Catscape - Interesting Facts on Cats

By Grace Heal
I have always said, "I don't own my cat; He own me!" You know how it is? You sit down in your favourite lounge chair to relax and read the paper. Puss spies you out, jumps on your lap. He creeps to your shoulder, extending a paw either side and you are engulfed by him! Well this is the scene I inadvertably find myself in. My cat, "Tom" (as in "Tom and Jerry") is the most possessive creature!... but I love him. He is adorable and very spoilt. He is also good company.

DID YOU KNOW???

Cats make over 100 different vocalization sounds, and their hearing is much more sensitive than humans and dogs. They are the only animals that purr.

Cats have 30 vertebrae, which is 5 more than humans, and have 230 bones, which is 24 more than humans.

Cats can jump 5 times their height. When they do jump, their foot pads absorb the shock of landing. It is a myth that cats always land on their feet, they may instinctively fall feet first, but can receive broken bones. Most cats can survive a fall of 30 feet.

Most cats have no eyelashes. They are born with 6 or 7 front toes and extra back toes are called polyduct! Cats walk on their toes.

Cats are also good swimmers, but they just don't like water.

Their whiskers are specialized sensory hairs located in 3 locations on the cats head, this being 12 on each side of their nose.

All cats are born with blue eyes. IN dim lights cats eyes must be open as wide as possible for them to "see in the dark", but must be able to contract to very small to protect the retina which is very sensitive in bright sun light. They also have a field of vision of 185 degrees.

A large majority of cats with white fur have blue eyes and are deaf. These cats with white fur are susceptible to sunburn, which can leas to skin cancer.

Flea eggs can survive for more than 10 years if the conditions are favourable.

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