Awesome facts about cats you didn't know

Image: Pixabay.com

Like dogs, cats are a part of our family. Not only do we love our cats like they are our children but did you know that having a cat can help reduce the risk of a heart attack and stroke by one third? Just by petting your cat, you can reduce stress which in turn helps reduce other forms of illness since stress can make you sick anyway. Another fun fact is that cats are actually more popular than dogs. There are 88 million cats as pets just in the United States alone as opposed to 74 million dogs. Wow! That’s a lot! Now read on for even more fun and awesome facts about cats!

01. Cats can survive falling long distances

You know how they say cats always land on their feet? This may or may not be true but it is a fact that cats can survive falling long distances onto concrete. According to Buzz Feed, cats have survived falling out of 32 stories high and onto concrete. How cool is that? Cats are pretty tough!

02. Cats sleep a LOT!

Cats actually sleep 70 percent of their lives away. Not only do they sleep this much but they also spend between 30 percent and 50 percent of their days, grooming themselves. Now, cats have to look good always! Not only this, but they get a lot of benefits from grooming themselves. Grooming helps them cool off, helps their circulation, comforts them, and helps them smell clean more often. Sometimes your cat might start grooming you and this is their way of showing you that they consider you their family.

03. Cats can be allergic to their owners

Not exactly allergic to you yourself but they can sneeze because of cigarette smoke, dust in the house, human dandruff, pollen, and even some kitty litters. Don’t smoke and keep the house clear of dust all the time to keep your cat from having allergic reactions. There are even some rare cases when humans can transmit illnesses to their cats.

04. Not all cats are affected by catnip

Many people believe that cats love catnip and go crazy over it. However, it is a fact that half the cats in the world don’t even respond at all to it. Usually, cats that have one parent who is sensitive to catnip will only have a one-in-two chance of reacting to it but if the cat has both parents who are sensitive to it, the chances of them being sensitive to catnip increases to three-in-four chances.

05. Cats and dogs can live together

Although most people believe that dogs chase cats, if the two are introduced to each other at a young age and raised together, they can live together. The ages are 6 months for a cat and one year for a dog.

06. Cats do like to be petted

Although there have been studies done that say cats don’t like to be pet, this is really just a misinterpretation. Cats do like to be pet and enjoy it very much as do humans enjoy petting their cats and it can relieve stress for humans to pet their cats.

07. Cats and humans have similar brains

Cats’ brains are more complex than dogs and they are actually more similar to a human brain than a dog’s brain. Cats and humans even have similar sections of the brain that controls emotions as well. They even have similar illnesses as us.

08. Cats don’t always purr because they are happy

Although some of the time, they will purr when they are content, they also purr when their sick or wounded and giving birth and nursing. They also purr when they are stressed out. Cats get stressed out too!

09. Cats don’t have a sweet tooth

Unlike humans, cats can’t taste anything sweet. This is why they won’t eat anything sweet if you give it to them. They actually have a defect in their genes that keeps them from tasting anything sweet.

10. Alaska has a cat for a mayor

Did you know that Alaska has had a cat as their mayor for the last 15 years now? Yeah, and his name is Mayor Stubbs! Not only this, but a cat in Mexico City ran for mayor a couple of years ago. How cool is that?

11. The world’s largest cat is LONG!

The world’s largest cat was measured at 48.5 inches long. Wow! Cats aren’t only big sometimes but they have been around for a long time as our pets. In fact, they have been domesticated since 3,600 BC which was 2,000 years before Ancient Egypt came to be when cats were thought to have been domesticated. Domestic cats were actually started in China.

12. The richest cat in the world

There is actually a rich cat that was left $13 million by its owner who passed away and left their entire fortune to their cat. I want to meet that cat!

13. Some cats are lactose intolerant

Did you know that although many people feed their cats milk because they think they like it, they are actually lactose intolerant? Yeah, so stop giving your cats milk because it actually makes them sick.

14. Left pawed or right pawed?

Most female cats are right pawed while male cats are usually left pawed.

15. Cats sounds VS dogs sounds

Cats can make up to 100 sounds versus a dog who can only make up to 10 different sounds.

16. Why cats climb down trees backwards

Cats can climb up trees pretty fast and easily but when it comes to coming back down, they have to climb down them backwards. This is because all of their claws point the same exact way.

17. Domestic cats

There are 500 domestic cats in the world. There are 40 different breeds of cats.

18. How cats came to be

According to a legend, cats came to be because Noah prayed asking God for a way to protect the food on the ark from the rodents. Then, a lion sneezed and out came two kittens, making cats.

19. Why cats hate water so much

There is a reason why cats don’t like water. It is because their fur doesn’t insulate like it should when it is wet. However, there is one particular breed of cat that does like water and it is the Turkish Van. This cat breed was bred in central Asia and their fur has a different kind of texture that makes it water proof.

20. Better and worse eyesight that humans

They say cats can see better than us and that is partly true. One reason for cats being able to see better than us is because they can see in dimmer light and they have a wider peripheral view than we do. However, they also have worse eyesight than us because they can’t see colors like we can. In fact, scientists believe that grass appears red instead of green to cats.

Share with your friends. And if you know any other interesting facts about cats, just inform us through commenting below.