Anyone who has ever been lucky enough to have a cat knows how fascinating they can be. From their seemingly physics-defying bodies to their unique personalities, our feline friends are full of surprises. Here are nine cat facts that just might astound you!


1. Cats and giraffes have one thing in common

You might think that there can't possibly be any way that a cat is like a giraffe. Sure, cats don't have long necks, nor do they eat leaves. But there's one strange way that they are alike: their walk. Both cats and giraffes walk by first moving the back foot of one side, then the front foot of that side, then the back foot of the other side, then the front foot of the other side. This gait is extremely rare in the animal kingdom, so rare that the only other animal besides cats and giraffes that walks this way are camels. Luckily, that's also where the similarities between cats and camels ends. Can you imagine a cat with a hump? Me neither.

2. Adult cats only meow to people

It's true! Kittens will meow at their mothers to let them know when they're hungry or cold, but when they grow up, they stop meowing to each other and will meow exclusively to humans. Why do they do this? Probably because they know that's the surest and quickest way of getting us to do what they want. They'll meow when they want food, when they want to go out or come in, or even when they just want attention. While some meowing is normal, if your cat starts meowing a lot more than usual, it's a good idea to take them to a vet, as it might be a sign they're in pain.

3. Cats hate the smell of oranges

And lemons, limes, grapefruit...pretty much all citrus. You can use this to your advantage if there are places you don't want your cat to go (like your garden) or things you don't want your cat chewing on (like your houseplants). Just chop up citrus peels and scatter them in your garden or houseplant pots, or dilute lemon or orange juice with water and spray it on plants or surfaces.

4. A group of cats can be called destruction (no, really!)

A group of cats can also be called a clowder, cluster, clutter, dout, glorying, nuisance, or pounce. You can call a group of kittens a litter, or, if you want to be fancy, a kindle.

5. Cats can drink sea water

As anyone who has ever had to give a cat a bath can attest, most cats hate being wet. But their relationship with water is more complex than that. Cats don't get as thirsty as dogs. They also have taste receptors for water, which humans don't have. Most interestingly, though, cats can survive on seawater. This is something humans certainly cannot do. What makes cats different? Their kidneys can filter out the high levels of salt, making sea water a hydrating choice in a pinch.

6. You can train your cat to use the toilet, but you might not want to

Do you hate cleaning the litter box? Of course you do. Everybody does. It's the worst thing about owning a cat. So it might be tempting to give toilet training your cat a try. While it's an arduous weeks-long process, it is possible, but some vets recommend against it. For one thing, balancing on the edge of a toilet is an unnatural position for cats to eliminate waste in, so even after the training your cat might stop using the toilet, choosing instead your rug, or your bed, or a basket of laundry as its litter box. Also, your cat might poop, but it won't flush, so that litter box smell isn't eliminated, it's just transported to the toilet. Not quite what you were aiming for.

7. A cat's ears are controlled by 32 muscles

If you've ever watched your cat closely, you've seen that their ears are amazingly mobile. That's because they have a whopping 32 muscles that allow those ears to move independently and turn a full 180 degrees. They use those ears to pinpoint sound with amazing accuracy, as well as to communicate with other cats and with us (you might want to think twice about petting a cat that has its ears back and flat against its head).

8. There are two cats who hold the title of the world's biggest cat

That's because it's measured in two ways! The longest cat, measured from nose to tip of the tail, is Stewie, a Maine Coon cat that was a whopping 48 and a half inches long (just over four feet)! The tallest cat, measured from the top of the shoulders to the bottom of the paws, is a Savannah cat named Trouble, who stood an impressive 19 inches. Both Stewie and Trouble replaced the same previous record holder, another Savannah cat named Scarlett's Magic, who was both the longest at 42.7 inches and the tallest at 18.1 inches. That's a big cat!

9. The first cat video ever was Thomas Edison's "The Boxing Cats" in 1894

Who knew that the man who introduced the light bulb and the phonograph to the world also introduced the first cat video? Considering the first motion picture cameras were developed in the 1880s, this 23 second black and white film is among some of the very first movies.

Of course, we all know that cats are awesome, but sometimes we can be amazed by exactly how awesome. Considering how fantastic these furry felines are, we humans are incredibly lucky to have them as part of our lives.