World Cat Day

There are some people who think pet owners are divided into two groups. Dog people and cat people.  Of course, it’s fair to say that you can be be both!  August 08, 2018 however, is all about celebrating cats because its World Cat Day.  

There are records of cats accompanying humans that date back thousands of years. Ancient cultures such as the Egyptians held cats in high esteem.  They worshiped the cat Goddess, Bastet, who was often represented as half feline, half woman, they even mummified cats!

TodaManeki Nekoy, many cultures still worship cats. The Japanese  figurine known as ‘Maneki Neko’, is an all white cat with a collar and red inner ears is considered to be the reincarnated goddess of mercy who will bring luck to its owners.                                 

There are currently about 60 different known breeds of cats but the most common is the domestic short hair. The oldest recorded age for a domestic cat by the Guinness book of world records was scooter a Siamese from Texas who was 30 years old, he sadly passed away in 2016.  Cats commonly live up to 20 years of age.

 Fun Cat Facts!

  • Cats purr around 26 cycles per second and studies have shown that purring aids cats in healing from injuries.
  • The catnip plant contains an oil called hepetalactone which does for cats what marijuana does for some people.  Reactions to catnip include sniffing the catnip, licking, biting, or chewing it, rubbing and rolling on it, purring, meowing and in extreme reactions leaping in the air.  Interestingly only about 50% of cats react to it!
  • A cats sense of smell is not as refined as that of dogs but that have an additional organ called the Jacobson's organ, located in the upper surface of the mouth. This organ assists with their sense of smell.  One of the reason that cats may be become fussy eaters is because the Jacobsons’ organ can become sensitised to particular food sensations.
  • Cats are very athletic and can jump up to seven times their height.
  • The heart of a cat beats at about 110 to 140 beats per minute. That’s  twice as fast as the human heart.
  • Cats are capable of about 100 different vocalizations, compared to about 10 for dogs.

 

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