101 Amazing Cat Facts: Fun Trivia About Your Feline Friend!
Facts About Cat Communication Cues

• A cat with a question-mark-shaped tail is asking, “Want to play?”
• According to Wilde, a slow blink is a “kitty kiss.” This movement shows contentment and trust.
• Cats have a unique “vocabulary” with their owner — each cat has a different set of vocalizations, purrs and behaviors.
• Cats have up to 100 different vocalizations — dogs only have 10.
• Cats find it threatening when you make direct eye contact with them.
• Cats mark you as their territorywhen they rub their faces and bodies against you, as they have scent glands in those areas.
• Cats may yawn as a way to end a confrontation with another animal. Think of it as their “talk to the hand” gesture.
• Hissing is defensive, not aggressive, says Wilde. “It’s an expression of fear, stress or discomfort of a threatened cat communicating ‘stay away,’” she says.
• If cats are fighting, the cat that’s hissing is the more vulnerable one, says Wilde.
• If your cat approaches you with a straight, almost vibrating tail, this means that she is extremely happy to see you.
• Kneading — which some people refer to as “making biscuits” — is a sign of contentment and happiness. Cats knead their mothers when they are nursing to stimulate the let-down of milk.
• Meowing is a behavior that cats developed exclusively to communicate with people.
• When a cat flops over and exposes his belly, it’s not always an invitation for a belly rub. A cat does this when he’s relaxed and showing trust.
• When cats hit you with retracted claws, they’re playing, not attacking.
• When dogs wag their tails, they may be expressing happiness. But this isn’t the case for cats! When your cat wags her tail, it’s her way of warning you that you are getting on her last nerve.
• When your cat sticks his butt in your face, he is doing so as a gesture of friendship.
• Whiskers are also good indicators of a cat’s mood. When a cat is scared, he put his whiskers back. But when a cat is in hunting mode, he puts his whiskers forward.
• Your cat drapes its tail over another cat, your dog, or you as a symbol of friendship.

Facts About Quirky Cat Behaviors — And Why They Happen

• Cats are very fussy about their water bowls; some prefer to ignore their bowls entirely in favor of drinking from the sink faucet.
• Cats groom other cats — and sometimes people — in a ritual called allogrooming.
• Cats like to sleep on things that smell like their owners, such as their pillows and dirty laundry (ick!).
• Cats love to sleep in laundry baskets, too, because they’re basically hiding places with peep holes.
• Cats often attack your ankles when they’re bored.
• Certain cats go crazy for foods you wouldn’t expect, like olives, potato chips, and the hops in beer.
• For some reason, cats really dislike citrus scents.
• If you can’t find your cat, you should look in a box or a bag, as these are some of their favorite hiding spots!
• Male cats who try to get to a female in heat can show very bizarre behavior — for example, some have been known to slide down chimneys!
• Many cats like to lick their owner’s freshly washed hair.
• Some cats love the smell of chlorine.
• Thieving behavior is not uncommon among cats. They will often grab objects like stuffed animals, feather dusters, and other things that remind them of prey.

Facts About Cats Who Made History

• A green cat was born in Denmark in 1995. Some people believe that high levels of copper in the water pipes nearby may have given his fur a verdigris effect.
• It turns out that Abraham Lincoln was a crazy cat president! He had four cats that lived in the White House with him.
• Maria Assunta left her cat, Tomasso, her entire $13 million fortune when she died in 2011.
• President Bill Clinton’s cat, Socks, was a media darling during the Clinton administration and was said to receive more letters than the President himself.
• Stubbs, a 17-year-old orange tabby, is mayor of the historic district of Talkeetna, Alaska.

Other Surprising Cat Facts You Didn’t Know

White cats with blue eyes are prone to deafness.

A cat’s learning style is about the same as a 2- to 3-year-old child.

A cat’s purr vibrates at a frequency of 25 to 150 hertz, which is the same frequency at which muscles and bones repair themselves.

A group of kittens is called a “kindle.”

A house cat could beat superstar runner Usain Bolt in the 200 meter dash.

About half of the cats in the world respond to the scent of catnip.

Cat breeders are called “catteries.”

Cats can be toilet-trained.

Cats can drink sea water in order to survive. (In case you’re wondering, we can’t.) Read More here!

Cats don’t have an incest taboo, so they may choose to mate with their brothers and sisters.

Cats dream, just like people do.

Cats have contributed to the extinction of 33 different species.

Cats perceive people as big, hairless cats, says Wilde.

Cats were first brought to the Americas in colonial times to get rid of rodents.

Collective nouns for adult cats include “clowder,” “clutter,” “glaring,” and “pounce.”

Each cat’s nose print is unique, much like human fingerprints.

Every Scottish Fold cat in the world can trace its heritage back to the first one, which was found in Scotland in the 1960s, says Cheryl Hogan, a Scottish Fold breeder and the committee chair for the breed at The International Cat Association (TICA).

It’s not uncommon to see cats in food stores in big cities as a form of free — and adorable — pest control.

Kittens in the same litter can have more than one father. This is because the female cat releases multiple eggs over the course of a few days when she is in heat.

Male cats are the most sensitive to catnip, while kittens under 3 months old have no response at all.

Most world languages have a similar word to describe the “meow” sound.

People often think that they’ve stumbled over a purebred as a stray or in a shelter, but Hogan says that this is very uncommon. “Ninety-nine times out of 100 what you have found on the street will not be purebred anything,” she says. “Very seldom do breeders sell kittens that are not already spayed or neutered,” as purebred cats need to meet very strict standards.

Some 700 million feral cats live in the United States, and many shelters run trap-neuter-release programs to stem the population growth.

Studies suggest that domesticated cats first appeared around 3600 B.C.

The first known cat video was recorded in 1894.

There are about 88 million pet cats in the United States, which makes them the most popular pet in the country!

Two hundred feral cats prowl the park at Disneyland, doing their part to control rodents — the ones who don’t wear funny outfits and speak in squeaky voices.