According to the 2001-2002 U.S. Pet Owners Survey.
The number of owned in the U.S.: 68 million dogs, 73 million cats,
Households with at least one: 40 million dogs homes, 34.7 million cats homes.
On average, vet expenses per pet in a year: $196 for dogs, $104 for cats.
Number of owned pets spayed or neutered: 70% of dogs, 80% of cats.

A cat can spend five or more hours a day grooming himself.

A cat that bites you for rubbing his stomach is often biting from pleasure, not anger.

A cat's tail held high means happiness. A twitching tail is a warning sign, and a tail tucked in close to the body is a sure sign of insecurity.

A steady diet of dog food may cause serious health problems in your cat because, among other things, it lacks taurine.

Abraham Lincoln loved cats. He had four of them while he lived in the White House.

After being handled, cats lick themselves to smooth their fur and get rid of the "human" smell. Licking is also thought to produce a calming effect.

Instincts inherited from their wild ancestors compel cats to bury their feces to cover their trails from predators.

A cat will never break a sweat because it has no sweat glands.

A cat's tail plays a vital part in the cat's balance and in the "righting reflex" that allows it to land on its feet after falling from a height.

A cat's tongue is scratchy because it's lined with papillae—tiny elevated backwards hooks that help to hold prey in place.

A group of adult cats is called a clowder.

A group of kittens is called a kindle.

Black cat superstitions originated in America. In Asia and England, a black cat is considered lucky.

Both humans and cats have identical regions in the brain responsible for emotion.

Cats can compress or elongate their spine, making them smaller to sleep in snuggly places or longer to leap across wide open spaces.

Cats can't see in total darkness. There must be some level of light available.

Scientists have determined that cats do perceive color, however their behavior indicates that they don't have much of an appreciation for it.

The beautiful glowing eyes of cats don't give off light. They reflect light creating the mysterious glow effect.

Cats can see things humans often miss, like a small insect flying through the room. This sometimes makes it appear that they are seeing "ghosts" or things that aren't there.

The pupils (the opening in our eyes, not our students) of a cat’s eyes automatically expand for light conditions, just as in you humans, but the cat’s pupils have a wider range of motion, going from the commonly seen "slit" to a wide open circle. The pupil dilation indicates their sensitivity to the ambient light.

Domestic cats of non-pedigree origins are known as a "moggy."

A cat can jump up to seven times as high as it is tall.

A cat cannot see directly under its nose. This is why the cat cannot seem to find tidbits on the floor.

Cats has more bones than a human; humans have 206, and the cat - 230.

A cat in a hurry can sprint at about thirty-one miles per hour.

A cat is pregnant for about 58-65 days.

Cats spend nearly 30% of its life grooming itself.

A cat will tremble or shiver when it is extreme pain.

A cat's brain is more similar to a man's brain than that of a dog.

A cat’s ears are able to rotate through 180 degrees, an advantage that enables it to hear and locate its prey.

A cat's jaws cannot move sideways.

A cat's sense of taste is keener than a dog's sense of taste.

A cat's sense of smell is 14 times stronger than a human's.

A cat’s whiskers aids its navigation. Cats with longer whiskers will be more confident movers.

A cat's whiskers are thought to be a kind of radar, which helps a cat gauge the space it intends to walk through.

A cat's whiskers, called vibrissae, grow on the cat's face and on the back of its forelegs. T he whiskers are thought to be a kind of sensor to help a cat gauge the space it wants to go through.

A cats field of vision is about 185 degrees.

A fifteen year old cat has probably spent ten years of its life sleeping.

A form of AIDS exists in cats.

A happy cat holds her tail high and steady.

A large majority of white cats with blue eyes are deaf. White cats with only one blue eye are deaf only in the ear closest to the blue eye. White cats with orange eyes do not have this disability.

A queen (female cat) can begin mating when she is between 5 and 9 months old.

A tomcat (male cat) can begin mating when he is between 7 and 10 months old.