18 Facts About Cats

1.

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

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2.

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

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3.

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

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4.

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

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5.

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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6.

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.

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7.

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

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8.

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

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9.

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

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10.

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

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11.

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

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12.

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

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13.

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

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14.

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

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15.

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

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16.

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

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17.

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.

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18.

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.

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