Cats


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Prepare for a lot of cat videos! C:

These are my top 3 favorite cat breeds! It was actually very difficult for me to choose since I really love the more 'wild' type, but I do love the unique ones as well. I hope you enjoy all the videos!

As for the video links, the don't open into another tab/window automatically, so right-click to open the links to a new tab/window for easy watching. C:

Munchkin

Bengal

Turkish Van

These are my other favorites. ♥
Australian Mist
Savannah Cat (different language) | 2nd Video
Aegean
Chantilly
Arabian Mau
Skookum
Highlander
European Shorthair

If you'd like to see more cat breeds, there are more video links below! Enjoy~!!!

A special video about cats and their curiosity: Cats Gone Wild


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This is a post all about cats! Cat facts, informative tips, quotes, etc~
These are the categories:
Interesting Cat Facts
Health, Tips & Information
Cat Breeds & History
Cat Quotes & Proverbs
Traditions, Myths, Legends, Folklore & Superstitions 

** Remember to ctrl + F for easier reading!! **


Interesting Cat Facts
♥ Cats respond better to woman than men. Researchers think it might be because their voices have a higher pitch.
♥ The oldest cat on record was Puss, from England, who died in 1939 just one day after 36th birthday.
♥ A cat's hearing is much more sensitive than a human's or a dog's.
♥ House cats with clean coats that are dry and glossy become easily charged with static electricity. You can see sparks if you rub your cat's fur in the dark.
♥ Cats, not dogs, are the most common pets in America. There are approximately 66 million cats to 58 million dogs.
♥ A tabby named Dusty gave birth to 420 documented kittens in her lifetime. The older mother on record, Kitty, gave birth to two kittens at the age of 30, after having given birth to 218 kittens in her lifetime.
♥ The Latin word cattus was first used in Europe in the 4th century, possibly derived from the Arabic word quttah.
♥ A cat has a total of 24 whiskers, four rows of whiskers on each side. The upper two rows can move independently of the bottom two rows.
♥ Both human and cats have identical regions in the brain responsible for emotions.
♥ An adult cat has 32 teeth, same as a human.
♥ The cheetah is the only cat that outruns its prey rather than stalks it.
♥ Cats do not have a collarbone and this allows them to fit through any opening about the size of their head.
♥ Cats, like horses and elephants, walk on their toes.
♥ Ninety-five percent of cat owners admit they talk to their cats.
♥ Cats have 290 bones in their bodies and 517 muscles.
♥ Domestic cats purr both when inhaling and exhaling.
♥ The longest cat whisker on record measured 16.5 cm (6 in).
♥ At all ages, cats greet one another by touching their noses, much like dogs and people who kiss to say 'hello'.
♥ The 'catgut' used as strings in tennis rackets and musical instruments does not come from cats. Catgut actually comes from sheep, hogs, and horses. The 'cat' in the word may actually come from 'cattle'.
♥ More than fifty percent of dog and cat owners give their pets a human name, such as Molly, Sam or Max.
♥ Cats have a better memory than dogs. The University of Michigan conducted tests on animal memory and while a dog's memory lasts no more than five minutes, a cat's can last as long as 16 hours.
♥ When a domestic cat goes after mice, only about one pounce in three results in a catch.
♥ Cat urine glows under black light.
♥ Cats purr at about 26 cycles per second, the same frequency as an idling diesel engine.
♥ Cats make over 100 different vocal sounds while dogs can make only about ten.
♥ Pet food companies often hire cats as taste testers for their food. When a pet food has been taste-tested, some companies proudly point out this fact on the label.
♥ Pet cats don't think of themselves as small humans. Rather, they think of us as large cats.
♥ Mockingbirds can imitate any sound from a squeaking door to a cat meowing.
♥ When a cat drinks, its tongue - which has tiny barbs on it - scoops the liquid up backwards. The barbs also help it to strip meat off bones.
♥ Lions are the only truly social cat species. The pride consists of 5 to 30 individuals and the females are usually closely related.
♥ Mincho, a female cat that lived in Argentina, went up a tree and didn't come down again until her death six years later. While in the tree, she managed to have three litters.
♥ A cat's whiskers sense movements of air and, at night, allow it to sense if they are in danger. If a cat lost its whiskers, it would risk running into objects in the dark.
♥ A cat's brain is more similar to the human brain than a dog's brain.
♥ A frightened cat can run at speeds of up to 31mph (49km/h), slightly faster than a human sprinter
♥ In French, cat is chat, in German it is Katze, and in Italian, gatto.
♥ A cat can jump as much as seven times is own height.
♥ Cats, unlike dogs, do not learn tricks to win your approval. Cats can be taught to perform tasks such as retrieving toys and jumping through hoops -- but it takes patience, perseverance... and many pet treats.
♥ The domestic cat is the only feline species able to hold its tail vertically while walking.
♥ It has been scientifically proven that stroking a cat can lower a person's blood pressure.
♥ You should talk to your cat often. Cats love to hear the sound of their own name and your voice.
♥ Princess (Marie Christine) Michael of Kent, a member of the English Royal Family, issued official portraits of herself accompanied by her Siamese and Burmese cats.
♥ In the animal kingdom, the cat's IQ is surpassed only that of monkeys and chimps.
♥ A cat's sense of smell is 30 times better than that of a human.
♥ Sir Isaac Newton invented the cat door.
♥ As a cat pounces, its whiskers point forward to read the shape, size and movements of its target.
♥ Cats knead with their paws when they're particularly happy.
♥ Cats rub up against other cats, and other people in attempt to mark them with their scent glands. which are located near their temples and at the base of their tails.
♥ The predatory instinct in cats is not driven by hunger. Cats will hunt even when they are well fed.
♥ Winston Churchill had several cats, including Nelson (after Lord Nelson), a black cat that sat in a chair next to him in the cabinet, and Jock, a ginger kitten that Churchill called his 'special assistant'.
♥ People who own pets live longer, have less stress, and have fewer heart attacks.
♥ Domestic cats are essentially loners. When placed in a group, they develop their own hierarchy. As long as there is plenty of food on hand, a cat can learn to share its domain with other cats.
♥ Garfield, the fat orange cat created by comic strip artist Jim Davis, was named after Jim Davis's grandfather, James Garfield Davis.
♥ The Guinness Book of World Records states that a pair of cats inherited $415,000 in the early 1960s making them the richest feline duo ever. The richest individual cat is a white alley cat that inherited $250,000.
♥ Misty Malarky Ying Yang was a Siamese that belonged to Amy Carter and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
♥ In a lifetime, the average house cat spends approximately 10,950 hours purring.
♥ The Aristocats, a 1970 Disney animated feature film, follows a mother cat named Duchess and her three kittens Berlioz, Marie, and Toulouse.
♥ Calico cats are nearly always female.
♥ Freddie Mercury, lead singer of the group Queen, owned many cats throughout his life. His solo album Mr. Bad Guy is dedicated to cat lovers all over the world.
♥ Cats listen for prey by rotating their ears independently of each other.
♥ A cat's whiskers spread out as wide as its body, acting like a natural ruler to tell it what spaces it can fit through.
♥ The famous Looney Tunes character, Sylvester the Cat, was rated number 33 on TV Guide's list of top 50 favorite cartoon characters.
♥ A house cat named Jake from Ontario, Canada, is in the Guinness Book of World Records for having 28 toes, seven on each paw.
♥ Cats aren't natural-born hunters -- their mothers must teach them the finer details of hunting.
♥ In relation to their body size, cats have the largest eyes of any mammal.
♥ Cats have five toes on each front paw, but only four toes on each back paw.
♥ Cats are among the sleepiest of all mammals. They spend 16 hours of each day sleeping. That means a seven-year old cat has only been awake for two years of its life.
♥ India 'Willie' Bush, US President George W. Bush's cat was named for baseball player Rubén 'El Indio' Sierra of the Texas Rangers. The cat's name also sparked controversy and protests in India.
♥ Apollinaris, Beelzebub, Blatherskite, Buffalo Bill, Sin, Sour Mash, Tammany and Zoroaster are just a few of the cats that belonged to Mark Twain.
♥ A cat's jaws cannot move sideways.
♥ The names of Martha Stewart's cats are Beethoven, Mozart, Verdi, and Vivaldi.
♥ One of the world's greatest mousers was a Scottish cat named Towser. Working at a distillery, she is in the Guinness Book of Records as having killed 28,899 mice in 21 years of service, until her passing in 1987.
♥ Canada's Parliament Hill in Ottawa has been home to a feral cat colony for years. Recently homes have been built for them and food is supplied by a volunteer courtesy of a stipend from the House of Commons.
♥ Tom of the Tom & Jerry animated cartoons is often considered to be a Russian Blue cat because of his blue-grey coloring.
♥ Poet and novelist Dr. Samuel Johnson is said to have bought fresh oysters each day and fed them to his famous cat Hodge.
♥ In Australia a cat named Mancat attached himself to a Pug that was nearly blind and guided her around rooms, acting as her seeing-eye cat.
♥ Along with the giraffe and camel, the cat is the only animal that walks using both left feet, then both right feet.
♥ The distinctive silk fabrics created by weavers in Baghdad, Iraq, were inspired by the varied colors and patterns of the coats of cats. These patterned fabrics were called "tabby" by European traders.
♥ Nobel Prize-winning writer Ernest Hemingway once had some thirty cats at his home in Havana, Cuba.
♥ Cats, when startled, can jump up to five feet in the air.
♥ Slippers was a grey polydactyl ('extra-fingered') tabby that belonged to US President Theodore Roosevelt.
♥ A cat's field of vision is about 185 degrees.
♥ Biologists now classify domestic cats as an invasive species because it has adapted to a great variety of environments around the world. This also means they threaten local native species like birds and rodents.
♥ The only domestic animal not mentioned in the Bible is the cat.
♥ Carlyle was a Siamese given to Fred Astaire by Kim Novak, his co-star in The Notorious Landlady (1962). Astaire named the cat after Novak's character in that film.
♥ Napoleon Bonaparte and Julius Caesar both had a fear of cats.
♥ Jaguars are the only big cats that don't roar.
♥ "Puss in Boots," a Brothers Grimm fairytale, tells the story of a cat that helps his poor master attain wealth through trickery.
♥ Socks was a stray cat adopted by the family President Bill Clinton and named by his daughter Chelsea.
♥ Cats respond more to names that end an "ee" sound.
♥ 'Caterwauling' is the unattractive sound made by tomcats wandering around at night.
♥ The cat comes closer than any other animal, except for owl and the ape, to having the same binocular vision as humans.
♥ Male cats used to be called 'rams' and 'boars'. In 1760, a book called The Life and Adventures of a Cat featured a main character by the name Tom the Cat. From then on the term 'tomcat' has been used for males.
♥ Biologists believe the world's wild cats have evolved very rapidly in the past 10 to 15 million years from a common ancestor.
♥ The phrase "raining cats and dogs" comes from the 17th century England when many  of these poor animals drowned during heavy downpours. Their bodies would have been floating in the streets, giving the appearance that it had literally rained cats and dogs.
♥ Cats eventually replaced tame mongooses in pest-control duties in ancient Roman villas.
♥ The paranormal phenomenon of cats finding their owners in a place where they have never been before is known as 'psi-trailing'. Many stories tell of cats that have walked dozens of miles to find their owners.
♥ The sand cat is a wild desert cat of Africa that burrows into the sand to protect itself from the heat of the sun.
♥ Up to sixty percent of a cat's sleep is REM sleep, three times more than a human's.
♥ Tom Kitten belonged to Caroline Kennedy. When he died in 1962, the press gave him an obituary notice.
♥ The cheetah is the only cat in the world that cannot retract its claws. Known as the world's fastest land animal, it can accelerate as rapidly as a Formula 1 race car.
♥ Cardinal Richelieu of France was so fond of cats that he shared his home with 14 of them and had special servants to care for them. Upon his death, the Cardinal left all his wealth to his feline companions. 
♥ At one time, Egyptians shaved their eyebrows as a sign of mourning when they lost their beloved cat.
♥ While some scientists believe cats were domesticated by being trained to kill mice in granaries, others thing that cats were 'self-domesticating' --- they found mutual benefits living closely with humans.
♥ Among the seven continents, only ice Antarctica remains 'catless' today.
♥ Cats in the wild are used to eating mice whole, bones and all. This supplies them with much-needed minerals that diet of pure meat lacks.
♥ Cats is the hugely successful musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. It opened in 1981 in London's West End and played for a record of 21 years.
♥ Pope Benedict XVI's cat Chico is a black-and-white domestic short hair that continues to live at the Pope's home in Tübingen, Germany. Pets are not allowed in the Vatican.
♥ Hello Kitty, a cute fictional feline introduced on merchandising in Japan in 1974, now brings in sales of more than $1 billion a year.
♥ The famously silent, animated feline, the Pink Panther, made his film debut in 1963. The cartoon panther--like the fictitious pink diamond he portrays--always manages to escape unharmed, while leaving turmoil in his wake.
♥ Hanna-Barbera's 1940 cartoon creations Tom and Jerry have definite personalities. Tom (the cat) is a fiendish opportunist while Jerry (the mouse) is the impish schemer.
♥ Most American pet owners obtain their cats by adopting strays. 
♥ In Australia, feral cats are blamed for the extermination of native marsupial mammals. Now it seems the fox, another animal introduced by Europeans, is equally to blame.
♥ The fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) of India and Pakistan finds most of its prey in the water. It is an excellent swimmer and catches fish, frogs, and reptiles to feed on.
♥ Tom Quartz was a cat that belonged to Theodore Roosevelt -- named after the cat in Roughing It by Mark Twain.
♥ For some reason, six-toed cats are common in Boston and a few other areas of Massachusetts.
♥ French writer Alexandre Dumas owned a cat called Mysouff that was known for its E.S.P. The cat regularly predicted the time at which its master would finish work or if he was working late.
♥ One of the more popular sites on the internet is stuffonmycat.com. It's a collection of cute pictures featuring cats with, you guessed it, stuff on them.
♥ The Guinness Book of World Records no longer accepts entries for "heaviest cat". This category was eliminated due to ethical issues, since people were feeding their animals unhealthy amounts of food in order to beat the record.
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Health, Tips & Information
♥ Flushing cat feces down the toilet can introduce T. gondii, a protozoan parasite, into waterways and the ocean, causing harm to sea animals. The parasite is resistant to chemicals used in water treatment facilities.
♥ Hypoallergenic cat breeds, like the LaPerm, hairless Sphynx, and Devon Rex, have tired to eliminate the layers of the fur coat that causes allergic reactions. No hypoallergenic pets are completely allergen free.
♥ The fumes from mothballs are toxic to a cat's liver cells.
♥ Cats have a third eyelid -- called a haw -- that is rarely visible. If it can be seen, it maybe a sign of ill health.
♥ The world's heaviest cat weighed 46lbs (21kg) before the record was discontinued due to ethical issues.
♥ If you can't feel your cat's ribs, she's too heavy.
♥ A collar and tag can help your cat's chance of being returned to you, should he ever be lost. Better yet, outfit your cat with an electronic identification chip.
♥ A cat's heart beats twice as fast as a human heart, at about 140 beats per minute.
♥ Cat scratch disease, a benign but sometimes painful disease of short duration, is caused by a bacterium. Despite its name, the disease can be transmitted by many kinds of scratches besides those of cats.
♥ The average life expectancy for an indoor cat is 15 years. An outdoor cat's life expectancy is only 3 to 5 years.
♥ A cat sees about six times better than a human at night because of the tapetum, a special layer of reflecting cells in their eyes that absorb light.
♥ When cats scratches the trunk of a tree, it is actually stripping its claws of the worn outer coat to reveal new, sharp tips beneath.
♥ All cats are born with blue eyes. Their adult color will appear in 3 to 12 weeks.
♥ A cat will clean itself with paw and tongue after a dangerous experience or when it has fought with another cat. This is believed to be an attempt by the animal to sooth its nerves by doing something natural and instinctive.
♥ The average cat consumes about 127,000 calories a year, nearly 28 times its own weight in food and the same amount again in liquids. Cats cannot survive on a vegetarian diet.
♥ Catnip can affect lions and tigers as well as house cats. It excites them because it contains a pheromone, or 'chemical signal,' similar to that of dominant female cats.
♥ Purring is caused by the movement of air in spasms through contractions of the diaphragm. It is typically a sign of contentment, first heard in kittens as they suckle milk from their mother.
♥ A cat cannot see directly under its nose, which is why it has trouble finding tidbits on the floor.
♥ More than a third of cats are taken to vets are overweight or obese. Neutering a cat can increase its chance of obesity, so it is advised to reduce the amount it is fed by 10 to 20%.
♥ Most kittens are born head first, but some may be reversed. Kittens are born one at a time, on average about a half hour apart.
♥ The tabby cat is one with a distinctive coat that features dots, stripes and swirling patterns. It is often mistaken as a breed of cat when in fact the term 'tabby' refers to its coat.
♥ A female cat may have a litter of three to seven kittens every four months. This is why having your pets neutered/spayed is so important.
♥ Most cats do not have eyelashes.
♥ Chocolate is poisonous to both cats and dogs.
♥ Cats bury their feces to cover their trails from predators.
♥ Human painkillers such as acetaminophen (Tylenol) are toxic to cats.
♥ To deter a cat from scratching your furniture, try putting lemon or orange scent on the area. Cats hate these smells and shouldn't want to hang around.
♥ Cat families usually play best in even numbers. Cats and kittens should be acquired in pairs whenever possible.
♥ Cats can get acne.
♥ Cats have fairly poor color vision, although they can clearly distinguish green and blue hues. Their eyes are best at detecting movement and shades of grey.
♥ A group of cats is called a clowder. A group of kittens is called a kindle.
♥ Cats groom themselves to heal wounds and minor cuts with antiseptic saliva.
♥ A cat will never break a sweat because it has no sweat glands.
♥ Ever try feeding your cat food that was just out of the fridge? Most cats prefer their food at room temperature and may stubbornly refuse any food that is too cold or too hot.
♥ When cats wash other members of their family, they leave scent traces on each other's coats. This shared family smell identifies them as a group.
♥ Cats are more active during the evening hours.
♥ The average cat weighs 12 pounds (5.4 kg).
♥ Stings to the mouth can be very dangerous to cats. If your cat is stung on the mouth by any type of insect, take her to the vet immediately.
♥ In the hours after she has given birth, a female cat will often accept the young of other species like, chicks, or puppies, for mothering.
♥ Cat language consists of three sound categories: murmurs, or purring to express their satisfaction, loud and soft meows for calling kittens or to exclaim, and growls to express fear or pain.
♥ Cat bites are more likely to become infected than dog bites.
♥ A cat's eyes seem to shine at night due to the reflective layer called the tapetum. It contains tiny cells with reflective properties that, when light enters its eyes, it bounces back and appears like the cat's eyes are glowing.
♥ A cat's scent glands are on the muzzle, temples, and at the base of the tail.
♥ At birth, kittens cannot see or hear. Cats open their eyes after five days and begin to develop their eyesight and hearing at approximately two weeks. They begin to walk at twenty days.
♥ Onions contain a compound that is toxic to the red blood cells of cats.
♥ Female cats are 'superfecund' (super-fertile), which means that each of the kittens in its litter can have a different father.
♥ Female cats can reach adulthood in as five months, but male cats may take nine months to a year to reach adulthood. Most breeds have reached full growth by two years.
♥ Cats cannot taste sweets, for some reason they have lost the ability to taste sugar.
♥ White cats with blue eyes often suffer from genetic deafness. White cats with one blue eye and one yellow will often be deaf in the ear on the side of the blue eye.
♥ Cats must have certain fats in their diet because they can't produce them on their own.
♥ If a cat is frightened, put your hand over its eyes and forehead, or let him bury his head in your armpit to help calm him.
♥ Cats with long, lean bodies tend to be more outgoing, protective, and vocal than those with a stocky build.
♥ Cats roll on their backs to show affection. They expose their bellies when they feel totally comfortable and secure.
♥ Cats lose almost as much fluid in their saliva while grooming themselves as they do from urinating.
♥ Female cats are 'polyestrous,' which means they have many heat periods over the course of a year. A heat period lasts about 4 to 7 days if the female is bred; if she is not, the heat period lasts longer and recurs at regular intervals.
♥ There are four types of tabby patterning: mackerel (resembling a fish skeleton), classic (swirls of color on their sides), spotted (stripes on faces, legs, broken strips on body), and ticked (few solid colored hairs).
♥ A cat can't lick the top of it's head. Instead it uses its forepaw like a washcloth.
♥ The average meal of cat food is the equivalent to about five mice.
♥ Cats spend about thirty percent of their waking hours grooming themselves.
♥ White vinegar is good for neutralizing the odor of cat urine.
♥ Cats eat grass to cleanse their digestive tracts. The regurgitation brings up hair and other irritants.
♥ Milk can give some cats diarrhea.
♥ Almost ten percent of a cat's bones are in its tail.
♥ When a cat is looking out the window at a bird and starts chattering its teeth, this is called 'vacuum activity'. It means that the cat is performing the killing bite even though the bird isn't really in its mouth.
♥ Feline eyes come in three basic shapes: slanted, almond-shaped and round.
♥ Toxoplasmosis is a disease that is transmitted through the feces of cats and, more commonly, through meat products. Pregnant women and people with a depressed immune system should not touch the cat litter box.
♥ Cats can get 'age spots'. These are black spots on the skin that are often seen around the lips, eyes, and nose. They usually start when the cat is three to five years of age.
♥ Cats can get bored. They show their boredom by excessive licking, chewing, or biting. Social cats that are neglected can become depressed.
♥ A cat that bites you after you have rubbed its stomach is probably biting out of pleasure, not anger.
♥ A form of HIV exists in cats called FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus) that can lead to feline AIDS. Cats are the only animals apart from primates that have an AIDS-like syndrome.
♥ A cat can recognize the sound of her owner's footsteps from hundreds of feet away.
♥ Kittens lose their baby teeth at about four months of age. Animals that do not lose their baby teeth have a condition called 'retained deciduous teeth'.
♥ Cats, like people, are prone to asthma. Dust, smoke, and other forms of air pollution in your cat's environment can be troublesome sources of irritation.
♥ If your cat brings you birds, mice or other wild animals, it is trying to please you by giving you a gift.
♥ Cats have a homing instinct that uses its biological clock, the angle of the sun, and the Earth's magnetic field. If you move house with your cat, keep it indoors for at least a month so it can reset its 'inner compass'.
♥ A study found that children living with pets were 13 to 18% less likely to miss school due to illness than children without pets.
♥ Cats can come back to full alertness from the sleeping state faster than any other creature.
♥ To make sure your cat's collar fits properly, make sure you can slip two fingers between the collar and your cat's neck.
♥ Indoor cats tend to shed year-round because we often leave our lights on in the house. This irregular cycle tricks a cat's body into thinking the seasons are always changing, thus the natural rhythm of seasonal shedding is disturbed.
♥ Some common houseplants poisonous to cats include English ivy, iris, mistletoe, philodendron and yew.
♥ The eyes of a Siamese cat appear red in the dark due to the lack of pigment in the retinas. The red color comes from the blood vessels.
♥ Cats can be taught to walk on a leash, but a lot of time and patience is required to teach them. The younger the cat, the easier it will be for them to learn.
♥ Always adaptive to their environment, there are about 1,000 species of animals that cats will eat.
♥ 'Piebald' or 'particolor' cats are white and any other color. Bi-color is the term used to describe a cat that is one-third to two-thirds white and has patches of color on its head and torso.
♥ 'Ear furnishings' are the protective hairs that grow inside a cat's ears.
♥ Though rare, cats have been known to contract canine heartworm, a parasite passed by mosquitoes that lives in the heart of its host.
♥ Petroleum jelly can be used to treat hairballs in cats. A little can be given directly in the mouth or put on the paws for the cat to lick.
♥ Neutering a male cat will, in most cases, stop him from fighting with other males, spraying to mark his territory, and will lengthen and improve his quality of life.
♥ Cats, like dogs and horses, can donate blood to other cats.
♥ In cats, the Jacobson's organ on the roof of the mouth helps it to identify particularly stimulating odors.
♥ Be careful how you store antifreeze and rodent killer -- the two most common sources of accidental poisoning among cats.
♥ If a male cat is both orange and black, he is probably sterile.
♥ Cats love routines. Because of this, try to stick to a schedule that your cat can depend upon, especially when it comes to feeding time.
♥ In multi-cat households, cats of the opposite sex usually get along better.
♥ Non-pedigree cats have a higher incidence of tabby markings than pedigree cats. Non-pedigree cats are also usually more robust than highly bred cats.
♥ The cat's brain needs so much energy to function that over twenty percent of blood that the heart pumps goes immediately to it.
♥ Songbirds are endangered due to feral cats and housecats in North America, with some 100 million killed each year. Conservationists recommend a collar with a bell should be worn by cats.
♥ Cats have AB blood groups just like humans.
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Cat Breeds & History
♥ The Egyptian Mau, domesticated thousands of years ago, is the only breed recommended for conservation by the International Society for Endangered Cats (ISEC)
♥ The Munchkin cat is a relatively new breed with abnormally short legs discovered in Louisiana in 1983. They own their shortcomings to a natural genetic mutation.
♥ The Bombay cat gets its name from its intensely black coat that is reminiscent of the Indian black leopard.
♥ The Norwegian Forest Cat is a breed native to Northern Europe, and over the years has adapted quite well to very cold weather. Its coat is double-layered as well as waterproof.
♥ The California Spangled Cat, a new breed with markings similar to the leopard or cheetah, was first introduced to the public in the 1986 Neiman-Marcus Christmas catalogue.
♥ The Burmese originated in the US in the 1930s from a cat named Wong Mau that was brought from Burma and crossbred with a Siamese.
♥ In 1888, about 300,000 ancient mummified cats were found at Beni Hassan, Egypt. They were sold for $18 per ton and shipped to England to be ground up and used for fertilizer.
♥ The Korat is a breed symbolizing good fortune in Thailand. They are the color of silver, signifying wealth.
♥ Recent DNA studies show that the domestic cat is more closely related to the African wildcat than the European wildcat. Cats were first domesticated in the Near East where grain crops originated, and the cats used to control mice.
♥ Australia separated from the rest of the world's continents 85 million years before the appearance of the cat. This is why there were no cats in Australia until the arrival of the Europeans.
♥ In Thailand, Siamese cats would guard Buddhist temples. They would chase away and even attack thieves who attempted to steal treasure.
♥ The Siamese cat is very vocal in nature. It has a loud, low-pitched voice that is known as "Meezer," and it has been compared to the cries of a human baby.
♥ The Havana Brown is a mix of black shorthair cat and a seal or chocolate point Siamese. It is believed its name refers to the color of its coat, which is similar to cigars from Havana.
♥ Scientists recently found a 9,500-year-old grave site with the remains of a human and a cat on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. This predates early Egyptian art depicting domestic cats by more than 4,000 years.
♥ All Birmans are said to be descendants of a sacred cat named Sinh the Oracle that lived in the Temple of Lap Tsun, where cats were worshipped as gods.
♥ 'Tortoiseshell' and 'calico' describe a coat coloring of browns and black found almost exclusively in female cats. They are often called 'torties' for short.
♥ Phoenician merchants were the first to export domestic cats through Africa to Israel and Palestine 3,700 years ago and to Greece 3,000 years ago.
♥ The Chantilly/Tiffany is a breed with two names. The British breeders began calling it 'Tiffany' while Canadian counterparts coined the name 'Chantilly'.
♥ During the reign of Kublai Khan, the Chinese used lions on hunting expeditions. They trained the big cats to pursue and drag down massive animals -- from wild bulls to bears -- and to stay with the kill until the hunter arrived.
♥ When the Plague swept across England, one belief was that cats caused the epidemic and so thousands were slaughtered. Ironically, the people who kept their cats were less affected because their houses were clear of the real culprits, rats.
♥ The LaPerm, a new breed that originated in Oregon, is a curly haired, 'permed-looking' cat that is completely bald at birth. Within eight weeks it begins to grow soft curly hair.
♥ During World War I, cats were brought to live with soldiers in the trenches to kill mice and rats.
♥ The tiniest cat on record was one name Tinker Toy from Illinois. A male Himalayan-Persian, he weighed 1 1/2 pounds fully grown and was 7 1/4 inches long.
♥ The Bobtail cat, native to Japan and Southeast Asia, is a breed with an unusual bobbed tail that more closely resembles the tail of a rabbit rather than a cat.
♥ In the 16th century, the Angora cat was brought to Europe from Turkey. It is usually thought of as a white cat when in fact it comes in a variety of colors like chocolate and 'lilac'.
♥ The Balinese breed of cat is a natural, longhaired mutation of the Siamese cat. The original breeder named the cats after the graceful dancers of Bali, Indonesia, in the 1950s.
♥ Unlike other domesticated animals, cats have changed very little over the past 4,000 years.
♥ The Birman is also called the "Sacred Cat of Burma" and is not to be confused with the Burmese. The earliest known Birman was smuggled from Burma to France in 1920. The Burmese dates from 1930.
♥ The Maine Coon is America's only 'natural' breed of domestic feline. It is four times larger than the Singapura (world's smallest breed of cat).
♥ The Burmilla is a breed that originated in the UK in 1981 and is a cross between a Burmese and a Chinchilla Persian.
♥ The Turkish Van, or Swimming Cat, is renowned for swimming. It gets its name from Lake Van in southeast Turkey.
♥ The Ojos Azules, first discovered in the Mexico in 1984, is a rare breed of cat with beautiful blue eyes. Its name, when translated into Spanish, means "blue eyes".
♥ Although there is evidence of domestic cats from 9,000 years ago, they have nonetheless been domesticated only half as long as dogs.
♥ Longhair cats were first seen in Europe in the early 16th century. The first known longhair, the Angora, was named after the region of the Turkish capital Ankara, from where it originates.
♥ The Cymric, or Long-haired Manx, is a rare tailless breed that originated with all Manx cats, on the Isle of Man, UK.
♥ The cat family split from the other mammals at least 40 million years ago, making them on of the oldest mammalian families.
♥ The Bengal cat is a cross between the domestic tabby and the wild Asian leopard cat. It must be at least three generations to separate from its wild ancestor to have a good temperament.
♥ The Russian Blue is also called the Archangel Blue after the port town of Arkhangelsk, Russia, where the breed originates. They are highly intelligent with a unique silver-blue coat.
♥ The black-footed cat (Felis nigripes) is a species of wild cat smaller than the average housecat. It is native to Africa and its maximum weight is 5.5 pounds (2.5kg).
♥ The Javanese, a cousin to the popular Balinese breed, is a longhaired Siamese cross known for its intelligence. The Javanese is often said to be the most intelligent of all felines.
♥ The stubby-nose longhair Persian cat is the most popular breed of cat in the US. The Persian was first imported to Europe from Persia (Iran) in 1620.
♥ The Scottish Fold cat has a natural dominant gene mutation that makes its ear cartilage contain a fold. This causes the ears to bend forward and down, giving it an owl-like appearance.
♥ Himalayans are bred from Siamese and Persian cats. In Europe, 'Himmies' are also referred to as Colorpoint Persians.
♥ Originating on the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea, Manx cats are famous for not having a tail.
♥ The American Curl was a new breed discovered by Joe and Grace Ruga of California in 1981. The cats have straight ears at birth, but within two to seven days their ears begin to curl back.
♥ Queen Victoria was supposedly a big fan of the Russian Blue. Sailors first brought the breed to Western Europe from Russia around 1860, and it was featured at the 1875 cat show at London's Crystal Palace.
♥ In ancient Egypt, if you killed a cat you would be punished by death.
♥ In ancient Egypt, special cats were mummified and embalmed mice were placed with them in toubs.
♥ From medieval times, different parts of a cat's body, ranging from the dried liver to the blood and bones, were used to concoct cures and medicines.
♥ The Savannah is a fairly recent American crossbreeding of a domestic cat and a wild serval of Africa. It is now one of the most popular cat breeds.
♥ King Charles I of England owned a black cat whom he treasured so much that he had his guards watch over it 24 hours a day. The day after the cat died from an illness, the king was arrested.
♥ The Peterbald is a Russian hairless cat whose skin has the appearance of grey flannel and a texture that is often compared to a horse's muzzle.
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Cat Quotes & Proverbs
♥ "You can keep a dog; but it is the cat who keeps people, because cats find humans helpful domestic animals." ~Mark Twain
♥ "Time spent with cats is never wasted." ~Sigmund Freud
♥ "Cats always know when people like or dislike them. They do not always care enough to do anything about it." ~Winifred Carrier
♥ "A cat has nine lives: for three he plays, for three he strays, and for three he stays," ~English proverb
♥ "The dog for the man, the cat for the woman." ~English proverb
♥ "No matter how much cats fight, there always seem to be plenty of kittens." ~Abraham Lincoln
♥ "Cats do not declare their love much; they enact it, by their myriad invocations of our pleasure." ~Vicki Hearne
♥ "The great thing about cats is their endless variety. One can pick a cat to fit almost any kind of decor, income, personality, mood. But under the fur, whatever color it may be, there still lies... one of the world's free souls." ~Eric Gurney
♥ "A cat allows you to sleep on a bed. On the edge." ~Jenny de Vries
♥ "Books, cats and fair-haired little girls make the best furnishings for a room." ~French proverb
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Traditions, Myths, Legends, Folklore & Superstitions
♥ According to legend, witches liked black cats because they believed an ointment made from the cat's fat would turn them into felines.
♥ Hebrew folklore says that cats came about because Noah was afraid that rats would eat all the food in the  ark. Also, God first created a lion and when it sneezed, a small cat came out.
♥ In Norse mythology, cats symbolize down-pouring rain because witches riding on storms were said to take the form of cats.
♥ In Denmark, rain was predicted when cats would race up and down the stairs.
♥ Ancient Egyptians believed that the goddess Bast was the mother of all cats on Earth and were thus sacred animals.
♥ In France, it is believed that if you find a white hair on a black cat, good luck will come your way.
♥ According to folklore, some cats are said to be able to predict earthquakes.
♥ Japan's Maneko Neko, or "good luck cat," is a feline with one raised paw that is said to bring good fortune. Piggy banks in the shape of this feline are believed to invite wealth.
♥ In ancient Egypt, it was believed that the sun's rays were kept in a cat's eyes at night for safekeeping.
♥ Legend has it that if you kick a cat, you will develop rheumatism in that leg.
♥ In China, cats supposedly predicted rain by winking an eye. By contrast in Scotland, rain was predicted when a cat would rub against the legs of a table.
♥ In Indonesia, there is a tradition of pouring water over a cat's back when the people needed rain.
♥ The prophet Mohammed's cat, Muesso, is said to have been so pampered that, according to legend, Mohammed cut off his robe rather than disturb his cat that was sleeping on it.
♥ Long ago, the people of some cultures believed that kittens born in the month of May would bring snakes into the house.
♥ In some cultures, calico cats are supposed to bring good luck, especially luck to do with money.
♥ The Egyptian sun-god, Ra, changed himself into a cat in order to battle evil. Bast, the goddess of fertility and love, always took the form of a cat, with the body of a woman and the head of a cat.
♥ According to myth, a cat sleeping with all four paws tucked under means colder weather is coming.
♥ Legend has it that in Russia a  cat was put into a new cradle to drive out evil spirits before a baby was allowed to sleep in it.
♥ According to some sources, in Siam, the Siamese cat was so revered that one rode in a chariot at the head of a parade to celebrate the new king's coronation.
♥ According to one superstition, people believed that if a cat washed its face in the parlor, visitors would be coming.
♥ An old superstition says that if a black cat leaps over a corpse, the dead body will reanimate as a vampire.
♥ Some people believe that dreaming of a white cat means you'll be lucky in creative matters.
♥ According to the folklore in many countries, Tortoiseshell cats are said to bring good luck and are often referred to as "money cats" in the United States.
♥ In the US and some European countries, black cats are unlucky. In Britain, they are said to bring good luck.
♥ According to Italian superstition, a cat sneezing is a good omen for anyone who hears it.
♥ Cats are said to forecast the weather. They predict the wind by clawing at carpets and curtains. Rain is highly likely when a cat busily washes its ears.
♥ According to legend, Siamese cats became cross-eyed in the line of duty. While bathing, Thai princesses would hang their rings on a cat's tail. The Siamese went cross-eyed from turning to look at the rings. Today most Siamese are not cross-eyed. 
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