20 Entertaining Facts About Cats You Never Knew

Did you know cats have been guardian angels, co-authors, called to cabinet positions in the British Parliament, and have a language of their own to communicate with us? And although this may not surprise you, a study once proved that cats are more than capable of recognizing their owner’s voices, but simply choose to ignore it. Continue reading to see more entertaining facts about cats, compiled by yours truly – I Love Pets.

1. The Co-Author Cat

Physicist, Dr. Jack Hetherington, solely authored a research paper in 1975 and wrote it out via typewriter. Upon completion, he realized he used “we” and “our” throughout his paper, though it was indeed only him that wrote the paper. Rather than rewrite the paper and correct his grammatical errors, he penned a co-author, “F.D.C. Willard” after his cat Chester.

2. Meet Masha

This tabby cat is a hero with life-saving mothering instincts. Masha is a guardian angel. This tabby cat found a 3-month-old infant boy abandoned in a box, and so she climbed into the box and kept him warm. Within hours she was able to get the attention of Irina Lavrova, who was taking her trash out. Masha meowed continuously until Irina walked to her and saw what she was protecting. Thanks to Masha, the life of this infant boy was saved.

3. Parliament Cat

The Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office is the title of the official resident cat of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at 10 Downing Street. Only four cats – Humphrey, Sybil, Larry, and Freya – have been given the title officially.

4. No Fat Cat In Guinness

Ever wonder why you can’t find the “fattest cat” in the Guinness Book of World Records anymore? Well, because they simply aren’t there. They decided to stop awarding this title to discourage deliberate overfeeding.

5. Disney’s Cats

Disney loves Mickey and Minnie Mouse, but what about the uninvited rodents that are drawn to the vast acreage of Disneyland? Disneyland houses over 200 cats; they came in as strays and stayed as friends. Cats help keep the unwanted mouse population down when all the guests leave for the night. Disney even keeps them current on shots and spays/neuters them.

6. Album Dedicated to Cat

Freddie Mercury, generally known as the frontman of Queen, is also known as a fanatic cat lover. When on tour he would call home to talk to his cats and tell them he loved them. So it came as no surprise when he dedicated his debut solo album Mr. Bad Guy to his cats: “This album is dedicated to my cat Jerry – also Tom, Oscar and Tiffany, and all the cat lovers across the universe – screw everybody else!”

7. Salty Survivor

Cats can survive by drinking sea water; they will still be hydrated despite the salt found in ocean water. Cats have crazy kidneys that filter out the salt from the water so they can re-hydrate themselves.

8. Mouse Delivery

The real reason behind your cat bringing you mice is because he thinks you can’t catch it yourself and therefore have no survival skills. You’re welcome!

9. They Own You

When your cat is tripping you by rubbing their face around your legs, it’s their way of saying they love you and own you. They are marking their territory with scent glands from their face and tail region.

10. Wink

What does a cat wink really mean? Does he have something in his eye? When a cat winks at you it is his way to communicate that he trusts you and/or sees you a friend.

11. Superstitions

During the month of October, many shelters will not allow adoptions of black cats. This is due to a concern that these felines will be used as sacrifices or tortured.

12. Special Delivery

One time in Belgium, in the year 1879 to be exact, they tried using cats to deliver the mail. Do you think this was a successful endeavor?

13. Famous Words

What were the first words ever heard over an in-flight radio transmission? “Roy, come and get this cat!”

14. Invasive Species

All cats are inherently good hunters, wild and domestic. Are you aware that because of these natural instincts they have contributed to the extinction of 33 different species? As a result, they are among the top 100 most invasive species.

15. Marking Territory

Cats’ sweat glands are on their paws and they secrete a scent that they use to mark their territory. So whenever they are walking or scratching they are actually marking that spot as their own.

16. Stuck In A Tree

Ever wonder why a species that is excellent at climbing and has no fear of heights has such a hard time getting down from a tree? Well, it’s because they can’t climb back down head first. The way their claws curve back won’t allow them to grip the tree. To get down they either have to jump or climb down backward.

17. Cat Spy

In Holland’s embassy in Moscow, Russia, the staff noticed that two Siamese cats kept meowing and clawing at the walls of the building. Their owners finally investigated, thinking they would find mice. Instead, they discovered microphones hidden by Russian spies. The cats heard the microphones when they turned on.

18. Sensitive Cats

Cats are extremely sensitive to vibrations. Cats are said to detect earthquake tremors 10 or 15 minutes before humans can!

19. That’s One Mouser

A commemorative tower was built in Scotland for a cat named Towser, who caught nearly 30,000 mice in her lifetime.