30 Interesting Facts About Cats

I don’t know about you, but personally, I just love a good fun fact. Useful knowledge doesn’t always stick around in my brain for long, but when it comes to random trivia, there’s always a free brain cell to store that piece of info forever. Today, I thought I’d go on a little hunt for interesting facts about cats. Here’s what I found out, in case you like fun facts as much as I do!

Cats are incredible creatures, and I’m not saying it solely because I’m a massive cat person myself! They look majestic even when they do the silliest things and the royal dignity they express in every move is unmatched. But there’s more to our little fluffy friends. Here are 30 fun facts about cats. How many of these did you know?

Cats have an average body temperature of 38.3 to 39.2°C – a couple of degrees higher than human body temperature. Next winter, turn the heating down a notch and cuddle a cat instead for lower electricity bills and improved mood!
10.8 million cats were owned in the UK in 2021.
There’s an estimated 500 million domestic cats in the world!
The longest living cat known was Creme Puff. She reached the age of 38 years! She lived in Texas and her owner claims her diet consisted of dry cat food enhanced with broccoli, eggs, bacon… as well as coffee and a few drops of red wine every couple of days!
It’s not known for sure why cats purr. It is assumed that they purr out of happiness, but they are also known to purr in stressful situations, and some studies even suggest that purring stimulates natural healing of their bones and muscles!
Cats know and recognise their names but often choose to ignore you calling them. In fact, they can learn to understand around 30 words and associate them with objects or actions.
20-30% of cats are immune to the effects of catnip. Is your cat one of them?
If your cat does react to catnip, its effects last around 15 minutes after which your cat will be immune to it for a few hours.
Cats are the only mammals who can’t taste sweetness. If you ever feel bad for your furry friend not being allowed chocolate, don’t! They wouldn’t be able to enjoy it anyway.
Kittens have 26 teeth. Adult cats have 30.
Cats can have a dominant front paw. Is your cat right- or left-pawed?
Cat ears are incredible. There are 32 muscles in each ear, and a cat can rotate its ears by 180 degrees.
Whiskers are useful for detecting changes in the surroundings. They aren’t just a decoration!
Cats have whiskers on their front and back legs too, not just on their face. Can you spot them?
Cats sleep around 15 hours per day. Bet you’ve known this one already?
In 2004, French archaeologists discovered a 9,500 year old cat grave in Cyprus. This makes it the oldest known pet cat and it predates Egyptian art about cats by over 4,000 years!
An orange tabby cat called Stubbs was the mayor of Talkeetna, a small town in Alaska for 20 years!
Do you know what links cats with camels and giraffes? Their walking sequence is both right feet first, followed by both left feet, so they move half of their body forward at once. Camels and giraffes are the only other animals to walk this way.
On October 18th 1963 Felicette, also known as ‘Astrocat’ was the first and only cat to go to space.
House cats share 95.6% of their genetic makeup with tigers!
Cats are often thought to be nocturnal animals but in fact, they are crepuscular, which means they are most active around dawn and dusk.
You can read your cat’s mood and intentions by its body language, especially its tail. If the tip of the cat’s tail resembles a question mark, treat it as an invitation to play!
Cat meows form a unique dictionary, with vocabulary of up to 100 “words”.
Cats like to sleep on things that smell like their owners. If you’ve ever wondered why your cat sleeps on top of your jumper when the rest of the bed is clear, that’s why.
Cats dislike citrus scents. A little cat owner life hack for making a cat stay away from a place they’re not allowed near is making use of natural citrus scents. Which may, or may not work – a stubborn cat will ignore the disliked scent and get what they want regardless.
A group of kittens is called a kindle.
Cats have a unique nose print, just like humans have unique fingerprints.
Cats dream in their sleep like we do.
Cats have 230 bones whilst humans only have 206!
The righting reflex is what helps a cat make sure they always land on four feet. The ability to turn mid-air works better if the cat has enough time to perform it, which means that sometimes, a fall from a small height may be more dangerous than a higher one.