Twelve Cat Myths You Might Not Know

catpurr

Whether it’s a tip from a neighbor or something you discover on the Internet, myths about cats can steer you in the wrong direction.  It’s important to get your facts straight when it comes to information about cats.  It can really affect how you interact with them as well as your treatment of these animals.   So to help you out, here are twelve cat myths debunked…..

purr

1. Cats only purr when they are happy. Cats may also purr when they’re experiencing anything intense, even pain.

cat snuggle

2. Cats are concerned when you’re sick and feverish. Actually, they snuggle up against you when you have a fever because your body temperature has risen and they like the warmth.

cat_whiskers

3. Cat’s whiskers have no real purpose, but they are cute. The 24 whiskers a cat has are used to measure distances. So if your cat is overweight and wider than her whiskers, she might get stuck in the cat door.

cats cat paws 1601x1066 wallpaper_www.wall321.com_94

4. All cats have 4 toes on their back paws, and five on their front paws. There are some rare cats called “polydacti” with six or seven front and back toes.

cat-brain-technology

5. Cats have brains that are completely different from ours. Cats’ brains are more like ours than they are like dogs’. The regions in cat and human brains responsible for emotion are identical.

protein-your-cat

6. Cats don’t need as much protein as dogs do. Surprise, cats need 5 times more protein than dogs do. That’s in ratio to total food consumption. Does not mean she gets 5 hamburgers for every one the dog eats.

overweight-cat-measured

7. If you can feel your cat’s ribs, shame on you, she is too skinny. It’s the other way around. If you cannot feel her ribs, she’s too fat.

Fotolia_cat bite

8. A cat who bites you is angry. Actually, if kitty bites you when you rub her tummy, she is probably expressing pleasure. Since she has 30 teeth, you have to decide if it’s worth it.

pharaoh-cat

9. Pharaoh had no use for cats and tried to banish them. To the contrary, Pharaoh declared that cats were “demigods” so people would revere and protect them. Why? In ancient Egypt, they needed rat control. Pharaoh wanted lots of cats around to protect his granaries. Killing a cat became punishable by death! Even if the cat died naturally you had to get the priest to swear it on his sarcophagus. (Or whatever.)

20081016cats

10. The cat population is diminishing because of increased traffic and other dangers.  There are about 500 million domestic cats in the world, but we don’t know who counted them. In America, the population grew to 68 million by 1986. Supposedly there are 33 different breeds.

Pets-Southpaws_Southpaws.JPEG-0bde1

11. Most cats are right-pawed. Some cats are right-pawed, some are left-pawed, one side or the other being dominant. Contrary to popular opinion, only 40 per cent of cats are ambidextrous.

550px-Carry-a-Cat-Step-3

12. Cats like to wrap around your legs because you’re so wonderful. No, they rub against people and other cats because they are “marking” them with their scent glands! Generally, they like to pick the one person in the room who has the worst cat allergies to mark. Cats have scent glands between eye and ear, but also near the base of their tails.

Myths obtained by Yahoo!

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.