Surprising Cat Facts You (Probably) Didn't Know

Hey guy cat lovers and welcome to my blog. if you think you are cat expert then think again because there's always something new to learn about our feline friends after doing some digging we found several cat facts that might find surprising here are 25 surprising cat facts probably didn't know

Number 1: Cats can't taste sweetness

Although it's hard for us humans to imagine cats can't taste sweetness in fact cats are the only known mammal that lack the sweet gene if cat is caught sneaking licks of ice cream it's actually the fat they taste and enjoy not the sugar

Number 2: Cats have a faster heart rate

The normal resting heart rate for a human is 60 to 100 beats per minute on the other hand a cat's resting heart rate is between 120 and 160 beats per minute this means that cats have a heart rate that is twice or nearly twice as fast as humans

Number 3: Cats and humans are genetically similar

It turns out that fluffy are more alike than think cats have 90.2 percent of their dna in common with humans genetically speaking cats are closer to humans than dogs who have around 84 of their dna in common with us so if say that a cat at heart not too far off

Number 4: Cats sweat through their paws

Yes cats do sweat according to pet md a cat sweat glands are in a few select areas including the paws lips chin and on the skin that surrounds the anus however they mainly sweat through their paws if pay close attention might find little damp paw prints on a hot summer's day

Number 5: Cats have unique nose prints

If look closely at cat's nose see a pattern of tiny bumps and ridges believe it or not these patterns are exclusive to each cat which means that no two cats have the same nose print just as no two humans have the same fingerprints maybe in the future there'll be some sort of nose identification system but my guess is that there's no rush for that technology since microchips are already so popular

Number 6: Cats have free floating collar bones

Some sites claim that cats don't have collar bones but that's not true cats do have collar bones but unlike humans they aren't attached to any other bones these free-floating collar bones allow a cat to fit through any space where they can fit their head

Number 7: Most cats are lactose intolerant

Contrary to popular belief should not give milk to cat because their bodies are not equipped to handle it most cats are actually lactose intolerant meaning they have trouble digesting the lactose in milk while it might be tempting to share with fluffy milk can cause an upset stomach or diarrhea that's why it's best to keep cat on a lactose-free diet

Number 8: Cats can drink salt water

While drinking salt water can be deadly to humans cats are a different story a cat's kidneys can filter out salt from water which means they can tolerate low amounts of salt water but just because they can doesn't mean they should which is why it's important to have plenty of fresh water available for cat

Number 9: Cats have paw preferences

Just as humans are right-handed or left-handed cats can also have paw preferences study found that overall 39 percent of cats were right pod 36 were left pod and 25 percent had no preference in addition subset studies found that female cats are more likely to be right pod while male cats are more likely to be left pawed if have noticed cat's paw preference let us know in the comments below

Number 10: Cats meow for humans

While kittens meow at mama cat when they're cold or hungry they stop meowing at other cats as adults but as probably noticed cats do continue to meow at humans the reason is simple cats are a lot smarter than people give them credit for they quickly learn that cat language doesn't work to communicate with humans but meowing does

Number 11: Vermont loves cats

Every so many years the american veterinary medical association releases a report of pet ownership demographics in the united states their most recent source book revealed that vermont has the highest percentage of cat owners at 45 percent apparently vermonters love more than just ben jerry's ice cream

Number 12: Cats are impressive jumpers

Newbie cat owners are frequently amazed at how high cats can jump but how high is the norm well an average sized healthy adult cat can jump five to six times their length to put it into perspective that's about four to five feet which is not bad for fluffy

Number 13: Cats have excellent hearing

While cats and humans have the same lower hearing levels cats have us beat in upper limits cats can hear sounds produced four to five times farther away than humans more specifically humans can hear frequencies of up to 20 000 hertz with that number falling as we age cats on the other hand can hear sounds up to 64 000 hertz that's about three times higher than humans

Number 14: Their sense of smell is impressive

A cat's sense of smell is about 14 times better than humans research has also found that cats have a better sense of smell than dogs more specifically cats are able to discriminate between a greater variety of smells the scent receptor protein v1r is believed to be responsible for controlling a mammal's ability to separate scents humans have two variants of the v1r protein dogs have nine and cats have 30.

Number 15: Cats can analyze scents with their mouths

If have ever seen cat sneering with open mouth breathing while hovering over an area witnessed the fleming response cats displayed this response while analyzing a particular scent the scent travels to the jacobson organ on the roof of the mouth this organ provides more information about certain scents than the nose alone would who would have guessed

Number 16: Cats sleep a lot

According to pet md cats sleep for an average of 15 hours a day of course this is simply an average because some sleep as little as 12 hours a day while others sleep as much as 20 hours either way should definitely take notes from our feline friends because they know what's truly important in life

Number 17: Cats groom a lot

While might feel guilty for taking a long shower it's nothing compared to the amount of grooming cats do according to the cornell feline health center cats typically spend between 30 and 50 percent of their day grooming themselves well hey it's always nice not having to worry about roommate's hygiene

Number 18: Cats are nearsighted

What humans can see clearly at 100 to 200 feet away cats can only see clearly at 20 feet away what's also surprising is that cats can't focus on anything less than a foot in front of them but luckily their whiskers allowed them to feel what they can't see clearly this explains why a cat might look confused if put a treat right in front of them

Number 19: Cats have whiskers on their front legs

If think cats only have whiskers on their faces think again if examine feline friend find that they also have whiskers on the back of their front legs these are called carpal whiskers and help a cat determine the position of prey and if a captured prey is still moving

Number 20: A group of cats is called a clowder

This one is for all the word nerds out there a group of three or more cats is called a clowder if have a clowder let us know in the comments

Number 21: Cats can make a hundred vocalizations

Can make about 100 different vocalizations for comparison dogs can only make about 10. definitely would have never guessed that one the more know guess

Number 22: Not all cats respond to catnip

While might think cats and catnip are like kids in candy that's not always the case catnip sensitivity is actually hereditary it's estimated that 30 to 50 percent of cats lack the gene that would make them sensitive to its effects making them have no reaction

Number 23: Cat's dream

If have ever seen cat twitch their tail or whiskers in their sleep probably caught them in dreamland yes just like humans dogs and other animals cats do dream when a cat sleeps they organize and recall the day cats can also have nightmares

Number 24: Cats don't always kill to eat

The university of georgia's kitty cam project researched 60 pet cats in the athens-clarke county area researchers found that on average cats only ate what they killed 30 percent of the time about 21 of the time they brought their kill home and half the time they left it out to rot does that mean that cats are cold-blooded killers

Number 25: A litter of kittens can have multiple fathers

Sometimes a litter of kittens comes from multiple baby daddies which is a phenomenon called super fecundation this can happen when a female cat mates with more than one male during her fertile period giving her eggs the possibility to be fertilized by more than one mate