FELINE FACTOIDS

If a male cat is both orange and black it will probably be sterile. To have both the orange and the black coat colours, the male cat must have all or part of both female X chromosomes.

Cats are born unable to see or hear; it is the vibration of the mother’s purr that attracts them to start feeding.

Cats have more than one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs have only about ten.

In a lifetime, the average house cat spends approximately 10,950 hours purring.

Chocolate is poisonous to cats.

There are more homeless cats in Rome than anywhere else in the world.

Catgut comes from sheep, not cats.

Lions can sleep as long as 20 hours in one day.

Domestic cats are the only feline species that can hold their tails upright while walking.

Cats bury their faeces to cover their trail from predators.

Ancient Egyptians shaved off their eyebrows to mourn the deaths of their cats.

Lion, leopards, tigers and jaguars are the only cats that can roar. They cannot purr, however.

There were no cat species in Australia until they were imported.

When not sleeping, cats spend nearly a third of their lives grooming themselves.

Isaac Newton invented the first cat flap made out of felt for his laboratory door to save his light experiments being ruined by his cat wandering in and out.