Really???!!!...Did You Know This About Your Cat?!

(DeMatting and DeShedding Shampoo by NaturalPetProducts)

         Don't ask me why....because I don't remember!...but I was roaming around looking at some info on a particular 'something' about a cat! O_0 I don't know...now...what sparked the search, but WOW! I found out all kinds of interesting things about cats! Things I just know that you don't know either!...Let's see if you do!...What else do we have to do?! ^_^

         The domestic, or house-cat, which is valued by humans for its companionship, and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests,...just saying!...is currently the most popular pet in the world! (A report in 2007 said that about 37 million US households owned cats, with an average of 2 cats per household. That's a total population of around 82 million! Considering that in contrast there were only about 72 million pet dogs, I'd say:....Yeah! Kinda popular! ^_^)

      But what other things is it possible that you don't know about your cute little furry pet?! Well, here's 30 things that I found on Wikipedia!

     1. Cats are found almost everywhere in the world...On almost every continent except Antarctica. {Yeah! Considering that there's also no kids found on Antartica, this makes total sense to me! LOL}

    2.  A pure-bred cat is one whose ancestry contains only individuals of the same breed;...A pedigreed cat is one whose ancestry is recorded, but may have ancestors of different breeds;...and Cats of unrecorded mixed ancestry are referred to as domestic long-hairs and domestic short-hairs or commonly as random-bred, moggies, mongrels, or mutt-cats.

    3.  A male cat is called a "tom" (or a "gib", if it's neutered),...and a female is called a "molly" or "queen". (The male progenitor of a cat, especially a pedigreed cat, is its "sire",...and its female progenitor is its "dam".) {I hadn't never heard most of this...except the 'tom-cat'. I'm a southern girl. Oh yeah! I've heard of a 'tom-cat'!! But I heard certain men referred to this way, not an actual 'cat'! LOL}}

    4.  A group of cats is referred to as a "clowder".

    5.  An immature cat is called a "kitten"...Okay, you probably already knew that! But did you know that "kitten" is also an alternative name for young rats, rabbits, hedgehogs, beavers, squirrels and skunks?!

            Okay....now comes the really fascinating stuff I found!!!

    6. Young kittens, are known for their love of play...And owing to the close similarity between play and hunting, cats prefer to play with objects that resemble prey, such as small furry toys that move rapidly. But they rapidly lose interest (they become habituated) in a toy they have played with before.

    7. The world record for the largest cat is 46 lbs., 15.2 oz....The smallest adult cat ever officially recorded weighed around 3 lbs.

    8.  Some cats can be trained to use the human toilet! {Wikipedia has a section that shows how it can be done!!}

    9. The average life expectancy for a male indoor cat at birth is 12 to 14 years, with females usually living a year or two longer!...{Even in the cat family, women have an advantage!! ^_^}... There have been records of cats reaching into their 20s and 30s though, with the oldest known cat, Creme Puff, dying at a verified age of 38!

    10. To aid with navigation and sensation, cats have dozens of movable whiskers over their body, especially their face. These provide information on the width of gaps, and on the location of objects in the dark, both by touching objects directly and by sensing air currents....They also trigger protective blink reflexes to protect the eyes from damage!...

Unlike human arms, cat forelimbs are attached to the shoulder by free-floating clavicle bones, which allow them to pass their body through any space into which they can fit their heads.

(Elisa writes blog)

       11. Some animals do, but cats do not have a social survival strategy, or a pack mentality. And they always hunt alone.

    12.  Cats are nocturnal. (Meaning that they're active during the night and sleeping during the day.) And as a benefit in this, they have the ability to see in near darkness, partly as the result of cat eyes having a tapetum lucidum, which reflects any light that passes through the retina back into the eye, thereby increasing the eye's sensitivity to dim light...Their eyes that can adapt to both low-level, and bright day levels of illumination... But they have rather poor color vision!......Okay, so maybe I'm not a cat! LOL

    13. Cat's have acute hearing.  Not only can they hear sounds too faint for human ears, but they can also hear sounds higher in frequency than humans can perceive!...This sensitivity is further enhanced by the cat's large movable outer ears, which both amplify sounds and help a cat sense the direction from which a noise is coming...Pretty handy since the usual prey of cats (particularly rodents such as mice) make faint high-pitched, high frequency sounds.

    14.  Cats have a much better sense of smell than humans...This is probably why they respond strongly to plants such as catnip, which contains nepetalactone. They can detect this substance at less than one part per billion!...{This response is also produced by other plants, such as Silver Vine and Valerian. May be caused by the smell of these plants mimicking a pheromone.}

    15. Cats conserve energy by sleeping. The daily duration of sleep varies, 12–16 hours, with 13–14 hours being the average...Some cats can sleep as much as 20 hours in a 24-hour period! {The term cat nap refers to the cat's ability to fall asleep (lightly) for a brief period.}...Hmmmm...maybe I really am a cat!! LOL

    16. Unusually, a cat's body temperature does not vary throughout the day, due to a cat's general lack of circadian rhythms...They also do not sweat!...and pant only at very high temperatures.

    17.  Despite being solitary hunters, cats are a social species and use a variety of vocalizations, meowing, purring, trilling, hissing, growling, and grunting...Domestic cats use many vocalizations for communication, including all of the above, snarling and several different forms of meowing...Yeah..you probably knew that, right?! ^_^...But did you know that the high-pitched purrs cats make to solicit food may mimic the cries of a hungry human infant, making them particularly hard for humans to ignore?!
    18.  In some breeds of cats congenital deafness is very common, with most white cats (but not albinos) being affected, particularly if they also have blue eyes.

    19.  Cats, like dogs, are digitigrades. They walk directly on their toes. Cats are capable of walking very precisely, because like all felines they place each hind paw (almost) directly in the print of the corresponding forepaw, minimizing noise and visible tracks....But Unlike most mammals, when cats walk, they use a "pacing" gait, that is... they move the two legs on one side of the body before the legs on the other side. This trait is shared with camels and giraffes.....As a walk speeds up into a trot, a cat's gait will change to be similar to other mammals...the diagonally opposite hind and forelegs will move simultaneously.

    20.  The cat's tongue has backwards-facing spines, which are called papillae. These spines allow cats to groom themselves by licking their fur, with the rows of papillae acting like a hairbrush...and a mutant chemosensor in their taste buds that prevents them from tasting sweetness, may explain their indifference to fruits, berries, and other sugary foods. Their taste buds instead respond to amino acids, bitter tastes and acids.

          Now, let's talk about kitty cat health, shall we?!

    21.  Having a cat neutered or spayed confers some health benefits, since castrated males cannot develop testicular cancer, and spayed females cannot develop uterine or ovarian cancer!...and both have a reduced risk of mammary cancer.

    22. Cats are obligate carnivores and they have difficulty digesting plant matter. About 20% of a cat's diet must be protein....they obtain minerals by digesting animal bones. A diet composed only of meat may cause calcium deficiency.

    23. Some of the most common causes of poisoning in cats are automotive antifreeze, which is particularly appealing to cats. As little as a teaspoonful can be fatal!.... the same is true of rodent baits

    24. Common household substances that should be used with caution around cats include mothballs...Phenol-based products, like Pine-Sol and Lysol. (These are often used for cleaning and disinfecting near a cat's feeding areas or litter boxes, but they can sometimes be fatal!)

    25. Cats can be poisoned by many chemicals that are usually considered safe, because their livers are less effective at some forms of detoxification than those of other animals,...including humans and dogs. 

       26. Some human foods are toxic to cats...For example theobromine in chocolate can cause theobromine poisoning (although few cats will eat chocolate.)...and large amounts of onions or garlic are also poisonous to cats.
    27. Human medicines should never be given to cats. For example, the painkiller acetaminophen...sold as Tylenol...is extremely toxic to cats! (even very small doses can be fatal!)...Even aspirin, which is sometimes used to treat arthritis in cats, is much more toxic to them than to humans and must be administered cautiously.....Similarly, application of minoxidil (Rogaine) to the skin of cats, either accidentally or by well-meaning owners attempting to counter the loss of their kitty's fur, has sometimes been fatal!...Also, Essential oils can be toxic to cats....There have been reported cases of serious illnesses caused by tea tree oil, and tea tree oil-based flea treatments and shampoos.
    28. Cats are able to tolerate quite high temperatures: humans generally start to feel uncomfortable when their skin temperature passes about 112 °F (44.5 °C), but cats show no discomfort until their skin reaches around 126 °F (52 °C), and they can tolerate temperatures of up to 133 °F (56 °C) if they have access to water...If need be, cats can rehydrate by drinking seawater!...Along those lines, their kidneys are so efficient that cats can survive on a diet consisting only of meat, with no additional water...And their feces is usually dry, and their urine is also highly concentrated, which allows cats to retain as much fluid as possible.
     29. Cats conserve heat by reducing the flow of blood to their skin and lose heat by evaporation through their mouth. 
     30.  A female may mate with more than one male when she is in heat, with the result that different kittens in a litter may have different fathers!...Females can have two to three litters per year, so may produce up to 150 kittens in their breeding span of around ten years....The gestation period for cats is between 64–67 days....Cats are ready to go to new homes at about 12 weeks old.
       Did you know all of this about your kitties?! :-) I certainly didn't!...Maybe if I had ever owned a cat I might have known some of this. But my family were dog people...and never the twains did meet! LOL
       I put all of this information here and I still can't remember why I was looking for it in the first place!! O_0 At some point today I'm probably gonna have an "Ah Ha!" moment. ^_^ Whatever!!
       There is one other nice thing I found out about cats...the tail and ears are particularly important social signals in cats, with a raised tail acting as a friendly greeting...and nose-touching is also a common greeting...I'm not gonna raise my tail today, but consider your noses officially touched! ^_^ 
      Have a good "Meow!" kinda day Everybody! ^_^


My Brain, My Brain

My brain just does
what it wants and when it wants!
Some days, all of it's positives
is what it flips and flaunts.

It triggers really fast,
and all my brain cells start to meet.
It stores all kinds of things,
and it runs long, without feet!

It fires happiness,
is organized, remembers well.
But then that "Bing!" will come
as if someone just hit a bell.

It slows and starts to ponder.
And what it ponders is not good!
Those days it might as well
be just a solid block of wood.

Can't remember what to do,
or if it already did;
Thoughts are scattered everywhere
and all my memories are hid.

Yes, my brain just does
what it wants and how it wants!
My job is staying with it,
and responding when it taunts.