Facts About Cats For Kids | Cats Diet & Habitat

Check out the most interesting facts about cats for kids including cats diet, reproduction, physical features. The domestic cat is a small mammal that belongs to the family of felis catus. These domesticated species are carnivorous animals. In general, they are called simply cat when it does not need to distinguish them from large felines. These housecats are often kept as pets as they are best known for their true companionship and aptitude for hunting vermin along with the household pests. The cats are predominantly nocturnal. As far as anatomy is concerned, cats are closely related to the large felids as they both exhibit robust yet flexible bodies together with the pointed retraceable claws. The cats teeth are perfectly adapted to killing small prey. They employ their keen sense of hearing and smell to locate their prey in complete darkness. Another interesting fact about these animals is that they are proficient enough to hear sounds greater in frequency that humans cannot perceive. Normally, cats are perceived as solitary hunters but they’re also known to produce different vocalizations such as meowing, trilling, grunting, and hissing. They have a fast reproductive rate. There are around 60 million cats in the United States alone. These species were regarded as cult animals in the ancient Egypt. Cats are the species that are widely kept as pets worldwide. These small felids are believed to have appeared some 10 – 15 million years ago.

Amazing Facts about Cats For Kids

• The weight of typical domesticated cats ranges from 4 kg (8.8 lb) to 5 kg (11 lb). There are certain larger breeds that weigh around 11 kg (25 lb). Some of the smaller breeds weigh up to 1.8 kg (4.0 lb). The largest cat in the world weighs around 21.297 kg (46 lb or 15.2 oz); however, the smallest cat ever reported weighed around 1.36 kg (3 lb).
• The height of these species weighs around 23 – 25 cm (9 – 10 inches) and 46 cm (18.1 inches), with the length measuring at 30 cm (11.8 inches).
• The females are smaller than males.
• The length of these species measure around 46 cm (18.1 inches), and tails measuring at 30 cm (11.8 inches).
• Of all animals, they have a unique skull that brings about large eye sockets and strong specialized jaw.
• Cats directly walk on their toes.
• Cats have a keen night vision and are capable to visualize one-sixth the light level needed for human vision. This is not observed in domestic cats as they have poor color vision.
• They have a superb hearing sense and are adept to identify broad range of frequencies from 55 Hz to 9 kHz; whereas humans can detect frequency ranging from 31 Hz up to 18 kHz; and dogs are capable to hear 67 Hz to 44 kHz.
• Cats have a keen sense of smell which is possibly due to their advanced level olfactory bulb.
• The average lifespan of cats is about 12 – 14 years, with females are known to live couple of years longer. Some species have even reached the age of 30 years, with the oldest cat ever survived was at 38. The lifespan of feral cats is around 4 – 5 years.
• Cats can undergo a broad range of health problems such as parasites, infectious diseases, and chronic disease. Unlike wild cats, domestic species are treated with vaccinations for these diseases.
• In general, cats remain active during day and night. However, domestic cats are known to be rather more vigorous during evening and morning. While these cats spend a large amount of their time in homes, they can range several hundreds of meters from their focal point.
• Cats are also observed to maintain territories ranging from 7 – 28 hectares (17 – 69 acres).
• These animals also conserve a lot of their energy by sleeping as compared to other animals. They tend to sleep for about 12 – 16 hours, averaging 13 – 14 hours. There are certain species that are adept to sleep as much as 20 hours each day.
• Unlike housecats, wild cats are solitary mammals.
• They are known to produce different vocalizations such as hissing, snarling, growling, meowing and grunting. However, feral cats are silent.
• The adult cats can be more aggressive toward their newly born infants.
• These animals are widely known for licking their skin for several hours.
• Males are more likely to fight as compared to females which is possibly due to establishing their respective territories.

What Do Cats Eat

Cats are the carnivorous mammals and they predominantly feed on small rodents, amphibians, fish, reptiles, invertebrates, and birds.

Reproduction | Facts about cats for kids

• The female cats have numerous periods of heat all throughout the year that lasts for about 4 – 7 days.
• The gestation period lasts for about 64 – 67 days, averaging 66 days.
• The female litters around 3 – 5 kittens.
• Female cats reach the maturity age after 5 – 10 months while males attain maturity after 5 – 7 months.