10 Amazing Cat Skills

Agility, balance, the ability to see even with a shortage of light, an ear that can perceive high frequencies and even the ability to “savour the smells”, are just some of the amazing abilities of cats.

These magnificent domestic cats never cease to amaze us, and the more we know them, the more we learn to love and respect them.

Meet some amazing abilities of cats

1. Great agility

The cat’s bone structure gives it flexibility and elasticity. And his powerful musculature, the ability to jump.

Pussies generally have 240 bones, 34 more than humans. Therefore, the discs between the vertebrae are thicker than people’s.

They can jump at a distance equivalent between 5 and 6 times the length of their body and, thanks to the pads they have on their feet, they can move in a silent way.

And they do it all with great elegance and precision.

2. Extreme balance

The inner ear of cats has canals filled with fluid and covered with small hairs that allow them to control their balance, acting in a synchronized way with the information they receive through vision and with their powerful muscles.

3. See in semi-obscurity

Although the story that cats can see in total darkness is a myth, they are animals that have a highly developed sense of sight.

Humans and felines have the same type of vision cells, but distributed differently. In the eyes of felines, those that capture more light and are not so sensitive to color predominate.

For this reason, in dim and semi-dark situations, they see between 6 and 8 times more than people do. The need to hunt at night made the eyes of these animals adapt to these conditions.

Also:

• They have a 200-degree field of view (humans’ 180).
• Peripheral vision is 30 degrees on each side (people reach 20).

• They cannot focus on something that is less than a foot away. That’s why they have mustaches.

4. Mustaches as sensors

Through whiskers and other hairs above the eyes and under the chin, which act as sensors, these cats can pick up even the slightest movement and detect objects that are close to their body.

These hairs are full of nerves and enable them to  wander through the nights without inconvenience and move in narrow spaces.

5. Extraordinary Smell

Cats also have more olfactory cells than humans. And they smell everything around them.

Their great sense of smell assures them to detect without inconveniences:

• A possible prey;
• A female in heat;
• Another cat’s territory;
• Decomposing food (and thus avoid them);
• A predator on the prowl.

6. Selective taste

The sense of taste in cats is very special. That’s why it ‘s difficult to try to give them some medicine mixed with the food.

But they also have an additional organ, known as the vomeronasal or Jacobson’s organ, which is located on the inside and top of the mouth and which allows cats to do something that we could call “savouring the smells”.

7. Perceiving ultrasounds

The ears of these cats are sensitive to high frequencies. They can perceive ultrasound up to 50,000 Hz. Humans can only hear up to 20,000 Hz.

8. Brush tongue

The tongue of pussies is rough and works like a small brush that eliminates all the particles that are in their coat.

Thus, along with saliva, the tongue of these animals is responsible for them being always clean, even though they are not very water-friendly.

9. Movable ears

Cats have the ability to turn their ears in the direction from which some sound originates. That way they can more easily detect prey.

10. Sensitivity to their owners’ moods

Among the amazing abilities of cats is also the ability  to detect their owner’s state of mind.

Joy, sadness, nervousness, depression. Nothing escapes the fine sensibility of these wonderful creatures.

That is why they tend to become inseparable partners in situations of illness or convalescence of a human member of the family.