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• Cats have five toes on each front paw, but only four toes on each back paw.
• Cats have true fur, in that they have both an undercoat and an outer coat.
• Contrary to popular belief, the cat is a social animal. A pet cat will respond and answer to speech , and seems to enjoy human companionship.
• If left to her own devices, a female cat may have three to seven kittens every four months. This is why population control using neutering and spaying is so important.
• Kittens are born with both eyes and ears closed. When the eyes open, they are always blue at first. They change color over a period of months to the final eye color.
• When well treated, a cat can live twenty or more years.
• A cat cannot see directly under its nose. This is why the cat cannot seem to find tidbits on the floor.
• The gene in cats that causes the orange coat color is sexed linked, and is on the X sex chromosome. This gene may display orange or black. Thus, as female cat with two X chromosomes may have orange and black colors in its coat. A male, with only one X chromosome, can have only orange or black, not both. If a male cat is both orange and black it is ( besides being extremely rare ) sterile. To have both the orange and the black coat colors, the male cat must have all or part of both female X chromosomes. This unusual sex chromosome combination will render the male cat sterile.
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