Monday, November 20, 2006

Cat update

The latest on the little pest, is that it has moved from hanging around my porch to hanging around the sewer in front of my house. I guess it figured out I wasn't going to feed him. I wonder if it is confused by the houses. The base houses all look the same. When Rory's Grandma visited once, she went for a walk and then couldn't figure out which house was ours.
My mom blames my deep dislike for cats on the fact that I haven't had much experience with cats. We never had one growing up, because she is allergic to most cats and we're dog people. The extent of my cat experience is cat sitting for people a couple of times. I have no problem doing that though, because you don't have to even see the darn things. Just fill up their food and water. One time we were cat sitting for these people that lived in our apartment complex before we moved on base. Every time we went to check on the darn thing, it had destroyed something new in the house. Furniture, walls, doorways, carpet, you name it and the stupid cat had a piece of it. It was a destructive little thing. That it why I don't understand why some landlords say they'll allow cats and not dogs. Those little boogers can be worse than a well trained dog.
Ok, so I decided that maybe since I am uneducated about cats maybe I should do some research to find out more about them.

Ailurophilia is the "love of cats."

The nose pad of a cat is ridged in a pattern that is unique, just like the fingerprint of a human.

There are more than 500 million domestic cats in the world, with 33 different breeds.

A single pair of cats and their kittens can produce as many as 420,000 kittens in just 7 years.

More than 35,000 kittens are born in the U.S. each year. Spay or neuter your cat.

Cats have 290 bones in their bodies, and 517 muscles.

A cat has five more vertebrae in her spinal column than her human does.

The Giraffe, Camel and Cat are the only animals that walk by moving both their left feet, then both their right feet, when walking. This method of walking ensures speed, agility and silence.

Cats don't see "detail" very well. To them, their person may appear hazy when standing in front of them.

Cats need 1/6th the amount of light that humans do to see. Their night vision is amazing!

Cats can see up to 120 feet away. Their peripheral vision is about 285 degrees.

A cat's ear pivots 180 degrees. They have 30 muscles in each ear, and use twelve or more muscles to control their ear movement.

Cats rub up against other cats, and people, in an attempt to "mark" them with their scent glands. They most often use the scent glands between their eye and ear (near the temple area) or their scent glands near the base of their tail.

Cats are the sleepiest of all mammals. They spend 16 hours of each day sleeping. With that in mind, a seven year old cat has only been awake for two years of its life!

Cats are more active during the evening hours.

Cats spend 30% of their waking hours grooming themselves.

Ok, so I've learned a little bit more about cats. I still don't like them. One time when we were visiting Rory's parents, I woke up to find his dad's cat sitting next to me and staring at me. Cats are creepy.

1 Comments:

At 8:10 PM , Blogger Erin said...

You taught me some tidbits about cats too. Happy Thanksgiving!

 

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