Mary Allen
Cats have seven lives, land on their four paws after every fall, and always find the shortest way back home. We take a look at the ten most common cat myths.
Cats land on their four paws after every fall
Cats are masters of balance. But if they do fall, they land safely and softly on the ground, don’t they? In large part, this is true, as cats have a righting reflex that allows kitties to turn on their own axis in less than half a second. A coordinative masterpiece!
With their flexible spine and stretchable joints, they cushion falls and jumps from great heights and thus avoid injuries. However, this does not always protect cats, because if the fall height is too low, there is not enough time to turn and the fall can end less elegantly or even with injuries.
Cats are afraid of water
Most cats only like water like this: in their bowl or drinking fountain. Even if there are some velvet paws that are not disturbed by water, most cats are not water lovers.
An exception is certain breeds, like the Turkish Van, which even go swimming to catch fresh fish. However, most other breeds don’t like being made heavy and sluggish by wet fur and so avoid all contact.
Female cats do not mark
Urine marking can be very annoying on cats, which is why many people choose not to have a hangover.
But that doesn’t solve the problem, because female cats also use this behavior from time to time to leave a message for their fellow cats. If the animals are castrated early, this urge is greatly weakened.
Cats don’t get along with dogs
Dogs and cats are born with different ways of communicating. Their body language and sounds work in different ways, which often leads to misunderstandings.
However, the animals learn to develop an understanding of one another if they spend enough time together.
If cat and dog grow up together, close, friendly relationships often develop that overcome any communication barriers. In addition, as the owner, you can do a lot to promote mutual understanding. You can read how this works here: Tips – How dogs and cats get along.
Cats are always sleeping
Cats are masters at dozing. If it’s a rainy day, the cat can sleep for up to 16 hours. Normally, however, it is “only” 12 to 14 hours, which are spread over several small naps throughout the day.
In addition, we humans have a different sleeping rhythm and therefore often sleep through the active times of the cats.
You can’t train cats
Velvet paws have a mind of their own. It is precisely this quality that many cat owners value highly.
But when it comes to letting our claws off the couch, we sometimes wish our house tigers had a little more insight.
Since the animals are intelligent and capable of learning, it is of course also possible to teach them certain rules. But three things are important: a lot of praise, a lot of consistency, and even more patience.
Think of taboos that are really important to you in order to avoid unnecessary power struggles. Then there is the matter of education. You should definitely avoid these 7 mistakes in cat training.
Cats need milk
Most cat owners have long known that this is a mistake. While milk contains many important nutrients and cats enjoy licking it, consumption often leads to cat diarrhea or other digestive problems.
This is due to the milk sugar it contains, lactose, which adult cats can no longer properly digest. Special cat milk does not contain lactose, so it is better tolerated and a delicious snack for those with a sweet tooth.
Cats have seven lives
Of course, we’ve known for a long time that this is a myth, but we’re all familiar with the idiom. In the Middle Ages, however, people actually believed in cats’ supernatural abilities. They were associated with witches and said to be possessed by the devil or demons.
Fearing them, they were thrown from tall buildings such as church towers and often survived the falls. From this, it was concluded that the animals must have several lives.
Cats find the shortest way home
Although researchers haven’t been able to find a specific explanation, cats do have this special gift: No matter how far away from their own home the kitty roams, they always find the quickest way home.
Cats are loners
The velvet paws prefer to hunt alone, but at home, they can become real cuddly tigers with conspecifics.
When the environment makes mutual competition unnecessary, cohabiting cats often form affectionate relationships with each other.
Indoor cats in particular are happy to have a conspecific to play with, communicate with, and doze snuggled up close to each other.