You Probably Didn’t Know

Love picking up fun facts to wow your friends? You’re in the perfect spot! We’ve gathered some cool cat facts that every cat fan will enjoy.

1. When cats climb trees, they can’t come down headfirst because their claws all point the same way. So, they have to back down instead.

2. A group of cats is called a “clowder.”

3. According to a Hebrew legend, God created cats after Noah asked for help protecting the Ark’s food from rats. God made a lion sneeze, and out popped a pair of cats.

4. When your cat rubs its head on you, it’s not just being affectionate—they’re also marking you as part of their territory using scent glands on their face, tail base, and paws.

5. In the U.S., cats are actually more popular than dogs, with about 88 million pet cats compared to 75 million pet dogs.

6. Cats can’t taste sweetness. Scientists think this is because of a genetic mutation affecting their taste buds.

7. In Japan, it’s believed cats can turn into supernatural spirits after they die. This idea might come from Buddhism, which sees cats as temporary homes for powerful spirits.

8. Europe brought cats to the Americas in the 1750s to help control pests.

9. There are around 70 million feral cats in the U.S. alone, which shows why spaying and neutering pets is so important.

10. At the Dutch embassy in Moscow, two Siamese cats started meowing and scratching at the walls. Their owners found hidden microphones planted by Russian spies. The cats heard the bugs when they turned on, and instead of tipping off the spies, the owners pretended to talk about work delays, which actually sped things up.

11. When British antique dealer Ben Rea passed away in 1988, he left his $12.5 million fortune (about $26.7 million today) to his cat, Blackie. This made Blackie the richest cat ever, a record still held by Guinness World Records. The money was later shared among three cat charities that cared for Blackie until he died.

12. Some evidence shows domesticated cats have been around since about 3600 B.C.E., over 2,000 years before the Ancient Egyptians.

13. Cats meow only to communicate with humans.

14. Cats can recognise your voice, so if they seem to ignore you, that’s probably why.

15. When cats show the “Halloween Pose,” it’s a warning telling someone or something to back off.

16. The oldest cat video dates back to 1894 and is called “Boxing Cats.”

17. In ancient Egypt, when a family cat died, family members would shave off their eyebrows to show their mourning.

18. Cats and humans have very similar brain areas that control emotions.

19. Cats can move their ears independently and rotate them about 180 degrees.

20. While cats are often thought to have a lower social IQ than dogs, they can actually solve much more complex problems.

Feel free to share these fascinating facts with your friends!