Happy International Cat Day! We’re celebrating by sharing five facts that will make you want to totally embrace being a crazy cat person. The best thing you can do for cats today though? Share information about our low cost spay and neuter program which helps pet owners ensure their pets are happy and healthy while helping to take action against the pet homelessness crisis in America. Get more info about the program here.
They need their beauty sleep!
Doesn’t lounging about for the whole day seem wonderful? If you own a cat, you know that it spends most of its time being lazy and basking in the sun. But did you know they spend a whopping 70% of their lives sleeping? That’s 16 hours a day! Cats need an enormous amount of energy to hunt, or pounce on the little toy mouse they have. Sleeping is their way of storing up energy.
Wide Whiskers
Cats’ whiskers grow to be as long as the cat is wide. Whiskers don’t just make cats adorable they also serve an important purpose. Cats use their long whiskers to make sure their body will be able to fit through tight openings. If the whiskers bend or move, the cat knows it won’t be able to fit.
They’re good for your mental health
A small study carried out in 2011 by Cats Protection and the Mental Health Foundation found that 87% of cat owners felt that their pets have a positive impact on their wellbeing.
They also found that 76% of those surveyed said cats helped them cope with everyday life better and a third of the participants said stroking a feline proved a calming influence.
“Sitting with a relaxed purring cat at the end of a hectic day is a soothing massage for the soul,” Cat Jarvis from Cats Protection explained.
“Perhaps this is because the reassuring hum is generally associated with calmness and gentle communication, or perhaps it is because the frequency of the vibration is in the range that can stimulate healing.”
Each nose is unique
If you take a look at your cat’s nose, you will notice it has a bunch of tiny bumps and ridges. Like a human’s fingerprint the pattern of bumps and ridges is unique to each cat. So if your cat every gets arrested its nose print will be in the kitty criminal records for ever!
They’re good for your heart
Sure having any pet is good for you, but the thing about cats is they don’t require as much effort – at least not as much as dogs.
And a study conducted by the University of Minnesota showed that people who owned cats were nearly 40% less likely to die of a heart attack than those who had never owned a feline pet.
Over the years, there have been numerous studies that have suggested pets are good at reducing stress in their human companions and can lower blood pressure in people suffering from hypertension.
In fact, pet therapy has become a popular treatment for those who are lonely, ill or grieving the death of a loved one.
Meow to you too!
Your cat probably meows a lot at you, but have you ever noticed that it rarely show the same vocalization to other cats. Kittens meow at their mothers to tell them they are hungry or cold, but once the cat gets older it doesn’t meow at other cats. Cats do “yowl” at each other, usually during breeding season or if they are annoyed. But mainly, cats just meow at humans to get us to do what they want.