Catscapades

I don’t know where this site’s been all my life, but I found it and I’m fascinated. It’s “101 Interesting Cat Facts,” put together by Karen Lehnardt for FactRetriever. If you love obscure facts on a variety of topics, you might want to look at some of their other posts on people, mammals, food, geography, and much more. Here’s the link to Cat Facts: https://www.factretriever.com/cat-facts

As a teaser, did you know that cats live to about 20—which would be the equivalent to 96 years for a human.

In seven years, a single cat pair can produce 420,000 kittens.

Cats can make about 100 different sounds—dogs can make only 10.

The concept of keeping pet cats may be older than originally thought by about 5,000 years.

The first cat in space was sent up by France in 1963.

The largest litter of kittens was 19—15 of them survived.

The most popular breed of cats is Persian, Maine Coon, and Siamese.

Cats typically have 12 whiskers on each side. (I don’t know about you, but I plan to count whiskers this evening while cuddling with Sophie and Lily.)

Isn’t this an interesting question? But if you’ve had a lot of cats with a variety of backgrounds, you know it’s legitimate. Some cats will practically turn themselves inside out to feel the human touch and others seem to dislike being petted. They shrink away from your hand—avoid your overtures. Then there are those who will accept and even direct just the type of petting they prefer: a vigorous neck scratch, strokes alongside their cheeks, or a tickle at the base of their tail.

Why does the scrawny, wiry, cat crave petting and the gorgeous Persian seem to object to it or vice versa? Is this something their early life experiences create? I thought so, until our once homeless, standoffish tortie grew to adore being petted. She can’t get enough of it—she’s extremely needy of affection now that she’s accepted it.

Lily, on the other hand, born one of fifteen kittens to three feral mother cats, and easy to handle from day one, sometimes seems to cringe when I (her favorite person) pets her. She almost always enjoys neck and cheek scratches and sometimes she loves being petted. Other times, however, she slinks away from me when I run my hand over her. I can only guess that she just wasn’t handled enough as a kitten and this feels foreign to her—she was taught not to trust. Maybe someone (a child, perhaps) was frighteningly rough with her when she was tiny.

There’s also the possibility that a cat who doesn’t invite and accept petting is experiencing pain. Lily does have kidney disease—could full-body stroking cause her discomfort?

And then there are those adorable cat paws. Most cats don’t like to have their paws handled because they’re super sensitive, but some cats are so affectionate that they’ll even offer a paw to someone they trust.

Here’s an informative sites talking about why some cats reject certain types of petting approaches: https://pets.thenest.com/certain-cats-hate-being-petted-6641.html If you have a cat that doesn’t like to be picked up or is impossible to pick up, read this article: https://www.petful.com/behaviors/cat-does-not-like-to-be-held/

Yesterday we talked about support animals on planes. I heard someone say the other day that all pets can be considered therapy pets. Isn’t there truth in that statement? Don’t you find comfort in your cat, for example? He brings you joy, calms you, makes you laugh (and we all know that laughter is therapeutic).

Your cat is good company, she gives you a reason to come home. When you have a pet you must care for it and when you care for another human being or animal it feeds your need to be needed.

A pet can make you feel good about yourself because she loves and appreciates you unconditionally. And there’s nothing like sharing life and living with another being even if it’s a furry species and wants to share your pizza or your cookie-crumble ice cream and your bed.

You’ve probably heard the news. At least on some major airlines, you cannot fly with the following service animals: peacock, chicken, gopher, hedgehog, gecko, rat, camel, hippo, or squirrel. But you may get away with bringing on board a cat, dog, or miniature horse. You might need more than a vest purchased at WalMart showing the animal’s service status, however.

It’s a bit frightening, isn’t it? I mean there are people who take their cats and dogs with them for a variety of reasons—they’re relocating, they’ve sold the pet and are delivering it to its new home, they’re participating in a show or demonstration or book signing, taking the animal to a veterinary specialist or for special training. But a few (as always seems to happen) have ruined it for the majority by pushing the envelope and trying to fly with their iguana, goat, cockatoo, or crocodile. Next, I’m sure, they’ll eventually crack down on approved animals on flights because of another passengers’ allergies, ailurophobia, or equinophobia for example. It’s an unstable world out there!

I’ve know people who fly with their cats—some use their cats in programs they present. One breeds cats and she flies with kittens being delivered to a new owner. I know one woman who takes her cat on vacations.

Rags, the cat in my Klepto Cat Mysteries flies on occasion. Yeah, if I were a flight attendant, I might ban him from the plane. He can find mischief wherever he goes.

Keep in mind that different airlines have different regulations involving pet travel. If you plan to fly with your pet or your service animal, be sure to check with that airlines’ rules. I notice that Delta has now banned all pit bull-type dogs from flying in the cabin. United allows service and therapy animals as long as they come with appropriate documentation. As with many other airlines, the animal must weigh under 65 pounds and be over four months old. It appears that Hawaiian Airlines, Alaska Airlines, JetBlue and several others still allow therapy animals under certain regulations. But if people still try to fly with their out of control noisy parrot, full-grown skunk or badger, fifty-pound tortoise, and pony in the cabin, the rules will soon change again.

It’s true, there’s at least one study on cats and their paw preferences. This one shows that most female cats are right-pawed and most males tend to reach out and lead with their left paw. I’ll bet you will do what I did after reading this—watch for your cat to make a move so you can see which paw he or she favors.

Which paw does your cat use when taking that first step up or down stairs, reaching for food, swatting at an insect or another cat, playing, taking that the initial step into the litter box. If the lead paw in these activities is consistent, you can probably assume that is your cat’s dominant paw.

I found it interesting, when pursuing this study, that men are more likely to be left-handed than women. Here’s the link: https://www.livescience.com/61517-cat-paw-dominance-study.html

I think most of us who appreciate cats, just love those little paws of theirs. We want to pet their paws, massage them—they’re rather fascinating. But there’s a reason most cats don’t want you to touch their paws. Kitty paws are just so super sensitive to touch. They have to be in order to perform all of the duties they do for the cat. Here’s a complete rundown about a cat’s paws. I’ll bet you learn something here. I did.  https://www.catster.com/cat-health-care/interesting-facts-cat-paws

Can a tiger change its stripes? So to speak, yes. If you’ve had cats long you know that they can change their habits and offer little surprises over time. The cat or kitten you bring home isn’t always the cat who shares your house eight or ten years later.

Our Himalayan, Katy is an example of this. From the time she was a kitten, she hid when the doorbell rang and would come out only after our guests had left. When she was fifteen, however, we noticed that the doorbell no longer elicited that response from Katy. I don’t know if her hearing was failing, she was too tired to leave her napping spot when guests arrived, or maybe she was experiencing age-appropriate memory loss, but she no longer ran from the room and hid. She began to allow (even invite) visitors to pet her and sometimes she’d even greet them as they came in.

Cats that spend their younger life enjoying time outdoors, will sometimes become lap cats who rarely leave the house. An aloof cat might become a cuddle-bug and insist on regular lap time. Lily will be ten soon and she just started purring last year. Until then, I had never heard that little torbie purr.

We’ve all experienced a cat who suddenly wouldn’t take her medicine or let you clip her claws or brush her. That’s usually because of an unpleasant occurrence—the brush pulled her fur, something happened to scare her or make her feel uncomfortable during a claw-trimming. But I find it most interesting when a cat suddenly develops a new habit or begins pursuing a new activity as an adult. It’s rather charming. Such as Lily’s latest pastime—bringing me my slipper socks. Now, instead of her stuffed toys spread across the floor all the time, it’s my heavy socks I wear in winter that decorate our house. How nice of her to think of me.

Cats can be trained or conditioned, of course, but some cats seem to retrain themselves to open a cabinet door, begin napping in a closet, develop a fascination for something they never paid attention to before (sheets of paper coming from the fax machine or printer, earrings hanging on your jewelry tree, a potted plant, etc.). Max, our snowshoe-type cat, discovered how fun it was and how much I’d react when he’d push my pen off my desk—usually into the wastebasket. He taught Lily to hide under the bed covers when she was frightened. My heart breaks for her now when something scares her—thunder, a noisy truck on our street, the gardeners, etc—and she has to crawl under the blankets alone. I believe she started sharing that space with Max for support and comfort. The two cats didn’t have a close relationship, but they became hiding buddies in times of stress. Sweet.

What habits or activities have your cats changed as they’ve aged?

Monday I shared a tale of cats NOT being tempted by an open door. Some cats crave being outside. We’ve talked about many ways to allow outdoor time with safety restraints—a catio, cat-proof fencing, electric wire that gives off just a pinch of discomfort. I suppose there are collars for cats that would teach them to stay within a particular perimeter as there are for dogs. But another solution for cats is simply creating more interest outside your windows to entertain, mesmerize, and soothe her.

This might include bird feeders and baths, plants that attract birds and butterflies, interesting wind chimes and sun catchers. I’d suggest changing them out fairly often to provide something new for the cats to look at.

Put up lights around a window and turn them on at night to attract moths for the cats to watch. And install a ready-made window perch or build if there isn’t a back of a sofa or table the cat can sit on while watching the world outside.

Sometimes cats sit at a window to feel the warmth of the sun, to smell the rain, or to watch for your return when you’re gone.

As a kitten, Lily used to LOVE watching the children next door play. Cats also like to watch adults. One of our cats was afraid of strangers and would hide when people visited. One day our next door neighbors came into the house and the cat greeted her. That was a surprise. Why did she greet Susan and Bob when she typically hid even from frequent visitors? Later, I realized that the cat knew this couple because she’d been watching them through the window and hearing their voices.

If you want to enrich your cat’s life, consider adding interest at several windows in your home and provide a place for the cat to hang out. In the meantime, here’s a site with some delightful and intriguing photos of cats at windows. https://www.mnn.com/family/pets/blogs/whats-the-deal-with-cats-and-windows