🐈Cats
No sweet tooth here.
Cats lack a working version of a key sweet-taste receptor. Sugar does not produce the sweet sensation that it does for humans.
PLOS GeneticsA CURIOUS LITTLE CORNER
Little animals. Big surprises.
Fun facts for curious pet lovers—with an extra helping of cats.
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IN THE SPOTLIGHT · CATS
No sweet tooth here.
Cats lack a working version of a key sweet-taste receptor. Sugar does not produce the sweet sensation that it does for humans.
Read the source10 facts to explore · Sources linked on every card
🐈Cats
They can recognize their name.
Experiments found that domestic cats can distinguish their own names from other spoken words—even when the speaker is unfamiliar.
Scientific Reports🐈Cats
Some cats know their friends’ names.
A study found evidence that household cats can associate a familiar companion cat’s name with that cat’s face.
Scientific Reports🐈Cats
A slow blink can be a social signal.
Researchers found that cats narrowed their eyes more in response to a person’s slow blinking and were more likely to approach after a slow-blink interaction.
Scientific Reports🐈Cats
Two ears, two directions.
Cats can move their ears independently. One ear can point forward while the other listens behind them.
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance🐈Cats
Whiskers are sensory tools.
A cat’s whiskers connect to sensitive nerve endings. They help detect nearby objects and changes in the air around the cat.
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance🐈Cats
Their claws can tuck away.
Domestic cats can retract their claws when they are not using them. Cheetahs are an exception among cats: their claws do not fully retract.
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance🐈Cats
A tongue with tiny built-in tools.
The spines on a cat’s tongue have hollow tips that draw in saliva and help carry it into the fur during grooming.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences🐈Cats
Every sip is a physics trick.
Cats touch liquid with the upper surface of their tongue and pull upward, drawing a column of liquid toward their mouth before gravity takes over.
Science🐈Cats
A wild family tree.
Genetic research links domestic cats to Near Eastern and North African wildcats. Ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian populations both contributed to their ancestry.
Nature Ecology & Evolution