by K. M. Crowley

Created on: March 20, 2007   Last Updated: February 03, 2008

Why your cat eats house plants, drinks from the toilet, and other odd facts:

-Why cats eat your houseplants: In nature, cats would eat grass to induce vomiting. It's perfectly natural and there is no reason for alarm here, just make sure you don't have any poisonous plants! Unfortunately, Kitty has to puke so much to get rid of hairballs in her tummy, which can be painful. However, it's her instinct to eat something green. You can buy special cat grass at a pet store. Cats also like parsley, sage, thyme and "spider plants".

-The third eyelid: The third eyelid is called the "haw". It is the pink or white membrane located in the inner corner of the eye and it can draw itself sideways across the eye. It is there to lubricate and protect the eye. If this eyelid is noticeably present all the time, you NEED TO TAKE YOUR KITTY TO THE VET! It is a sign of poor health and impending disease.

-Why cats insist upon drinking out of the toilet and other gross places: Most of us, I think, have cats who ignore their nice clean water bowl and go for dirty standing water instead. The reason for this is that a cat's sense of smell is so strong. In our tap water, cats can smell all the chlorine and chemicals we didn't know were there, and even the soap you used to wash the bowl. Standing water, such as in a toilet or fish tank, is full of organic decomposition, which to a cat is a good thing.

-Why cats have such rough tongues: The roughness of a cat's tongue is due to little backward-pointing spikes on it, which are made of dead cells just like human fingernails are. These allow your cat to clean itself very very well, and remove its own scent, which is an instinct employed so that its prey won't smell it and know the cat is coming to attack.

-Why cats bury their waste: Cats bury their waste to cover their trail from predators. In the wild only "secondary" cats bury their waste and the dominant cat of the territory doesn't.

-Can cats see in color?: It's been found that cats actually see in blues and greens, but the way that cats catch prey is through movement, so color isn't important. When a cat's prey is still, the cat cannot see it.

-Why do cats' eyes "glow" in the dark?: When it darkens, a membrane (another eyelid) coats your cat's eyes that reflects light. This combined with the pupils expanding and allowing all the light in, result in that "glowing" look. These things help your cat see in the dark, too.

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