• The mother’s purr acts
as a homing device, announcing to her babies that nursing time has
arrived. Kittens begin to purr in return at about one week of age -
perhaps as a gesture of gratitude, or maybe as a request for milk - and
continue to purr for the rest of their lives.
• After cats eat, they always immediately bathe themselves. This is
because their instinct tells them to get the food scent off them so
that predators will not smell the food and come after them.
• When cats are happy or pleased, they squeeze their eyes shut.
• How a cat ’speaks’ is quiet remarkable. They don’t speak phrases
to express affection, outrage, hunger, loneliness, boredom, confusion,
happiness and fear in their natural frequency range, which would be
inaudible to humans, but at a much lower frequency that humans can
hear. Some researchers believe they may have learned we can’t hear them
in their natural range and have adapted so they can relate to us on our
terms.
• The ancient Egyptians worshiped cats as Gods. Any cat owner can tell you that cats have never gotten over it!
• The reason for the lack of mouse-flavored cat food is due to the
fact that the test subjects (cats, naturally!) turned up their noses at
the formula!
• The cat uses it’s tail like a tight-rope walker uses a long pole -
as a counterweight to aid balance. Even though the tail is useful for
this, it is also used for communication purposes. Cats born without
tails do manage, though. There are other methods of balancing
• Did you know that cats can listen for prey by rotating their ears
independently? Or that their whiskers can detect movements 2,000 times
smaller than the width of a human hair? Or that house cats, unlike
other domesticated animals, have changed very little over the past
4,000 years?
• The infamous Black Plague in Europe was due in part to the fact
that people believed those with cats were witches. So all the cats were
rounded up, caged and burned, leaving the rats (with their disease
causing parasites) to run free and multiply. Those harbouring cats were
often those who survived.
• Cats see so well in the dark because their eyes actually REFLECT
light. Light goes in their eyes, and is reflected back out; their eyes
actually work as built-in flashlights.
Thank you to our friends at Comedy Zone for the info http://www.comedy-zone.net/triviazone/animals/page7.htm
