Whether you love cats, or hate them, there’s no denying that they are amazing animals. The Romans saw the cat as a symbol of liberty and independence and it easy to see why if you have ever owned a cat. (Not that you ever own them, really, they just deem to live with you because it suits them.) In some Roman houses cats were revered as gods of protection and were said to keep the home and family safe. Many Roman legions actually kept a cat as a lucky mascot.
The correct word for a cat’s whiskers is vibrissae and its skeleton has 290 bones, 29 of which are in its tail. Cats also have three pairs of eyelids. Each eye has two ordinary ones that move vertically and a third one that sweeps from side to side. This is known as a haw and is unlikely to be seen unless a cat is tired, or unwell.. A cat’s metabolism is very fast and its heart beats at a rate rate somewhere between 150 and 250 beats per minute, which is twice the rate of a human heart.
Ailurophobia is the fear of cats and Julius Caesar Emperor of Roman was known to be terrified of them. Having a cat phobia is not the same thing as just not liking cats. A sufferer probably will not know why, but they are afraid of the furry four footed creatures. Symptoms can include sweating, shaking, having difficulty breathing and even having a full blown hysterical outburst at the mere sight of a cat.
This phobia is completely outside the control of sufferers and it is actually not all that rare. Perhaps we don’t hear about it in its extreme form very often because sufferers are worried about what others might say. After all, we can all understand why someone might have a phobia of snakes, or even spiders, but these fur bundles that love to be cuddled don’t seem to pose a threat, unless you are ailurophobic. Ask a phobic what it is that terrifies him, or her so much and they probably won’t be able to tell you.
Sir Isaac Newton who was a great cat lover, invented the cat flap. Apparently he was constantly being distracted from his scientific research work on weightier matters like the colors that light could be split into and the gravity pull of the earth, by his cat. The animal always wanted the door opened, no matter whether it was inside or out. Anyone who has lived with a cat knows that a cat always wants the door open as soon as you have closed it and sat back down in your chair. It’s part of being a contrary cat. So, Sir Isaac designed the very first cat flap which was essentially a hole in the door, covered by a cloth to keep the draught out.
Cats come in many colors and sizes and range from the fierce, meat eating, lions and tigers, right down to cuddly little bundles of Burmese kitten and wide-eyed Siamese, but they all have at least three things in common. They are all hunters, they are all carnivores and they can all retract their claws, except for the cheetah.
