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please remove me from oyur mailing list [log in to unmask] -----Original Message----- From: Kelly Grant <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> Date: Monday, October 09, 2000 7:54 AM Subject: NON PD - Are you an ailurophile??? >Howdy Folks, >Thought that all the fellow cat lovers on the list might enjoy this bit of >feline trivia. >Kelly in Calgary >40\39\36 > >If you are a cat lover...you are an ailurophile, while if you have a fear of >cats you have ailurophobia. >In 1987, cats overtook dogs as the No. 1 pet in the United States, and >Americans now spend more money annually on cat food than on baby food. >According to "Guinness", the world's oldest cat died at 36 years of age, and >a geriatric feline successfully mothered two kittens at age 32. The >heaviest cat on record tipped the scales at just over 46lbs. >Cats have four rows of whiskers, and they use them to determine if a space >is too small to squeeze through. >They have 32 muscles in each ear, and purr at about 26 cycles per second, >the same frequency as an idling diesel engine. >Cats can see about six times better than a human at night because of the >tapetum lucidum, a layer of extra reflecting cells which absorb light. >Cats have more than 100 different vocalizations in their vocabulary, while >dogs have around 10. >When walking or running, cats step with both left legs, then both right >legs. The only other animals that do this are the giraffe and the camel. >Cat urine has phosphorous in it and will glow under a blacklight. >Catgut, which is used as strings in tennis rackets and musical instruments, >does not come from cats. Catgut actually comes from sheep, hogs, and >horses. >A litter of kittens is called a kindle, a group of mature cats is called a >clowder. >Domesticated cats are never mentioned in the Bible, while dogs are mentioned >14 times and lions 55 times. >The idea that cats have nine lives originated from the ancient Hindu priest >Pilpay. >In 1888, an estimated 300,000 mummified cats were found at Beni Hassan, >Egypt. They were sold to England to be ground up and used for fertilizer. >In ancient Egypt entire families would shave their eyebrows as a sign of >mourning when the family cat died. >The superstition that black cats are bad luck originated in America. In >Asia and England, black cats are considered lucky!