Cat Trivia: 41 Cat Facts for National Trivia Day

Happy National Trivia Day! Celebrate the occasion with some fun cat trivia. These cat facts are the cat’s pajamas!

1. Cats have 230 bones, a whopping 24 more bones than humans.
2. Frequently cats stare with their mouth hanging open because they have an extra organ that tastes scents in the air.
3. Cats have rough tongues that can clean all the meat off of a bone. (Of course, don’t feed bones to your pets because they can splinter.)
4. Cats use their long tails for balance which is why they sometimes display such impressive acrobatics.
5. Cats use their whiskers to navigate through the world. They use them to help determine if they can fit in a small space because their whiskers are approximately the same width as their body. This is why you shouldn’t cut your cat’s whiskers.
6. Cats move with their right feet and then their left feet. The only other animals that walk this way are camels and giraffes.
7. Some cats can swim.
8. Cats usually sleep for 12-16 hours per day.
9. Cats prefer to have a litter box for themselves so have one for each of your kitties.
10. Catnip produces an effect in cats that is similar to LSD or marijuana in humans.
11. Kittens should ideally be spayed or neutered between 8 weeks and 5 months of age.
12. Cat’s share 95.6 percent of their genome with tigers and demonstrate several of the same behaviors.
13. Indoor cats live longer than outdoor cats.
14. Neutered and spayed cats live longer than unaltered cats.
15. Grooming themselves helps cats relax, stimulate their blood flow and regulate their body temperature.
16. Cats should never eat raisins, grapes or alliums like onions, garlic, chives and leeks.
17. Cats with a question mark-shaped tail are feeling playful.
18. A straight vibrating tail indicates that your cat is happy to see you.
19. A cat batting you with paws (and not claws) is playing and not attacking.
20. One litter of kittens can have multiple fathers.
21. Cats dream while they sleep.
22. Cats can be toilet-trained.
23. A group of kittens is called a “kindle.”
24. White cats with blue eyes are more likely to be deaf.
25. About 200 feral cats live at Disneyland.
26. The first cat video was recorded in 1894.
27. Approximately 700 million feral cats live in the United States.
28. The United States contains about 88 million pet cats, making them the most popular pet in the nation.
29. Normal cats have 18 toes – five on each front paw and four on each back paw.
30. Cats with extra toes are called “polydactyl” cats or “Hemingway” cats.
31. A group of cats can be called a “clowder,” “clutter,” “glaring” and “pounce.”
32. Rumor has it that Bill Clinton’s cat, Socks, received more letters than the President himself.
33. Abraham Lincoln had four pet cats that stayed with him at the White House.
34. A green cat was born in Denmark in 1995.
35. A cat attacking your ankles might be an indication that they are bored.
36. Cats like to groom other cats and humans. This is called allogrooming.
37. Unlike dogs, beware a cat that is wagging their tail!
38. Cats’ collar bones don’t connect to the rest of their skeleton and are instead buried in their shoulder muscles.
39. Active cats sleep better at night.
40. Cats have as many as 100 different vocalizations while dogs only have 10.
41. Hissing is a sign of fear, stress or discomfort – not of aggression.

Thanks for reading and be sure to check out our list of dog trivia too!