Did you know that 18% of households have a cat? That is a large percentage of households that have cats, and yet there’s still a lot that is unknown about cats and the way in which they act and behave. From the strange way in which cats walk to the different shapes and sizes of breeds of cat, there is a lot that we still do not know about cats!
One thing we do know about cats is the fact that they have captured the attention and hearts of humans for hundreds of years; from the ancient Egyptians who worshipped cats to the huge internet culture that has developed around cats over the past decade, it’s clear that cats are an incredibly popular pet.
You would think that with so many cats around us that we would, by now, know everything that we need to know about cats, and yet there is still a lot that is unknown to us about cats. However, that being said, there is also a lot that we know about cats - keen to learn more about our feline friends? Have a read of the interesting and insightful facts below!
- The oldest pet cat known to exist was a whopping 9500 years ago - while it was originally thought that it was the Egyptians who first domesticated the cat, back in 2004 archeologists found a 9500-year-old cat grave in Cyprus, suggesting that the Egyptians were not in fact the first people to domesticate cats.
- Cats sleep for 70% of their lives - it is a well-known fact that cats sleep a lot, but did you know that cats spend approximately 70% of their lives sleeping? On average, cats need 13 to 16 hours of sleep a day - that is a lot of sleep!
- Cats can be Mayors - yes, you read that right - a cat was named the Mayor of a town in Alaska for 20 years. A ginger tabby cat called Stubbs was named the Mayor of a small town in Alaska, and although he did not have any legislative power, he was popular with tourists and locals alike.
- Cats can be very long - how long a cat is depends on its breed as well as other genetic factors, with the longest ever cat found to be 48. 5 inches in length. A Maine Coon cat known as Stewie was the world’s longest cat, while the world’s tallest cat was Arcturus at 19 inches tall.
- Cats walk in the same way as camels and giraffes - have you ever thought that your cat walked in a similar way to a camel or a giraffe? Cats walk with both of their right feet first, followed by both of their left feet, allowing them to move half of their body at once.
- Cats have been to space - in 1963 a cat went into space. You might have heard about dogs and monkeys flying into space, well cats have also been to space. On October 18th 1963 Felicette was the first and only cat to head to space.