Crazy cat ladies also collect crazy cat facts.
I shouldn’t know so many weird things about cats.
PEW PEW PEW
Most recently, I learned that vets have “donor kitties” that they use to get blood from when it’s needed for a transfusion. I don’t know how they sign a consent form, but apparently they don’t mind so much.
This got me thinking about the other weird things that I know about cats.
Taco’s insides.
- The floppy pooch of skin on their belly is a trait from their big cat relatives…it gives them extra stretch when hitting full stride running.
- I know what the inside of Taco looks like. It’s actually my desktop at work and my cover photo on Facebook. I find it intriguing. My vet was super excited to offer to email it to me, so I guess I’m not the only one awed by kitty vertebrae and undigested food (his little tail bones are so purrfect!).
- Revolution (the flea medicine) can be given orally. It’s not recommended. But it’s totally fine if you accidentally put it somewhere lickable. They MAY foam at the mouth, but they’ll be fine.
- Male cats were built really badly in terms of their urinary system. If you’ve ever had a male cat with crystals (and a big vet bill to go with it), this is why.
- A sign of anemia in cats is pale gums. This is NOT a useful thing to know if your cat is black with black gums.
- Speaking of black cats, they’re the least likely to be adopted. I don’t understand why ridiculous superstition has any place in modern society. Black cats are my favorite. Never had a bad black cat. I’d have a harem of them if it were up to me, but my boyfriend thinks it would be “too confusing.”
- Despite the many representations of kittens lapping up a bowl of milk, it’s actually a horrible idea to give your cat milk. Also a horrible idea to give them a ball of yarn, which they will eat and then get stuck in their intestines.
- Declawing is really really really BAD. It’s like removing the entire top of your finger from the joint. That’s not declawing, it’s an AMPUTATION. There are no health benefits for the cat and can, in fact, have a negative impact on the cat’s personality. It’s also illegal in most civilized countries. Just not the U.S. Shocker.
It’s a bird…it’s a plane…it’s a Moosh!
As you can see, I ask a lot of questions at the vet’s office (and my vet doesn’t mind, this is why I love her) and watch a lot of Cats 101 and My Cat From Hell. I’ll probably think of 10 more things the second I post this.
MEOW hear this! 
I love “My Cat From Hell.” Jackson is the absolute best at working with troublesome cats. SeaWorld here has a show called “Pets Rule.” It’s amazing what they have their cats, dogs, goats, geese…. trained to do. Even more amazing is that all of the pets they have in the show were “troublesome” pets. Just goes to show that it’s often the owner, not the pet.
I totally agree. And I learned Moosh is definitely a “tree-dweller”
I originally didn’t like cats because they like to climb all over everything and you couldn’t train them.
I learned.
I originally tried to make Zoey the Cool Cat into a floor kitty. She never was really happy. Then I watched an episode of “My Cat From Hell” where Jackson was explaining that cats are vertical creatures, i.e., they like to be up.
I decided to let Zoey the Cool Cat have access to everything except the piano, the kitchen table, the kitchen and bathroom counters, and the top of the refigerator. She can actually have the top of the refrigerator if she can figure out how to get up there without making an intermediate stop on my kitchen counter.
She’s a much happier cat. It shows. I think I’m happier, too, knowing that she’s happier.
Hah. I don’t even try. They aren’t supposed to be on the kitchen counters, but they rarely, if ever, do it in front of us. However, there are always things knocked off the counter mysteriously that could only have been done by cat, and once I found Moosh in the cabinet with the glasses. No idea what he was doing there, but we were too amused to be mad.
The worst Zoey the Call Cat did was jump up to the kitchen counter and then crawl in the cabinet with the plates. I have a picture of her calmly relaxing on said plates.