Facts-Cat Records & Facts

CAT RECORDS & FACTS

The oldest cat on record was Puss, from England, who died in 1939 just one day after her 36th birthday.

The strangest cat on record was a female called Mincho who went up a tree in Argentina and didn't come down again until she died six years later. While treed, she managed to have three litters with equally ambitious dads.

The greatest number of mice killed by one cat is 28,899. Towser, a tortoise-shell tabby in charge of rodent control in Scotland, killed 28,899 mice in her 21 years. This is about four mice per day, every day, for 21 years. Towser died in 1987.

The average age for an indoor cat is 15 years, while the average age for an outdoor cat is only 3 to 5 years.

The first cat show was held in 1895 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.

The largest litter of kittens on record is 19, from a Burmese/Siamese cat in 1970.

In the USA, the most popular names for female cats are Missy, Misty, Muffin, Patches, Fluffy, Tabitha, Tigger, Pumpkin and Samantha.

The American cat population reached nearly 68 million in 1996. American Demographics magazine estimates that's about 200 million kitty yawns per hour and a whopping 425 million catnaps each day!

An average cat has 1 to 8 kittens per litter, and 2 to 3 litters per year.

During her productive life, one female cat could have more than 100 kittens.

In 1952, a Texas Tabby named Dusty set the record by having more than 420 kittens before having her last litter at age 18.

Kitten's eyes usually open between 7 to 10 days after birth, but it occasionally they open within 2 or 3 days.

A single pair of cats and their kittens can produce as many as 420,000 kittens in just seven years.

The largest known litter (with all surviving) was that of a Persian in South Africa named Bluebell. Bluebell gave birth to 14 kittens in one litter.

If left to her own devices, a female cat may have three to seven kittens every four months. This is why population control using neutering and spaying is so important.

The most prolific cat was a tabby named Dusty of Bonham, she lived in Texas, and produced 420 kittens during her life time.

The oldest feline mother Kitty, owned by George Johnstone of England produced in May 1987, two kittens at age 30. She died just short of her 32nd birthday, having given birth to a known total of 218 kittens during her lifetime.

The largest cat breed is the Ragdoll. Males weigh twelve to twenty pounds, with females weighing ten to fifteen pounds. The smallest cat breed is the Singapura. Males weigh about six pounds while females weigh about four pounds.

The heaviest domestic cat on record was a neutered male tabby named Himmy, weighing in at 46 lb. 15 ½ oz. (neck 15 in., waist 33 in., length 38 in.)

The smallest domestic cat on record was a male blue point Himalayan-Persian cat named Tinker Toy, is just 2 ¾ in. tall and 7 ½ in. long.

The smallest species of cat is native to Africa: the Black-Footed Cat (Felis Nigripes). Its top weight is 5.5 pounds which is considerably smaller than the average housecat.

A cat's sense of smell is 14 times stronger than a human's.

Ailurophilia means "the love of cats". People who like cats are called ailurophiles.

Ailurophobia means "the fear of cats". People who fear cats are called ailurophobes.

Mother cats are properly referred to as Dams, and a female cat raised solely for breeding is called a Queen. The father cat is properly called the Sire.

Cats have 32 muscles in each ear.

Cats are said to see colour. Studies have been able to prove that cats can distinguish between red and green; red and blue; red and gray; green and blue; green and gray; blue and gray; yellow and blue, and yellow and gray.

Cats have a full inner-eyelid, or nictitating membrane. This inner-eyelid serves to help protect the eyes from dryness and damage. When the cat is ill, the inner-eyelid will frequently close partially, making it visible to the observer.

Most cats have no eyelashes.

Cats’ whiskers, so long and stiff, should never be trimmed. Cats use their whiskers to find their way in the dark, determine whether or not he/she can get into or out of a tight place, and a host of other navigation tasks.

To drink, a cat laps liquid from the underside of its tongue, rather than the top.

Cats only sweat from the pads of their paws. Ever notice how wet the examination room table gets when you take your cat to the vet?

Cats have five toes on each front paw, but only four toes on each back paw.

Cats have scent glands on their faces and at the base of their tails. Entire male cats generate the most scent. If this secretion from the scent glands is the allergen, allergic people should tolerate spayed female cats the best.

White cats with blue eyes are often born deaf. The reason for this is because the gene that gives them the white coat is connected to deafness.

The roughness of a cat's tongue has a very useful purpose. It gives the cat an extremely effective grooming tool with which to clean their fur and paws.

People who own pets live longer, have less stress, and have fewer heart attacks.

Sir Isaac Newton, discoverer of the principles of gravity, also invented the cat door.

Imprisoned by Henry VIII in the Tower of London, Sir Henry Wyatt, close to starvation, was saved by a cat who showed up with a pigeon in its mouth for him to dine on.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the richest felines is a pair of cats who in the early 1960's inherited $415,000. The richest single cat is a white alley cat who inherited $250,000. (Now that will buy a lot of catnip!)

Female cats can reach adulthood in as little as five months, but male cats can take nine months to a year to reach adulthood. Most breeds of cats have reached their full growth by two years.

The average life expectancy of a cat is between 15 to 18 years although the oldest cat on record lived to be 36 years old. However, the oldest reliably recorded cat was a female tabby named Ma, who lived to the age of 34.

The oldest known fossilized record that has a similarity to today's cats has been aged at 12 million years old.

When well treated, a cat can live twenty or more years.

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