5 Facts about Cats Most People Don’t Know
1. Cats can’t taste sweet things
Cats have always been known as picky eaters, but for years it was thought of that cats just did not like sweets. But now it has been found that cats actually do not have the genetic “hardware” to taste sweets. According to scientists from Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, they discovered that a genetic deficiency in cats removes the sugar detectors on their taste buds.
If you ever see your cats eating sweets, it’s most likely that whatever their eating either has another interesting flavor, has salt as well as sugar, or has an interesting texture!
2. Cat whiskers are the same width as their body
Cats use their whiskers to be able to navigate in low or no light scenarios. By having whiskers the width of their body, it helps them be able to navigate around tight corners and objects knowing exactly that their body will be able to fit.
3. An overwhelmingly number of bones are in their tail
Cats can have between 230 – 250 bones in their body, but most cats have 23 bones in their tail. That’s roughly 10% of their bones in their tail alone. Their tails require so many bones and are so long because they are used for balancing when cats do their acrobatic jumps and walks.
4. Cats walk in a way called “pacing”
This isn’t just about your cat that likes to pace back and forth while you’re going to the bathroom. Cats are 1 of 3 known mammals (the others being giraffes and camels) that walk in a way called “pacing”, where feet from the same side move at the same time. Next time you watch your cat walk, you’ll notice he/she walks with both right feet then both left feet. No other animals walk this way.
5. Hissing is always defensive, not aggressive
According to Layla Morgan Wilde, a well-known cat expert, hissing, while seemingly aggressive, is actually a display that is only shown by cats when they feel threatened and need to be defensive. “It’s an expression of fear, stress or discomfort of a threatened cat communicating ‘stay away,'” Wilde says.
Further more, this extends to also when cats are fighting with each other. According to Wilde, if two cats are fighting, the cat that’s hissing is the more vulnerable one.
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