DID YOU KNOW THAT......

The heaviest cat on record was an Australian cat named Himmy who weighed 45 lbs, 10 oz's. Himmy held the title of "Official World Heavyweight Champion in the Guinness' Book of World Records in 1986. Perhaps the oldest known female cat was Ma, from Devon, who was 34 when she died in 1957. If your cat is 5 years old, he or she is 36 years old in human years. See our Age Comparison Chart in The Cat Cafe. A cat's hearing capability is five times greater than that of a human. However, at about 5 years of age, this capability lessens somewhat. A cat can rotate its ears 180 degrees and can locate the source of a sound ten times faster than the most capable watchdog. A cat can not see directly under its nose. This is why it sometimes can not quickly find treats thrown on the floor. A cat can sprint at 30 miles per hour and jump 7 times as high as its tail. When cats jump their footpads absorb the shock of landing. A cat can be either right-pawed or left-pawed. A cat will almost never meow at another cat. Cats use this sound for humans. Cats have about 100 different vocalization sounds. In comparison, dogs have about 10. Declawing a cat is the equivalent of cutting a human's fingers off at the knuckle. DON'T DO IT! A cat will spend nearly 30% of its life grooming itself. Cats bury their feces to cover their trails from predators. The first signs of predatory behaviour occurs when kittens are around 4 weeks old. See our Kitten Growth Chart in The Cat Cafe. A cat's brain is more similar to a human's brain than that of a dog. Cats are known to sleep from 16-18 hours a day. While cats are sleeping they remain alert to the slightest stimuli. After being handled, cats lick themselves to smooth their fur and get rid of the "human" smell. Licking is also thought to produce a calming effect. A female cat can begin mating when she is between 5 and 9 months old. A male cat can begin mating when he is between 7 and 10 months old. Please spay and neuter to save lives. The length of a cat's pregnancy is from 58-65 days. A cat's heart beats at 110 to 140 beats per minute, twice as fast as a human heart. A cat's tail held high means happiness. A twitching tail is a warning sign, and a tail tucked in close to the body is a sure sign of insecurity. In relation to their body size, cats have the largest eyes of any mammal. If your cat is in the habit of rolling over and exposing his stomach, you can be sure he feels perfectly safe with you. It's also a way of demonstrating his pleasure in your company. A large majority of white cats with blue eyes are deaf. White cats with only one blue eye are deaf only in the ear closest to the blue eye. A cat's jaws cannot move sideways. All cats are born with blue eyes. Calico cats are nearly always female. Both humans and cats have identical regions in the brain responsible for emotion. Cats have more bones than humans. Humans have 206 bones whereas the cat has 230. About 10% of a cats bones are in its tail. The tail is used to maintain balance. The cat does not have a true collarbone and can therefore squeeze its body through most spaces that its head fits through. Whiskers act as radar and help the cat gauge the space it is contemplating to walk through. Ailurophobia is the fear of cats. Julius Caesar, Henry II, Charles XI, and Napoleon all suffered from this and would nearly faint in the presence of a cat. Tests done by the Behavioral Department of the Musuem of Natural History conclude that while a dog's memory lasts about 5 minutes, a cat's recall can last as long as 16 hours. According to tests performed by Donald Adams, D.V.M., the cat possesses a surprisingly high level of intelligence and can remember problem solving strategies and use insight to "think" their way out of situations. Their curiosity stems from their intelligence and they will work endlessly and desperately to obtain the results they want.

MOST PEOPLE ARE NOT AWARE OF THESE DANGERS TO THE CAT:

Chemicals can be absorbed through a cat's paws. Floor waxes and cleaning solutions pose a particular danger. Human painkillers such acetaminophen (Tylenol) are highly toxic to cats. The majority of aerosol sprays contain poison and should never be sprayed near a cat's food. Coins can choke a cat and should never be left around. Pennies minted after 1982 pose an added danger as they contain zinc which is toxic. Plastic dry cleaner bags can cause suffocation. If you suspect that your cat has ingested a poisonous substance, for a $30.00 charge to your credit card you may save the life of your pet. Please add this telephone number to your address book now: National Animal Poison Control Center .... 1-800 548-2423

FEEDING KITTY

Cats prefer to dine in a quiet spot, at the same time and in the same place each day, and from clean bowls free from the residue of detergents and the previous meal. Cats do not like their whiskers disturbed while dining, and many will refuse to eat from a bowl whose sides touch their whiskers. Cats can not taste sweets. Chocolate is toxic. As little as as few ounces can kill a cat. The darker the chocolate, the more dangerous it is. Most adult cats are lactose intolerant and drinking milk will give them diarrhea. Otherwise, milk is a nutritious snack. Cream is even better than milk -- most cats can handle the butterfat just fine and it's good for them. A small serving of cream will satisfy the cat more than a saucer of milk and contains less lactose. Do not purchase canned cat food that appears to be very red. The red coloring is due to the addition of sodium nitrate, a carcinogen. Pet food manufacturers are not required to list this chemical on their labels. Taurine is needed to prevent blindness. Make sure it is listed among the ingredients of the cat foods you choose. Cats should not be given raw or undercooked meat, or raw eggs. E-coli, salmonella and toxoplasmosis are not just people diseases. Although this varies from cat to cat, the average hunting 10-lb cat would consume about 10 mice per day. This amounts to about one cup of dry food or 10 ounces of canned food. A cat over 10 lbs would require a bit more.

PHOTOGRAPHING YOUR CAT

Get down to the level of your cat or place your cat on a high piece of furniture. Avoid direct eye contact or aggressive moves... especially if your cat is shy or timid. Capture the cat's personality by throwing him a catnip stuffed toy. Don't hesitate to click while he is in mid-air. Cats in action make for some of the best photos. For a regal photo, place the cat on a decorator pillow and get down to his level. Always move in close. The cat should take up at least half of the picture. Make sure that there is plenty of light directed at the cat's face. A neutral background is best when photographing a black cat. A dark background will make the entire photo too dark. A white background will provide too much contrast thereby increasing the blackness and lack of details. If you are using a flash don't snap a black cat against a wall. If the cat is too close to the wall the shadow behind him will blend into his body.

ALL ABOUT FLEAS

Fleas are the equivalent of miniature vampires and can be deadly. They were responsible for the bubonic plague. Fleas infected with the disease passed it on to rodents who, in turn, passed it on to humans. Here are some flea facts: Flea eggs may survive more than ten years under optimum conditions. Carpets are the ideal environment for eggs and pupae to survive long periods of time. There are four distinct stages in the life of a flea: the egg, the larva, the pupa (or more commonly called "cocoon"), and the adult. Two out of three fleas are female. A female flea can consume 15 times her body weight in blood daily. Four female fleas feeding four times a day for 100 days will bite your cat 1,600 times. There are thousands of species of fleas. Fleas dined on dinosaur blood 180 million years ago.

SOMEONE SAY CATNIP?

Catnip is known botanically as Nepeta Cataria. The plant is in the mint family and grows in temperate climates around the world. Not all catnip is the same. Because the plant is affected by its growing conditions, many different types of catnip are available and each type has a different taste. In the 17th and 18th centuries catnip tea was believed to have medicinal powers and was often prescribed by doctors in Europe and the Unites States for various ailments. It is believed that the cat's response to catnip is in the feline genes. With the exception of the tiger, the big cats have the same reaction to catnip as pet cats do. The effects of catnip last for about 6 minutes, with the first few minutes being most intense. Cats of reproductive age are more sensitive to catnip than cats that are very young or very old. Generally, males have more of a reaction to catnip than females do. Cats under 6 months old show no interest in catnip.

WANT YOUR CAT TO LAST FOREVER?

Not my cup of tea, but had to include this one... You can have your cat mummified by a company in Salt Lake City, Utah. Having discovered this company in a book while doing research for this page, and finding what I was reading hard to believe, I telephoned them and this is what I learned: Summum Mummifications holds a funeral directors' license. They mummify cats and also "do" humans. The cost to mummify a cat is $4,500.00. An updated version of the ancient Egyptian method is used. They have developed the process and hold the patent on it. Since 1978, advertisements for the company have been placed in over 10,000 periodicals and newspapers worldwide including the Wall Street Journal, Fortune Magazine and People Magazine. Famous personalities have used their services but they are not at liberty to disclose names. Summum Mummifications Salt Lake City, Utah Telephone: 1-800 355-0137 URL: http://www.summum.org/mummification We were told that their website is included among the top 1000 sites on the web and that it enjoys an average of 100,000 hits per day.

The Humane Society of the United States has posted the following rewards in an effort to help stop animal abuse: Up to $2,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any person who willfully attempts to poison, mutiliate or torture any dog or cat. Up to $2,500 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any wholesale dealer in dogs or cats who buys or otherwise procures any stolen animal.

Thanks for visting our 3-page Catland series. The NEXT button will take you to into The Cat Cafe where fantasy meets reality via a "real" nickelodeon that plays cat pages.