Cat

Felis catus

A jump five times its own height

Numbers

Weight: 8 lbon average 5.5 to 10 lb, with differences between breeds
Length: 19 infrom 18 to 20 in without the tail, which adds another 8 to 10 in
Lifespan: 15 yearsWikidata item, not confirmed by the descriptive text
Speed: 31 mphonly over short distances: three hundred feet in seven seconds
Jump: 5 times its own heightmeasured in height
Hearing: 50000 hertzthe human ear stops at 20,000 hertz

its skeleton is made of two hundred fifty bones, and its spine is extraordinarily flexible to help with jumping.
its collarbone is tiny and attached to the breastbone only by a ligament, allowing its shoulders to move independently.
it has about one hundred sixty thousand hairs per square inch, making eighty to ninety-five million total hairs on its body.
the hyoid bone in its throat is fully hardened, which allows it to purr continuously but prevents it from roaring.
its kidneys are so remarkably efficient that it can hydrate itself by drinking seawater or by eating meat alone.
more than sixty percent of white cats are deaf because the gene responsible for white fur causes the inner ear to degenerate.
it possesses two hundred million olfactory receptors in its nose, far more than humans, who have only about five million.
it cannot synthesize taurine and must obtain it from meat, as a lack of taurine leads to serious eye and heart problems.
rubbing its cheek against an object is not an affection gesture, but a chemical territory marking using the F3 pheromone.
it remembers territory only by addition, so it will keep checking a mouse hole even after knowing that it is empty.

Five questions about this animal. Pick an answer and find out if it is the right one.

Question 1 of 5

How high can a cat jump compared to its height?

Question 2 of 5

Up to what frequency can a cat hear?

Question 3 of 5

Why does a cat purr but cannot roar?

Question 4 of 5

Which substance must it obtain directly from meat?

Question 5 of 5

What do many white cats have in common?

Experiment 1

Measure your height and multiply it by five, then mark that point on the wall with tape to see a proportional cat jump.

Experiment 2

Place one object twenty feet away and an identical one one hundred feet away. A cat sees the closer object like you see the distant one.

Experiment 3

Time seven seconds and try to sprint three hundred feet. That is how fast a cat covers that distance when running at full speed.