10 Furry Feline Facts

So you think you know everything there is to know about cats? Our collection of amazing cat facts might teach you a thing or two. Tim Falk reports.

1. Cats don’t have collar bones
2. Their sense of smell is much stronger than ours
3. A group of cats is called a clowder
4. Cats sleep up to 20 hours a day
5. Cats take naps and they dream
6. Cats very rarely meow at one another
7. A cat’s meow can mean many different things
8. Cats only became our pets very recently
9. Cats have five toes on each front paw and four toes on each back paw
10. Many cats are lactose intolerant

Bonus Feline Facts!

Did you know?
The collective nouns used to describe many big cat species are some of the coolest words you’ll ever know.
Check out these examples:

• A coalition of cheetahs
• A pride of lions
• A leap of leopards
• An ambush of tigers or a streak of tigers

Did you know?
Did you know that cats have unique and distinctive personalities? As part of the Cat Tracker project, which studies the behaviour and movement of cats, South Australian scientists were able to define five feline personality traits that are very similar to those of humans.

The results of nearly 3000 cat personality tests revealed the “Feline Five” factors of cat personality:

1. Skittishness
2. Outgoingness
3. Dominance
4. Spontaneity
5. Friendliness

You can find out more about the project at discoverycircle.org.au/projects/cat-tracker/.

Test your pet knowledge against our latest quizzes here!