have their forehead patted. Cats need a specific gene to get high from catnip. Cats spend 30% of their lives grooming themselves. Cats love to eat sardines. When a cat snores, it means they trust you. And the last cat fact is that cat owners on an average in the United States spend over $2 billion year on cat food.