20 Fun Cat Facts You Can Share with Your Kids
Kids and cats are so cute. If your kids are anything like mine, they love their cat. And if your cat is anything like our cat, he or she sits around letting the kids do whatever they want to him or her while staring at you with a look of defeat in his or her eyes. But secretly, the cat loves this treatment as much as the kids because otherwise he’d make his way up onto the cabinets in the laundry room and hide out. He doesn’t, so we know he loves it. There are some pretty interesting cat facts floating around out there and many of them are worth sharing with the kids. Not only are these little facts cute and fun to know, they also help your kids learn to have a little bit of respect for these animals. And since kids need to have respect for living creatures, now is as good a time as any to go ahead and make sure your kids know these sweet facts.
In fact, it probably wouldn’t hurt you to learn a few of these simple cat facts. You might think you know a lot about your feline friends, but it turns out that you actually know very little when it comes to the animal you share your home with. Cats are complex little creatures that may or may not actually have a few little surprising facts associated with them you’ve never heard of. Let us see how many of these cat facts you knew before you read them here. We bet some of them come as a bit of a surprise to you.
Calico cats are usually always girls. There are actually very few calico boys in the world.
Cats sleep anywhere from 16 to 18 hours per day, and that’s not to say yours won’t sleep even longer than that if it has the chance. And yes, most of those awake hours are in the middle of the night when you don’t want to hear the cats going crazy in the house.
When cats knead with their paws, it indicates they are in a good mood. We always thought it meant they were looking for a place to get comfortable. Guess not.
Sweet is a flavor that cats can’t taste. Don’t ask me why; I don’t know. Check with your vet if you care that much.
Cats have great noses and they are as much as 14 times more sensitive than people when it comes to their sense of smell.
Cat toes are strange. They have five up front but only four toes on their back feet. Wonder why? So do we.
Cats tongues feel like sandpaper because that’s how the clean themselves. They needed something a little rough to help get the dirt and other disgust off of their bodies. A smooth tongue clearly wouldn’t do the job.
Ever wonder how your cats seamlessly jump from the floor to the top of the fridge without breaking a sweat? It’s because they have the ability to jump approximately 7 times their own size in height.
Cats are fast. Maybe you’ve never realized just how quick yours is, but he or she can run as many as 30 miles per hour. I wish the people in my neighborhood drove as fast as cats run on occasion.
A cat nose bump is the equivalent of a handshake for humans.
Cats have a lot of teeth. In fact, they can have as many as 30, but not all cats have all their teeth. They’re pretty easily lost.
Mice cause tapeworms. So if you have a mice problem and think your cat can handle it, you might have to worry about your cat getting sick.
Male cats are actually called Tom. Did you know that? And no, not just the one on the cartoon show with Jerry.
Female cats are not called Tom. In fact, they are actually called Queen. And we think that our cats know this very well. They’re very diva-like at times, aren’t they?
Cats can’t see in the dark. Many people think they can, but they can actually only see in the dark if there is a little bit of light. Granted, they can see in little light a lot better than we can, but still not as well as we assume cats see in the dark.
If you’ve ever wondered just how your cat always seems to have a different sound for what’s going on in his life, it’s because he or she can make as many as 100 sounds. Our cat has one for everything we do; his annoyed voice, his hungry voice, his irritated voice, his get away from me voice. He even has a lecture voice when we are gone more than just a few hours. He’s very judgmental. It’s why we love him.
Most cats cannot drink cow’s milk because they are lactose intolerant. Pretty ironic considering the vast majority of people feed their very small kittens cow’s milk if their mothers are not around to feed them.
Cats have a big time survival rate when it comes to falling. Perhaps this is where the rumor that cats have nine lives come from. A cat that falls five stories has a 90 percent chance of landing on its feet and living its life as healthy as ever.
Whiskers on a cat’s face are actually useful and help cats do things like get around in the dark. Have you ever wondered why your cat seems to have no trouble seeing in the dark? It’s because the whiskers on his or her face allow him or her to navigate dark places with ease, which is why these animals seem so capable.
Cats are pregnant far less time than humans, which is something that makes us only a little bit bitter. In fact, cats are pregnant for approximately 2 months. From 58 to 65 days, though cats born any earlier than that are likely not going to survive.
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