More Fun Cat Facts

A cat spends nearly 30% of its life grooming

Ready for some more cat facts? Most of these facts not only pertain to domestic cats, but to their big cat cousins as well.

Last week I did a post on fun cat facts.  I came across too many facts about our feline friends to include in one post, so here’s another list of trivia about cats.

• A group of kittens is called a kindle; a group of cats is a clowder.
• Cats are the most common pet in America - there are about 66 million cats and 58 million dogs as pets.
• Americans spend more money per year on cat food than they do on baby food.
• Cats walk on their toes.
• Domestic cats can sprint 31 miles per hour.
• Cats, big and small, walk by moving both left feet, then both right feet.  This gives them speed, agility and grace.  The only other animals to walk this way are the giraffe and the camel.
• A cat can jump seven times as high as its tail.
• A cat spends nearly 30% of its life grooming.
• A cat’s tongue feels rough because of thousands of hooked papillae on the tongue.  The papillae serve two purposes - they aid in grooming, and also allow cats to thoroughly clean the bones of any prey they happen to catch.

That’s enough cat trivia for now.  Watch for more in the future.

Photo credit: Beth VanHoose

August 21st, 2009 by Beth VanHoose | Posted in Cat Stories | (0)