* The oldest feline mother Kitty, owned by George Johnstone of England produced In May 1987, two kittens at age 30. She died just short of her 32nd birthday, having given birth to a known total of 218 kittens.

* The most prolific cat was a tabby named Dusty of Bonham, she lived in Texas, and produced 420 kittens during her life time.

* The largest litter on record is 19 kittens from a Burmese/Siamese cat in 1970.

* The first formal cat show was held in England in 1871; the first in America was in 1895.

* It has been scientifically proven that stroking a cat can lower one's blood pressure!

* The domestic cat is the only species able to hold its tail vertically while walking. Wild cats hold their tail horizontally, or tucked between their legs while walking!

* Cats only sweat from the pads of their paws; ever notice how wet the examination room table gets when you take your cat to the vet?

* Cats have 244 bones in their bodies (about 40 more than humans!).

* A cat's sense of smell is 14 times stronger than a human's!

* Besides their noses, cats can smell with something called the "Jacobson's organ", located in the upper surface of their mouths. This is what cats are using when they scrunch up their eyes and open their mouths after sniffing something intently!

* Cats have 32 muscles in each ear!

* Florence Nightingale owned more than 60 cats in her lifetime!

* Abraham Lincoln loved cats. He had four of them while he lived in the White House

* Not every cat responds to the effects of catnip. If the cat doesn't have a specific gene, it won't react. About 80% of cats DO have the gene, and enjoy the effects of catnip, which is purr-fectly safe and non-addictive!

* A cat will spend nearly 30% of her life grooming herself! During grooming, cats lose almost as much fluid in the saliva as they do through urination!

* It was a phrase in a book written during the Dark Ages that gave rise to the idea that cats have nine lives? English author and satirist William Baldwin wrote in his book Beware the Cat , "It is permitted for a witch to take her cat's body nine times." During this time, as thousands of "witches" were cruelly burned at the stake, many an unfortunate cat accompanied them to their terrible deaths.

* Historians have discovered that the number nine has been a mystical and religious symbol for centuries. The Christian faith is based upon God represented in a trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Nine is as trinity of trinities . The Nordic god Odin gave his female counterpart Freja absolute rule over nine worlds. The hour that Jesus Christ died upon the cross was believed to have been the ninth hour of that most sacred day.

* Not surprisingly, Adolf Hitler was known to despise cats. However, his mortal enemy in World War II, Sir Winston Churchill of England, absolutely adored them! Churchill used to refer to his cat, whom he named "Jock", as his special assistant, and "Jock" was reported to be lying on the bed with his master on the day the great British statesman died.

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