Happy International Cat Day 2023. International Fund for Animal Welfare, headquartered in Washington DC USA has picked August 8th as a day for celebrating cats, which is one of humanity’s ancient pets. Are you a cat lover? Do you have one as a pet? Are you planning on getting one? No matter what the answer is, you can join the celebration of cats on this wonderful day. Everything you need to know about cats will be discussed in this article.
According to the Ecology Global Network, there are over 600 million small cats in the world, which includes strays, pets, homeless and feral. While the number of wild cats is over 100 million.
International Cat Day: Facts about Cats
• They are a small carnivorous mammal.
• Cats are the only domesticated species in the family “Felidae”. They are referred to as “domestic cats” to differentiate them from the wild species in the family.
• The domestication of cats originated from Egypt.
• The domestic cat is the second-most popular pet in the United States with over 95 million cats.
• Humans and cats relationship has been in existence for over 10,000 years.
• An adult domestic cats typically weigh between 4 and 5 kg (9 and 10 Ib). The world’s record heaviest cat weighed 21 kg (50 Ib).
• Cats have a better sense of smell compared to humans.
• The average lifespan of cats is between 12 and 15 years.
• To keep themselves clean, cats lick their coats regularly.
• They have a strong flexible body, sharp teeth, quick reflexes and retractable claws for killing small prey.
• They are Crepuscular animals i.e primarily active at dawn and dusk.
• They can hear sounds too high or too faint in frequency for human ears.
• Cats have poor colour vision hence they see better in the dark.
• They communicate using various vocalisations such as including trilling, meowing, hissing, purring, growling, grunting e.t.c
• Also, they can communicate by perceiving and secreting pheromones.
• Cats love to sleep. They sleep for about 2/3 of their life span. A nine years old cat would have slept for six years.
• A pack or group of cats is referred to as “Clowder”.
• Studies have shown that the brain of a cat is 90% identical to that of a human.
• Most male cats are left pawed i.e left-handed whole most female cats are right pawed.
Characteristics of Cats
• In both skull and limb measurements, domestic cats are smaller than wildcats.
• Cats have seven cervical vertebrae, thirteen thoracic vertebrae, seven lumbar vertebrae, three sacral vertebrae and caudal vertebrae in the tail which varies in number.
• Unlike other mammals, the skull of a cat is unusual with powerful specialized jaws and very large eye sockets.
• Like dogs, cats are digitigrade i.e they walk directly on their toes.
• Every member of the Felidae family has retractable and protractible claws.
So there you have for International Cats Day including interesting facts and characteristics of cats. International Cats Day is an annual celebration of one of human’s most important pets.