How much did you know?

According to a Hebrew legend, Noah was worried about mice in the larder aboard the Ark. In reply to his prayers, God made the lion sneeze – and out popped a cat.

Cool story, huh?

These answers are pretty cool, too.

1. If a cat is nine years old, how long has it actually been awake? Three years. What you suspected is true: they spend two-thirds of their lives sleeping. It the one-third of the time that's left when they shred your socks.
2. Why is a bezoar something you don't want on your rug? It's the technical term for a cat hairball. Yuck.
3. Who has a bigger vocal vocabulary – dogs or cats? Cats: 100 to 10 different sounds. We knew it. That's why all that fussing gets to you.
4. Is a cat's brain biologically more similar to a dog's, or a human's? A human's, believe it or not. They even have similar brain areas for emotions. Your cat is aware of your pain – he just doesn't care.
5. Where was the oldest pet cat grave found? Cyprus. No, not Egypt: this grave dates back 9.500 years.
6. The Spanish Inquisition was mean to cats. How did nature get revenge? Ever heard of the Black Death? Served them right. All those rats spread the plague because they'd killed the moggies. Minions of evil? Bah!
7. We know about Laika, the Russian cosmonaut pup. What country sent a cat into space? France. Her name was Felicette and she survived the trip.
8. How did Abraham Lincoln upset Ulysses S Grant and Admiral Porter on the eve of a major Civil War battle? He stopped to play with some kittens. Abraham Lincoln, cat lover. He never met a kitty he didn't like.
9. What did an ancient Egyptian do to mourn the death of his pet cat? Shaved his/her eyebrows.
10. In ancient Egypt, it was illegal – under pain of death – to export cats. So how did all those cats get to Athens? Phoenician smugglers. Think about it. There must have been a law enforcement agency dedicated to...no, we can't stand it. Really, though.

Did you have a purr-fect score? (You knew that was coming. We thought we'd put you out of your misery.)

Share this quiz, or your cat will bring you a dead mouse when you least expect it.

Dmitri Gheorgheni

22.04.13 Front Page

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