Interesting facts about cats you may not have known

Will cats ever cease to amaze us? Here are a few fascinating facts on the animal the Internet loves to watch all day.

1. Do you know the oldest known pet cat?

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We know that ancient Egyptians loved cats; they believed them to be sacred and kept them as beloved companions. But French archaeologists have discovered the interred remains of a cat in a Cyprus burial site – that’s 9,500 years old. You read that right. The oldest known pet cat is 9,500 years ago; that’s 4,500 years before the Egyptians!

2. How do cats land on their feet when they fall?

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Ever wondered how your cat lands on their feet ? It’s because their body reflexively corrects their course mid-air to ensure they land feet first. This is helped by their flexible spine and their 30 vertebrae (humans only have 24), which allow them greater manipulation. This trick of landing on their feet isn’t taught; it’s a gift of evolution and most kittens have it too! So go ahead and by them that impossibly tall cat tower as a cat accessory – no harm can come to them if they fall.

3. Does your cat have a sweet tooth?

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Cats can’t taste sugar, so the answer to that question is no. It's a genetic deficiency that ensures they don’t have sweet taste buds. If you see your cat licking ice-cream or devouring some cake, that is probably because they’re drawn to the smell or other flavours in the dish.

Don’t worry though; there are still plenty of ways to treat your cat. You can buy them catnip as a treat from any online pet store – they’re guaranteed to love it.

4. Do cats sweat?

Yes! From their paws. That’s right – because a cat has a lot of fur, they don’t have a lot of sweat glands distributed around their body. Most of those sweat glands are located in their paws. So if you see a cat leaving glistening paw prints on the tiles during summer, that’s them sweating.

5. Did you know that a cat’s whiskers really are ‘the cat’s whiskers’?

We all know the idiom ‘the cat’s whiskers’ means ‘the very best thing’, but did you know a cat’s whiskers really are ‘the cat’s whiskers’? These fine pieces of hair on your cat’s face are amazing . They have a large collection of nerves at their follicles, which make them extra sensitive. By brushing their whiskers against an object, a cat can tell the size and texture of the object, often its precise location, even in the dark. Magic!

But that’s not all. A cat’s whiskers often grow to the same width as a cat. This means that a cat can use their whiskers to judge if they will fit through a space. They don’t have to bother climbing through; they can just stick their head in and if their whiskers don’t fit, they know they won’t either. That’s the most ninja thing we’ve heard of.

[Side note: No one really knows the origin of the idiom ‘the cat’s whiskers’. It was part of a collection of American slang phrases coined in the 1920s, all of which meant ‘the very best thing or person’. This collection included phrases such as ‘the flea’s eyebrows’, ‘the canary's tusks’ and the ‘bee’s knees’. Crazy!]

6. What’s the most unique part of a cat?

Their nose print. Cats’ nose prints are as unique to each cat as fingerprints are to humans. So if you ever want to book a cat for a crime, the nose print is what you’re looking for.

7. How much does a cat sleep?

We all know cats are not lazy. They’re… relaxed, perhaps. Regal. Languid. To see a cat napping on a windowsill, on your couch or anywhere in the house really is not uncommon. But these pets seem so alert that we often don’t realise just how much they sleep – about 70% of their lives. It’s normal for a cat to sleep away about 13 to 16 hours of the day, sometimes 20. Plotting world domination is tiring work! – so make sure you feed them all that cat food and let them nap as much as they like.

8. Beautiful, sleek, stealthy, with superior intelligence – surely cats cannot also be rich?

When it comes to cats, nothing is too bizarre. The richest cat in the world owned £7 million, all the way back in 1988. This lucky feline, named Blackie, was the last of the surviving cats of Ben Rea, a millionaire antiques dealer. When he died, he refused to acknowledge his family in his will and instead left the money to Blackie.

9. Are cats immortal?

And so we end on number 9, for our cat’s nine lives. Are cats truly immortal?

No, but they come pretty close. The oldest known cat is Crème Puff, who lived in Austin, United States. She lived for 38 years and 3 days, which is more than 150 years in human time. The oldest human is 122 years (Jeanne Calment of France), so cats are clearly closer to immortality than us.