18 Facts About Cats

Cats have seven cervical vertebrae ; 13 thoracic vertebrae ; seven lumbar vertebrae ; three sacral vertebrae ; and a variable number of caudal vertebrae in the tail .

Cats shed the outside layer of their claw sheaths when scratching rough surfaces.

Cats have excellent night vision and can see at only one-sixth the light level required for human vision.

Cats have a nictitating membrane, allowing them to blink without hindering their vision.

Cats have an acute sense of smell, due in part to their well-developed olfactory bulb and a large surface of olfactory mucosa, about.

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Cats are sensitive to pheromones such as 3-mercapto-3-methylbutan-1-ol, which they use to communicate through urine spraying and marking with scent glands.

Cats conserve energy by sleeping more than most animals, especially as they grow older.

Cats are known for spending considerable amounts of time licking their coats to keep them clean.

Cats throw themselves to the ground in a defensive posture to rake their opponent's belly with their powerful hind legs.

Cats are willing to threaten animals larger than them to defend their territory, such as dogs and foxes.

Cats reject novel flavors and learn quickly to avoid foods that have tasted unpleasant in the past.

Cats engage in play fighting, with each other and with humans.

Cats are ready to go to new homes at about 12 weeks of age, when they are ready to leave their mother.

Cats have contributed to the extinction of the Navassa curly-tailed lizard and Chioninia coctei.

Cats have been used for millennia to control rodents, notably around grain stores and aboard ships, and both uses extend to the present day.

Cats can be infected or infested with viruses, bacteria, fungus, protozoans, arthropods or worms that can transmit diseases to humans.

Cats eventually displaced weasels as the pest control of choice because they were more pleasant to have around the house and were more enthusiastic hunters of mice.

Cats are often shown in icons of Annunciation and of the Holy Family and, according to Italian folklore, on the same night that Mary gave birth to Jesus, a cat in Bethlehem gave birth to a kitten.