Cat Facts

Diet- What you need to know

• The domestic cat is an obligate carnivore, meaning that they eat meat exclusively
• They need a high level of protein in their diets and have trouble digesting a diet of grains, fruit or vegetables
• They have highly specialized teeth which efficiently functions to shear meat like a pair of scissors
• Their tongue has sharp spines (papillae) useful for retaining and ripping flesh from a carcass
• They have a genetic anomaly that prevents them from tasting anything sweet
• Cats can not be placed on a vegetarian diet because they can not synthesize several nutrients they need and that are absent or rare in plant food. This applies mainly to taurine, vitamin A and certain fatty acids
• The absence of taurine causes the cat's retina to degenerate and leads to irreversible blindness
• Cow's milk is a poor source of taurine and cats are generally lactose intolerant
• Lactose free milk is perfectly safe but not a substitute for meat
• The majority of dry cat foods are primarily grain based, containing large amounts of corn or rice and supplemented with meats and vitamins and minerals. Always look for a dry food that contains a meat as its main ingredient
• Cats will munch on grass, leaves etc to regurgitate whatever is upsetting their stomach

Sex

• Cats have many periods of heat throughout the year
• Left to her own devices, a female cat can have kittens every four months
• Heat typically lasts between 4 to 7 days, where the female will incessantly "call" for a male
• A female can mate with more than one male, so kittens in a litter can have different fathers
• The gestation period is from 60-65 days

Kittens

• Kittens can not see or hear at birth
• Their eyes open after five days and begin to develop their eyesight and hearing at approx. two weeks
• They begin to dream at just over a week old
• They start walking at about 20 days
• Mother cats teach their kittens to use a litter box
• The way kittens are treated between the second and seventh weeks of age will render its personality traits later in life.

De-sexing

• Kittens can be de-sexed as early as 8 weeks of age
• This helps prevent undesirable sex-related behavior, such as spraying in males and "calling" in females
• If a cat is de-sexed after such behaviors have been learned though, it may unfortunately persist
• De-sexing reduces the risk of ovarian and testicular cancer. Females de-sexed before their first litter also benefit from reduced risk of mammary cancer
• Cats are more aggressive when they are not de-sexed

Purring

• Cats will typically purr when they are happy
• Purring can also occur when the cat is distressed
• Cats purr among other cats e.g. when a mother meets her kittens
• They purr at the same frequency as an idling diesel engine (26 cycles per second)
• They have been known to purr when they are hurt and research suggests that the frequency of the vibration produced by purring may promote healing of bones and organs (explaining why they purr when hurt)
• No one knows exactly how a cat purrs, but it is thought to be the result of rhythmic impulses to the cats larynx

Body Language

• Cats twitch the tips of their tales when hunting or angry; larger twitching indicates displeasure
• A tail held high is usually a sign on of happiness; a half raised tail shows less pleasure
• A tail held low indicates unhappiness
• A cat's tail will wag when it is in a stage of conflict; the cat wants to do two things at once, but each impulse blocks the other. E.g. If your cat is in the doorway wanting to go outside, and you open the door to find it raining, the cats tail will wag because of internal conflicts; it will want to go outside, but at the same time it doesn't want to because of the rain
• A scared or surprised cat may puff up its tail and the hair long its back and turn its body sideways to a threat in order to increase its size
• Tailless cats (like the Manx) move their tail stub around as though they possess a full tail
• Touching noses is a friendly greeting for cats; a lowered head is a sign of submission
• Happy cats will "knead" what they are sitting on. Cats often use this action with purring to show contentment and affection for their owners. Kneading is instinctive and used when they are kittens to stimulate the mother cat's nipple to release milk when nursing
• Kneading also allows cats to mark their territory. Scent glands on the underside of their paws release small amounts of scent onto the person or object, marking it as "theirs" in the same way they would urinate to mark their territory
• Cats rub against other cats and people in an attempt to mark them with their scent. They most often use the glands between their eye and ear (temple area) or the glands near the base of their tale

Grooming

• Cats are known for their cleanliness and spend 30% of their waking lives grooming themselves
• They groom themselves by licking their fur
• Their saliva is a powerful cleaning agent, but it can provoke allergic reactions in people
• Papillae on the cats tongue are small backward facing hooks that contain keratin and assist in their grooming
• They enjoy grooming humans and other cats
• Cats may occasionally regurgitate hair balls of fur that have collected in their stomach
• Regularly grooming of the coat with a comb helps to reduce hair balls
• Cats expend nearly as much fluid grooming as they do urinating

Not So Common Facts

• The cat has been living in close association with humans for somewhere between 3500 and 8000 years
• Cats usually weigh between 2.5-7kg. The Bengal cat is one of the biggest cats, with males weighing up to 9kg and females about 7kg. The biggest breed is the Ragdoll and the smallest is the Singapura
• Indoor cats typically live 14-20 years; outdoor cats typically live 3-5 years. Indoor cats have less risk of injuries from fights or accidents and exposure to disease
• Cats sleep on average 16-18 hours a day. While sleeping, they remain alert to the slightest stimuli
• Due to the cat's nocturnal nature, they are a lot more active and playful during the evening
• The cats' temperament will vary between breeds. Shorter haired cats tend to be skinnier and more active. Cats with longer hair tend to be heavier and less active
• Near a heater or in the sun, the cat won't show signs of discomfort until their skin temperature reaches about 52'C (humans show discomfort at about 44.5'C)
• Cats will usually land on their feet. A cat can reflexively twist its body and right itself using its acute sense of balance and flexibility. They always right themselves the same way, providing they have the time to do so during the fall - Cats that don't have a tail don't land on their feet, as the cat moves its tail and relies on conservation of angular momentum to set up for landing
• Cats walk on their toes
• Cats are capable of walking very precisely, in that they place each hind paw almost directly in the print of the corresponding forepaw. This minimizes noise, hides visible tracks and provides sure footing for their hind paws when they navigate tough terrain. This method also ensures speed and agility
• Cats have retractable claws and showing them is an involuntary action. They only come out when the cat is stretching (e.g. when it is swatting at prey)
• Cats are very effective predators. They ambush prey using tactics similar to leopards and tigers by pouncing. They then deliver a lethal neck bite with their long canine teeth that severs the victim's spinal cord, or asphyxiate it by crushing its windpipe
• A cat will kill its prey based on movement, but may not recognize that prey as food. Realizing that prey is food is a learned behavior
• A cat will almost never meow at another cat. This sound is reserved for humans
• Cats get their sense of security from your voice, so it's good to talk to your cats. Cats also know when you're yelling at them (though they may not care)
• The more cats are spoken to, the more they will speak to you
• Cats are partially color blind. They have the equivalency of human red/green color blindness
• Blue eyed, pure white cats are frequently deaf. If only one eye is blue, they will be deaf in the ear closest to the blue eye
• They don't see details very well. Their owner appears hazy when standing in front of them
• Cats need 1/6th the amount of light that humans need to see. They have an extra layer of reflecting cells which absorb light
• Cats can see up to 35 metres away and their peripheral vision is about 285 degrees