Snippets

Did you know that: stroking a cat has been shown to lower your blood pressure - could be a reason why cat owners live longer than those without pets!           20% (that's 1/5th) of British cats live in London; only 3% live in the North East       cats make people feel better and are used in residential homes to improve the health of the elderly and in children's wards to speed up recovery           the largest litter born in the UK belonged to Tara, a Burmese. In 1970 she gave birth to 19 kittens!       unlike dogs, cats will not obey commands. This is not because they are less intelligent, but because they are not pack animals, so are not programmed to co-operate with the wishes of others in order to survive           like humans, cats can suffer from urban stress. This makes them sleep more; refuse to go out; lose interest in play; groom themselves obsessively and "spray" around the house       when an angry cat hisses, it is trying to scare other animals by imitating a snake           Puss from Devon was probably the oldest male cat ever recorded. He died the day after his 36th birthday, which was 28 November 1939       the oldest female cat was probably Ma, again from Devon, being 34 when she died in 1957           the largest recorded cat in Britain was a male called Poppa, who died in 1985 weighing 44lbs! He lived in Gwent, Wales, and his average daily intake was one and a half tins of cat food, 1 tin of evaporated milk, two handfuls of cat biscuits, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, gravy and home made sponge cake       with powerful muscles, especially in their hind legs, the domestic cat has been known to reach running speeds of up to 25 mph           the average cat costs its owner £192 a year (in 2002). A typical woman owner, therefore, spends three times as much on her cat as on chocolate (on which she spends, on average, £63 a year)       surveys show that Persian cats are the least active or friendly of any breed and Siamese are the most vocal               unlike dogs which are designed by nature to scavenge, cats are natural gourmets and are notoriously fussy. They prefer their food to be served fresh and at room temperature       cats cannot survive without animal protein, animal fat and the amino acids taurine and arginine, which can only be found in meat. Their diets change from the age of 8 onwards as their stomachs become less able to digest protein and fat efficiently           cats' paws act as shock absorbers. The skin on the pads is 70 times thicker than anywhere else on the cat's body