National Cat Day – 5 kitty fun facts

• A cat was a mayor of an Alaskan town for 20 years. An orange cat named Stubbs was the mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska, for 20 years! He was elected numerous times but didn’t hold any legislative power. Tourists and locals loved him.

• Cats walk like camels and giraffes. If you pay attention to how a cat walks, it mimics how camels and giraffes walk. The shared walking sequence is both right feet first, followed by both left feet, so they move half of their body forward at once.

• In 1963 a cat went to space. Monkeys and dogs have both been to space, but did you know that a cat has also been to space? On October 18th, 1953, a cat named Felicette, or ‘Astrocat,’ was the first and only cat to go to space.

• The oldest cat in the world lived to be 38 years old. 38 and 3 days, to be exact. His name was Creme Puff, and he was born on August 3rd, 1967, and lived until August 6th, 2005. 

• A house cat can reach speeds up to 30mph. I’m sure you’ve watched your little kitty charging around the living room when they’re feeling spunky, but did you know They can hit speeds of around 30mph which is fast enough to beat an olympian in the 200-meter dash?