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Table of Contents
Cats are highly intelligent creatures that have been associated with humans for over 9,500 years. They are carnivores and extremely skilled hunters β they are known to hunt over 1,000 different species of animal. Keep reading for more information and facts about cats.
See the fact file below for more information on Cats or alternatively, you can download our 21-page Cat worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.
Cat Facts
- The cat from the family Felis catus is a carnivorous mammal that has become a domesticated species.
- Within the family Felidae it is the only domesticated species and is referred to as a domesticated cat to separate it from other members of wild cat in the family.
- A cat can either be a house (domestic) cat, a farm cat, or a feral cat.
- Domestic cats are valued by humans for their ability to kill rodents (farm cats) as well as for companionship (house cats).
- Feral cats range freely and avoid human contact. They can be destructive to habitats by killing birds, rodents, and reptiles.
Characteristics
- Cats have the following attributes:
- a strong flexible body
- quick reflexes
- sharp teeth
- retractable claws adapted to killing small prey.
- a well-developed sense of smell and good night vision
- male cats are called a tom or tomcat (or a gib, if neutered)
- an unspayed female is called a queen
- a spayed cat is called a molly
- a juvenile cat is referred to as a kitten
- a group of cats is referred to as a clowder or a glaring
- Domestic cats communicate by purring, hissing, growling/snarling, grunting, and several different forms of meowing.
- Cats average about 18 in (46 cm) in length from head to body, and an additional 12 in (30cm) in tail length. They are typically 9β10 in (23β25 cm) in height. Males are typically larger than females.
- Adult domestic cats typically weigh between 9β11 lbs (4 and 5 kg).
- Since cats are predators and like to hunt at night, the skull of a cat has very large eye sockets.
- Cats have powerful specialized jaws adapted for killing prey and tearing meat.
- Cats have protractible and retractable claws. There are five on each front paw and four on their rear paws.
- When a catβs claws are relaxed, they are covered by a sheath of skin and fur around the toe pads. This helps to prevent the claws from losing their sharpness by coming into contact with the ground and allows them to stalk their prey silently.
- Cats are able to control whether they retract or extend their claws, which may be brought out for self-defense, when climbing trees, or kneading.
- Most breeds of cats have a noted fondness for sitting in high places or perching.
- A cat falling from heights of up to 3 meters (9.8 ft) can right itself and land on its paws by using its acute sense of balance and flexibility.
Senses
Vision
- Cats have excellent night vision and can see at only one-sixth the light level required for human vision.
- The domestic cat has slit pupils, which allow it to focus on bright light.
- At low light, a cat’s pupils expand to cover most of the exposed surface of its eyes.
- The domestic cat has rather poor color vision, optimized for sensitivity to blue and yellowish-green.
- Its ability to distinguish between red and green is limited.
Smell
- Cats have an acute sense of smell.
- Cats have an organ in their mouths that allow them to sense certain aromas in a way that humans cannot.
- Cats are sensitive to pheromones which they use to communicate through urine spraying and marking with scent glands.
- Many cats respond strongly to plants that contain nepetalactone, especially catnip, as they can detect that substance at less than one part per billion.
Taste
- Cats have relatively few taste buds compared to humans (470 or so versus more than 9,000 on the human tongue).
- Cats also have a distinct temperature preference for their food, preferring food with a temperature around 38 Β°C (100 Β°F) which is similar to that of a fresh kill.
Whiskers
- Cats have dozens of movable whiskers over their body, especially on their faces, to aid with navigation and sensation,
- Whiskers provide information on the width of gaps and on the location of objects in the dark, both by touching objects directly and by sensing air currents.
- Whiskers also trigger protective blink reflexes to protect the eyes from damage.
Hunting, Fighting, Grooming
Hunting
- Cats hunt small prey, primarily birds and rodents, and are often used as a form of pest control.
- Cats use two hunting strategies, either stalking prey actively or waiting in ambush until an animal comes close enough to be captured.
- Domestic cats kill an estimated 1.3 to 4.0 billion birds and 6.3 to 22.3 billion mammals annually.
- 30% of house sparrow mortality is linked to the domestic cat.
- Cats often appear to “play” with prey by releasing it after capture and then re-capturing it to eat.
Fighting
- Among domestic cats, males are more likely to fight than females.
- A common reason for fighting in domestic cats is the difficulty of establishing territories within a small home.
- Female cats also fight over territory or to defend their kittens.
- Among feral cats, the most common reason for fighting is competition between two males to mate with a female.
- When cats become aggressive, they try to make themselves appear larger and more threatening by raising their fur, arching their backs, turning sideways, and hissing or spitting.
- Fights usually consist of grappling and delivering powerful slaps to the face and body with the forepaws as well as bites.
Grooming
- Cats are known for spending considerable amounts of time licking their coats to keep them clean.
- The cat’s tongue has backward-facing spines containing keratin which makes them rigid so they act like a hairbrush.
- Some cats, particularly longhaired cats, occasionally regurgitate balls of fur that have collected in their stomachs from grooming.
- Cats donβt have sweat glands, like humans do, instead, they sweat through their paws.
Reproduction and Domesticity
Reproduction
- Females, known as queens, normally reach sexual maturity at 5β10 months, and males at 5β7 months.
- The average gestation period is 65 days.
- Queens have one to six kittens per litter with an average of three kittens.
- Kittens are weaned between six and seven weeks of age.
- Cats are ready to go to new homes at about 12 weeks of age when they are ready to leave their mother.
- Domestic cats are sometimes bred and shown at events as registered pedigreed cats, a hobby known as βcat fancyβ.
Domesticity
- The earliest known evidence for the occurrence of the domestic cat dates to around 1200 BC in Greece.
- During domestication, cats have undergone only minor changes in anatomy and behavior.
- The average lifespan of pet cats has risen in recent decades and by 2021 is about 15 years.
- Some cats have been reported as surviving into their 30s
- The daily duration of sleep varies, usually between 12 and 16 hours, with 13 and 14 being the average. Some cats can sleep as much as 20 hours.
- Domestic cats, and young kittens especially, love to play.
- Because of the close link between playing behavior and hunting, cats tend to like playing with things that look like prey, like string, fast-moving lights, or toy mice.
- String is often used as a toy.
- Cats seem to enjoy chasing a laser pointer dot.
- Diseases affecting domestic cats include acute infections, and parasites such as worms, ticks, and fleas.
Cats and Humans
- Cats have cultural connotations around the world, and many cultures have negative superstitions about them. For example, the Persians believed cats brought negative omens, and the Yucatec believe cats are magical beings that can transform into sorcerers. In Western culture, encountering a black cat or having one crossing your path leads to bad luck.
- There are also myths in many cultures about the number of lives a cat is said to have. In many countries, cats are believed to have nine lives. But in countries like Italy, Germany, Brazil, and Greece, they have seven lives. For Arabic cultures, cats are believed to have six lives.
- The term “cat nap” for a short rest refers to the cat’s tendency to fall asleep (lightly) for a brief period.
- Data from 2017 suggests that the domestic cat was Americaβs second-most popular pet. There were around 96 million cats owned by 42 million households, suggesting each house had more than one cat.
- It is believed that as of 2021, there are around 480 million stray cats and 220 million pet cats around the world.
Cat Worksheets
This bundle contains 12 ready-to-use Cat Worksheets that are perfect for students who want to learn more about Cats which are highly intelligent creatures that have been associated with humans for over 9,500 years. They are carnivores and extremely skilled hunters – they are known to hunt over 1,000 different species of animal.
Download includes the following worksheets
- Cat Facts
- Anatomy of a Cat
- The High Jumpers
- Holy Cat!
- The A+ Cats
- The Shedders
- Color Me Kitty!
- The Vocals
- The Hairless Cat
- The Original Hunters
- What Does it Mean?
- More Cats
Frequently Asked Questions
Do cats make good pets?
Cats are great companions, and nearly 40 million households in the United States have pet cats.
How long do cats normally live?
A cat that is well looked after can live for 12-18 years.
What is the scientific name for cats?
The scientific or Latin name for the domestic cat is Felis Catus.
Why do cats dislike water?
Cats don’t like getting wet because it makes their fur waterlogged and they take a long time to dry.
Do cats know their names?
Yes, apparently they do. A study proved cats could distinguish their names from other random words spoken to them.
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Link will appear as Cat Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, August 27, 2017
Use With Any Curriculum
These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.