Look at this graceful animal. Are you sure you know well your lovely pet? Interesting facts about cats will turn your world upside down and make you look at your sluggard differently. After all, it is not just a beautiful domestic animal and an ideal predator. The cat is something more, it’s not for nothing that many nations endowed animals with almost magical abilities and attributed supernatural qualities to them.

A little about the particular features of cats

What can we tell you about the most interesting facts about these ambiguous, mysterious creatures? Almost every cat-lover will say: his or her pet is peculiar or even unique.

Firstly, cats perfectly feel and understand the mood of the owner. Leading an independent way of life, they somehow always manage to be there when they are especially needed. Melodic purring calms, pacifies. Cats, being excellent predators, treat people with affection. They consider themselves worthy of their friendship, they adore rubbing and often come to express love. And although they keep aloof, and many owners say that their cat does not love them (more like the room or a flat they live in), it is not true. Without his owner, the cat really yearns: having a huge potential for survival in any, even in the most unfavorable conditions, cat can die of longing for the owner, just like any dog.

They are so affectionate, kind, loving. Many people care about cats only because they so warmly express reciprocal feelings. The relationship of people and these small predators can be only on the same level. You can not force them to do something, but you can achieve a lot by using affection and patience.

However, let’s all the same look at our favourite pet from a different angle. Thus, ten interesting and curious facts about cats. Ready?

The first fact. About sleeping

Cats are big sleepyheads. Watch your sweet feline. The pet is not as active as the dog, for example. Cats prefer staying in the world of sweet dreams. As the experts have proved, cats sleep about two-thirds of all their life.

Now it is easy to calculate that, for example, a nine-year-old cat has been awake for only 3 years old. Herewith, all breeds of cats and other animals, like people, have dreams. Usually, these are residual impressions of the day. Watching the sleeping cat, you can notice the various movements as a reaction to the dreams.

Your cat will surely appreciate if you choose for your pet a lovely and cozy house for staying inside and having sweet dreams. Do not forget about the litter box, that can be near this kitty house or in the WC.

The second fact. About licking

Cats are very neat. They often lick the fur. If the pet stops doing this and neglects himself or herself, something serious is not right with the cat. You have to pay attention.

By the way, even hypoallergenic shorthaired breeds lick themselves, but why they do it? Is it only because of cleanliness and neatness? Not really. In the life of cats, there are quite many stressful situations, and animals react sharply to them.

Licking is a mitigating factor; it allows your lovely cat to calm nerves and relax. If you do not allow the animal to perform this procedure, the cat becomes irritable and may even die. Therefore, it is very important for a cat to leak himself or herself.

Interesting! As soon as the kitten is born, the mother has one way to express care and affection: licking the kittens’s fur with the tongue. This expression of love takes root densely in the memory of the pet. Then the adult cat will take care of the owner, licking the hair.

The third fact. About claws

Every cat has soft paws, but they hide the most powerful weapon in them. Claws help them to get food and to survive. Thanks to them, cats catch a prey, which usually does not have a chance to escape.

Using these facilities, invented by nature, your pet will climb almost any vertical surface in the blink of an eye, if there is something to catch there.

Have you seen how difficult it is for an animal to climb down? The cat can sit for hours on the branch, plaintively mewing, but without taking the risk of getting off. It is all about the claws structure. It’s very difficult for cats to descend. It is scary, and not every feline will decide on such a feat. Moreover, if you put on special pads on the claws of your pet, the cat would not be able to climb onto a tree or even on a wardrobe.

It is important! Periodically cut the pet’s claws. Just do it properly, please.

The fourth fact. About furniture

Cats love to scrub and tear it, which is well known. If the dogs gnaw all what they can find, the fluffy sluggards scratch to shreds. Many people wrongly think that cats sharp claws in this way.

However, try to put a scratching stick, and you will see that your darling still prefers furniture. The point is not that you spoil the cat and let him or her ruin everything near himself or herself.

Cats have special glands in the paws, which secrete. Thanks to this, cats mark their own territory. Fighting such a predilection is difficult enough; of course, you can ask for help your veterinarian, but there is usually only one way out: surrender, forgive and accept.

The fifth fact. About breeds

How many kinds of felines do you know? Of course, British Shorthair, British Longhair, American Curl, American Bobtail, California Spangled, Persian, Savannah, Scottish Fold, Siamese, Bengal, Maine Coon or Sphynx immediately come on your mind. Nevertheless, in fact, there are much more species and varieties of cats. To date, there are more than fifty registered breeds with additional divisions. Moreover, experts have counted that there are more than 500 million domestic cats, so there can be much more breeds than we even know.

That is why, speaking of cats, one can safely say: this is the most popular and beloved pet on the globe.

The sixth fact. About differences

Of course there is such a difference as male and female cats, but they don’t differ only like this. Many cat lovers can barely look at the muzzle of the animal to tell the sex. However, there are other differences. For example, females prefer digging with the right paw, males do it preferebly with the left one.

For children, male cats are more suitable, as they are more phlegmatic. As a living mousetrap, the lady-cat does better: it hunts much more better.

It is interesting! The word “cat” and its counterparts in other languages: “chat”, ” katt”, “Katze” etc. are formed from the Latin “Catus” (translated as “domestic cat”). The Romans had a special concept for wild individuals as well and called them “feles”.

The seventh fact. About magic

There are many legends about home cats. Many people believe that they are on the border between our world and the other world. As they allegedly can see non-material entities and even feel negative energy.

In the midst of the medieval inquisition, the Pope Innocent VIII declared that cats were servants of the devil. He quickly found the solution: to burn them alive.

People started to exterminate animals and killed thousands of them. Nevertheless, people paid for it too: the city was captured by hordes of rats who brought with them a terrible plague pandemic.

There is another common belief. Cats have an unsual habit: they love sleeping near the owner’s face. That is why appeared a legend that they steal breath. Therefore, cats can be dangerous, especially for kids and especially babies.

In Jewish mythology, close to the apocrypha, there is even a story about the first wife of Adam. Lilith knew how to turn into a black cat sucking the blood of babies who were asleep.

The eighth fact. About the origin

Where did our lovely kitties come from? If you listen to the legends, they say the following. When rats and mice began to multiply uncontrollably in Noah’s Ark, there was a threat to die from them. Then Noah cried out to God, praying to help him cope with the plague. The Lord heard him, forcing the lion to sneeze. The animal opened its mouth, and the world’s first cat jumped out from it.

If we refer to history, the picture is quite different. Earlier scientists thought that people from Ancient Egypt had started to tame wild felines. Then the discovery of a cat’s remains in the burial grounds of Cyprus showed that the friendship was older by 4,000 more years and had been going on for more than 9,500 years, starting from this country.

The ninth fact. About dimensions

What is the largest cat, and what is the smallest felines on the globe? Meet the giants-record holders among the domestic breeds and admire the miniature handsome cats. If we talk about absolute champions among the whole feline genus, the biggest one is the Amur tiger. Its size can reach about 3.5 m (11, 5 feet) in length, and weight is more than 3 centners (660 pounds). The smallest cat is the munchkin and its crossbreeds.

The tenth fact. About reproduction

A cat usually gives birth to 3-5 kittens in a litter. However, the largest registered litter consisted of 19 kittens, and 15 of them survived. On the average, if you take one couple of cats, then for 7 years, together with their grown-up descendants, they will give birth to more than a thousand kittens.

Cats are amazing, affectionate and gentle creatures. Nevertheless, they always have their individual characters, behavior and even charm. Perhaps, it is for this that we love them so much.