1. Cats use their tails not only to express emotion, but also to balance themselves.

2. Cats can get sunburned (they also can get freckles). Light colored (especially white) cats are particularly susceptible to sunburn. Anywhere there is less hair to protect the animal, especially the tips of the ears, the nose, and the area just above the eyes, is at risk.

3. Cat urine glows under a black light! But so do many other body fluids from other animals, including human and dog urine. Don’t be so quick to blame the cat!

4. The longest cat whisker on record as of February 15, 2004, measured 16.5 cm (6.5 in). Ironically, the cat that it belongs to, a brown/black Main Coon named Ellie, had no whiskers when her owners first adopted her from a shelter in 1997. She was only a few months old and very week at the time.

5. It’s interesting that the longest domestic cat is also a Main Coon. Measuring 121.9 cm (48 in) from nose to tail, Leo weighs 15.8 kg (35 lb), and has paws so big they can fit into a size 2 child’s shoe!

There are over 30 species of the mammal known as the cat - 37 to be exact, of which, the Domestic Cat, or House Cat, is one. With respect to taxonomy, the domestic cat is classified as follows:

Genus: Felis
Species: catus

As are all 37 species of cat, it is a member of the Family Felidae, Order Carnivora.

Cats are believed to have first been domesticated, by most accounts, somewhere between 4,000 and 5000 B.C., by the Egyptians. Recent evidence, however, indicates that a close relationship with humans may date back much farther than that! A grave found in Cypress, estimated to be about 9,500 years old, shows that a cat was buried only inches from a human.