21 Awesome Facts About Cats You Probably Didn’t Know

Cats are weird and you either love them or hate them. That’s a fact known to everyone. Cat people know how awesome they are and cat haters are… well, wrong. Though we know they have little quirks here and there, all of which make them so special, there are so many we can’t possibly know about all of them. So let us help!

Here are a bunch of facts that will help you impress your friends and get to know your furry little fiend even more!

1: Kittens begin to dream when they’re around one week old!

2: If a cat blinks slowly at you, it means they love you.

3: A group of cats is called a clowder, and a group of kittens is called a kindle!

4: Cats can’t taste sweet things. They do not possess the genetics to be able to taste sweets, and the sugar detectors on their tongues have been ‘deleted.’

5: Cats can run 3 mph faster than Usain Bolt!

6: The average cat sleeps 16–18 hours a day, meaning that by the time a cat is 9, they will only have been awake for three years of their life!

7: They are not colourblind to the point that they only see grey. Cats vision is similar to that of a human who is colourblind. They see shades of blue and green but reds and pinks may be confusing.

8: The little tufts of fur in their ears are called ‘ear furnishings’ and they help to filter out sounds and debris, and insulate the ear.

9: Black cats are considered back luck because they are associate with witches. During the times when people were being accused of witchcraft, a lot of these people owned black cats. Then, one day, a father and son were said to be travelling on a moonless night when suddenly, a black cat ran across their path and dove into a crawl space. The two men then began to throw rocks at the cat until, injured, it scurried out and ran into a woman's house, who was already suspected of being a witch. The next morning, the woman was seen to be limping and injured and everyone thought it was more than just a coincidence and from then on it was believed that witches could turn into cats.

10: The smallest cat on record was a blue point Himalayan-Persian named Tinker Toy, and he was only 7cm (2.76in) tall and 19cm (7.4in) and weighed just 700 grams!

11: Cats are not the only animal that purrs! Others include guinea pigs, lemurs, hyenas, gorillas and even elephants!

12: A cat can jump approximately 7 times its own height!

13: Adult cats don’t meow at other cats. They purr, spit and hiss at other cats, but they save their meowing for humans; they have even gone as far as to have developed specific vocal tones for their humans, which only their owner can understand. They also have over 100 different vocal sounds.

14: Male cats are called ‘Toms’ and female cats are known as ‘Mollies’ or ‘Queens.’

15: While humans greet one another by shaking hands, cats greet each other by touching noses!

16: Calico cats are almost always female.

17: Unlike humans, cats can only sweat through their paw pads!

18: There are over 20 muscles that control a cats ears.

19: A cats nose ridge is as unique as that of a human fingerprint.

20: Cat fur easily becomes charged when stroked and you can see sparks if their fur is rubbed in the dark. This is also the reason their backs begin to twitch and also why they randomly attack you when they seem to be enjoying petting.

21: Ailurophilia is the love of cats.

Don’t forget, adopt don’t shop! Visit your local shelter to rescue a furry baby and you could end up with a close pal for a long time!