* A person who loves cats is called an ailurophile; cat haters are known as ailurophobes.
* Cats have been domesticated for only half as long as dogs
* Cats use their sense of smell as a means for identification
* Americans spend more money on cat food than they do on baby food.
* Some common houseplants poisonous to cats include: English Ivy, iris, mistletoe, philodendron, and yew.
* Tylenol and chocolate are both poisonous to cats.
* Many cats cannot properly digest cow's milk. Most adult cats are lactose intolerant.
* Cats cannot be adapted to an unsupplemented vegetarian diet.
* The average cat food meal is the equivalent to about five mice.
* People who are allergic to cats are actually allergic to cat saliva or to cat dander. If the resident cat is bathed regularly the allergic people tolerate it better.
* Studies now show that the allergen in cats is related to their scent glands. Cats have scent glands on their faces and at the base of their tails. Entire male cats generate the most scent. If this secretion from the scent glands is the allergen, allergic people should tolerate spayed female cats the best.
* Cats do not think that they are little people. They think that we are big cats. This influences their behavior in many ways.
* A group of kittens is called a "kindle" while a group of cats is called a "clowder”
* A male cat is called a “tom” and a female cat is called a “queen.”
* Cats can't taste sweets due to a faulty sweet receptor gene
* Cats are capable of about 100 different vocalizations, compared to about 10 for dogs
* Cats can get tapeworms from eating mice. If your cat catches a mouse it is best to take the prize away from it.
* The ancestor of all domestic cats is the African Wild Cat which still exists today.
* In ancient Egypt, killing a cat was a crime punishable by death.
* In ancient Egypt, mummies were made of cats, and embalmed mice were placed with them in their tombs. In one ancient city, over 300,000 cat mummies were found.
* The first cat show was in 1871 at the Crystal Palace in London.
* Today there are about 100 distinct breeds of the domestic cat.
* Like birds, cats have a homing ability that uses its biological clock, the angle of the sun, and the Earth's magnetic field. A cat taken far from its home can return to it. But if a cat's owners move far from its home, the cat can't find them.
* Domestic cats can hunt and eat about 1,000 species, while many big cats eat fewer than 100.
* Cats are subject to gum disease and to dental caries. They should have their teeth cleaned by the vet or the cat dentist once a year.
* The chlorine in fresh tap water irritates sensitive parts of the cat's nose. Let tap water sit for 24 hours before giving it to a cat.
* A cat has four rows of whiskers on each side.
* The word "cat" in various languages: French - chat; German - katze; Italian - gatto; Spanish/Portugese - gato; Yiddish - kats; Maltese - qattus; Swedish/Norwegian - katt; Dutch - kat; Icelandic - kottur; Greek - gata; Hindu - katas; Japanese - neko; Polish - kot.
* The catnip plant contains an oil called hepetalactone which does for cats what marijuana does to some people. Not all cats react to it those that do appear to enter a trancelike state. A positive reaction takes the form of the cat sniffing the catnip, then licking, biting, chewing it, rub & rolling on it repeatedly, purring, meowing & even leaping in the air.
* You can tell a cat's mood by looking into its eyes. A frightened or excited cat will have large, round pupils. An angry cat will have narrow pupils. The pupil size is related as much to the cat's emotions as to the degree of light.
* A cat can also express happiness by slightly closing its eyes or slowly blinking
* Mother cats teach their kittens to use the litter box.
* A Calico cat is usually female
* The Ragdoll is the largest domestic breed of cat. Males can range from 12 to 20 pounds while females are 10 to 15 pounds. Sinapuras on the other hand are the smallest breed.
