Feline

  • The oldest known pet cat existed 9,500 years ago.
  • This interesting fact about cats is guaranteed to wow at your next dinner party. Did you know that originally it was thought that Egyptians domesticated the cat? But in 2004, French archaeologists discovered a 9,500 year old cat grave in Cyprus. This makes this the oldest known pet cat and it predates Egyptian art about cats by over 4,000 years!

  • Cats spend 70% of their lives sleeping.
  • If you thought cats spent a lot of their lives sleeping, you’d be right. According to Veterinary Hub, Cats actually spend 70% of their lives sleeping, which works out to around 13-16 hours a day. It’s a cat’s life!

  • A cat was the Mayor of an Alaskan town for 20 years.
  • An orange tabby cat called Stubbs was the mayor of Talkeetna, a small town in Alaska for 20 years! He had several uncontested elections and although he didn’t hold any legislative power, he was loved by locals and tourists alike.

  • Cats walk like camels and giraffes.
  • Have you ever noticed that cats walk like camels and giraffes? Their walking sequence is both right feet first, followed by both left feet, so they move half of their body forward at once. Camels and giraffes are the only other animals to walk this way.

  • Ancient Egyptians would shave off their eyebrows when their cats died.
  • According to Ancient History Encyclopedia, Herodotus wrote in 440BC that when a pet cat died in Ancient Egyptian times the family members would shave off their eyebrows in mourning. Now that’s an interesting cat fact!

  • House cats share 95.6% of their genetic makeup with tigers.
  • This cat fact will really blow your mind. A study discovered that our little house cats share 95.6% of their genetic makeup with tigers! They also share a lot of the same behaviours such as scent and urine marking, prey stalking and pouncing.  

  • Lions are the only cats that live in groups.