Domestic housecats are in the family 'Felindae' alongside their ancestors, tigers, lion, cheetahs, and other cat-like, feline creatures.
Housecats are the most popular pet, just above dogs, winning the common debate of 'Cats vs. Dogs'.
Felines are mostly carnivorous and eat small birds and mammals in the wild, with the prey variety increasing depending on how big they are.
Cats are curious, clever, and sneaky, making them a pretty threatening foe on their bad side.
Cats are equipped with a tongue that rasps backwards, making it much easier to groom themselves and others.
They also have up to 16 thorn-sharp claws and, in an adult cat, 30 teeth, with four large, sharp canine teeth; much like the ones that humans have too.
Cats, while they can't actually grab anything, can be born with extra toes.
Yet they are very elegant on even thin surfaces like fences. The myth that cats always land on their feet is partially true.
While no animal ever 'always' lands on its feet, except maybe a squirrel... The cat is much more likely to than, say, a dog. This is because of the way they position themselves and their reaction time.
Imagine this: you're a small squirrel and you're falling from a terrifying height.
What's the first thing you'd do?
Squirrels take around 300 milliseconds to plant their gaze on a landing spot. They never take theirs eyes off that spot. Next, they use 'conservation of angular momentum' to tuck their legs in to go fast, and spreading out their bodies to go slower. Then they outstretch their legs right before they touch the ground to absorb the momentum and walk off like nothing happened.
Cats do the same thing as squirrels, which is how they land on their feet.
Domestic cats have 1-5 babies per litter on average.
Fun fact: Cats domesticated themselves.
Common myth: Cats hate water. Although cats typically don't like water, they have biological reasons for that. Their ancestors, like tigers and lions, can't swim for too long. And I've seen cats that absolutely love water, so no, cats don't hate water.
