More interesting facts about cats

So, I blogged the other day about the 17 fun facts about cats with images. All that info was pretty interesting to read so I decided to dig up some more fun and interesting facts about cats to give you all a little bit more insight into our feline friends. Here's what I came up with:

Both humans and cats have identical regions in the brain responsible for emotion.

The cat's clavicle, or collarbone, does not connect with other bones but is buried in the muscles of the shoulder region. This lack of a functioning collarbone allows them to fit through any opening the size of their head.

Cats have 32 muscles that control the outer ear (compared to human's 6 muscles each). A cat can rotate its ears independently 180 degrees, and can turn in the direction of sound 10 times faster than those of the best watchdog.

Cats' hearing stops at 65 khz (kilohertz); humans' hearing stops at 20 khz.

A cat sees about 6 times better than a human at night, and needs 1/6 the amount of of light that a human does - it has a layer of extra reflecting cells which absorb light.

A cat has a total of 24 whiskers, 4 rows of whiskers on each side. The upper two rows can move independently of the bottom two rows. A cat uses its whiskers for measuring distances.  The whiskers of a cat are capable of registering very small changes in air pressure.

Cats lap liquid from the underside of their tongue, not from the top.

Cats purr at the same frequency as an idling diesel engine, about 26 cycles per second.

Cats walk on their toes.

A domestic cat can sprint at about 31 miles per hour.

Cats take between 20-40 breaths per minute.

Normal body temperature for a cat is 102 degrees F.

Cat's urine glows under a black light.

Purring does not always indicate that a cat is happy and healthy - some cats will purr loudly when they are terrified or in pain.

Not every cat gets "high" from catnip. If the cat doesn't have a specific gene, it won't react (about 20% do not have the gene). Catnip is non-addictive.

In just 7 years, one un-spayed female cat and one un-neutered male cat and their offspring can result in 420,000 kittens.

When your cats rubs up against you, she is actually marking you as "hers" with her scent. If your cat pushes his face against your head, it is a sign of acceptance and affection.

Pretty interesting stuff, huh? That last one is very interesting to know.