Cats: the Egyptians worshipped them, the Internet loves them, and almost no one understands
Why do they purr?
What's all the meowing about?
Let's explore the feline brain and get to the bottom of it.
Wild at heart
No one's sure when cats first moved into our homes and our hearts, but it's probably between
5,000 and 10,000 years ago.
By comparison, dogs have been domesticated for around 40,000 years, and over those years
we've selectively bred hundreds of types to fill certain roles, from hunting and herding
to nestling into purses.
Cats, on the other paw?
Experts say the 40 or so breeds of housecat are semi-domesticated or self-domesticated
at best, meaning they're choosing to tolerate being tamed.
In exchange for creature comforts … but would totally still stalk and kill a sparrow
if given the chance.
Genetically, the domestic housecat still has most of its DNA in common with its wild cousins,
and unlike many dog breeds, cats could survive quite well if they were released into the
Cats have developed a super-top-secret language that they use only to communicate with humans:
Yep: that's just for us!
Cats that live together don't usually meow to each other, and studies of feral cat colonies
have found that cats in feline-only company are actually pretty quiet.
It's people they won't shut up around …
Researchers in 2013 showed that cat owners, after listening to a recording of a dozen
different cats meowing, were able to understand the context of only one meow: the one coming
from their own cat.
In other words, your cat learns to make specific meows in order to get what it wants out of
you — it's not some universal cat language.
Animal psychologists wanted to see which paw certain cats favored, so they gave 42 cats
a small jar with a bit of tuna in it.
The only way they could get it out was to reach in and, well, fish it out which would
reveal their dominant paw.
Surprisingly, the results were split almost perfectly based on the sex of the cat.
There were 21 males and 21 females in the test, and after dozens of trials, 20 of the
males were left-pawed, with one ambidextrous over-achiever, while twenty of the females
were right-pawed, with one favoring the left.
The experts say this probably has something to do with hormone levels, and it's only true
when performing particularly challenging feats.
Everybody knows somebody who's allergic to cats, so they miss out on the joys of living
with a plastic pee and poop-filled box in their house at all times.
But it's estimated that about 1 in every 200 cats suffers from a cat version of asthma,
which looks and sounds like this:
The biggest cause?
That's right: plenty of cats are allergic to people, with human dandruff cited as a
The asthma can also be triggered by other irritants that humans bring into their homes,
such as cigarette smoke.
Some cats can have such a powerful allergic reaction to humans and their habits they could
suffer collapsed lungs or even broken ribs.
Asthmatic cats can usually have their conditions managed, but vets consider it incurable.
Walking heat maps
Here's a less-depressing feline fact: Some cats are heat-sensitive, and can change the
color of their fur based on their environment.
How cool is that?
There are eight different sets of genes in each cat that governs what color they're going
Siamese cats and their cousins have a gene modifier called a Siamese allele.
That modifier blocks color from getting to the cat's fur, which should, in theory, make
But it doesn't, because it's only activated by heat.
Once the temperature gets up to around 100 degrees, the color stops.
That's why the cooler parts of a Siamese cat's body, such as the nose, ears, and paws, are
usually dark, while the rest of their fur stays light.
It doesn't just happen once — Siamese cats can change color any time when the temperature
of their environment changes.
So this means their paws actually lighten if covered for long enough with a bandage,
or if you made them wear socks or mittens...
"Finally, there's an elegant, comfortable mitten for cats!"
"I couldn't hear anything!"
Why cats purr
While it's true that cats purr when they're happy, that's not what the purring means — or
the only time cats do it.
Experts say that the most accurate translation of a purr is something like "Don't go anywhere,
They're asking to be cared for, not telling you how happy your care is making them.
But cats also purr when they're injured or scared, and researchers think that it has
something to do with the healing power of the purr.
Cats purr at a frequency of 26 hertz, the same frequency that's been found to promote
healing in bone and other body tissues.
Sounds crazy, right?
But it's the same idea behind exercise for rehabilitation in humans: bones respond to
pressure by making themselves stronger.
It also might be why healthy cats will often curl up with an injured cat and purr.
They're trying to help regrow its bones.
How cool is that?
Nice job, cats.
Thanks for watching!
Click the List icon to subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Plus check out all this cool stuff we know you'll love, too!