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(Update: You can now find this data in the Wolfram Cat Breeds Reference App for iOS.)
Famed amateur astronomer David H. Levy once stated, “Comets are like cats; they have tails, and they do precisely what they want.” I’m a cat person and this seems to fit. Comets have a somewhat unpredictable nature to them, making it nearly impossible to determine how they will perform from one apparition to the next. This seems like a fitting description of cats as well, based on personal experience with my three cats. After recently diving into data on dog breeds, the natural next step would be to explore cat breeds.
Cat fancy is a rather popular activity, perhaps only slightly less popular than dog competitions. As with dog breeds, there are a number of accepted breeds that take part in competitions. We have gathered data from Cat Fanciers’ Association (CFA) and The International Cat Association (TICA) along with other sources to provide coverage on a majority of cat breeds.
While exploring cat breeds, I was fascinated by the extremes. For example, let’s start with the Savannah cat. I found myself amazed at the size and look of the Savannah, since it looks so much like a wild African serval. In fact, it’s bred specifically for this reason. Some of these cats can approach 30 pounds, making them one of the largest domestic cats available. On the other extreme, the Singapura cat is tiny by comparison with a weight that can be under four pounds. The mean weight of cat breeds seems to peak just under 10 pounds.
From personal experience, cats have very distinct personalities. My oldest cat Rigel (yes, named after a star) is the most curious of the batch. Although a mixed breed, his curiosity and body shape makes me wonder if he has some Abyssinian cat blood in him, but this is just a guess. He thinks he should be able to investigate anything he wants, and can use his front toes to open just about any cabinet that isn’t locked (thank goodness he doesn’t have opposable thumbs!). Abyssinian cats are known to be very curious.
Cats have always been a part of my home life, but now I can use a part of my work life, through Wolfram|Alpha, to experience them too.
It would be extremely interesting if you added even more species exept from cats and dogs… Keep Working W|A!!!
Abbys sure are curious. We had one (d 2002) and he was into everything. He was pure bred and won prizes so a good example of the breed. You can identify possible Abby influence in your cat by looking for multiple colour bands on the fur. A good Abby will have up to five, which gives them their flecked look. I’ve seen mixed breeds with a bit of Abby that retain the colour bands.
Brilliant, tons of inspiration for the – ‘Thank you for subscribing to cat facts’ – text messaging pranks 😉
Woohoo more cats! Savannah cats are one of my favourites as well, as they resemble so much to a biggers cats like a leopard. To bad I will never be able to own. Ah well, still happy with my Australian Mist 🙂
Cats are always fun to read more about :). Actually, all animals in particular are. Would there be a chance to add more animals than just dogs and cats. Elephants for example would be great ;p
Cat bag
ParametricPlot3D[{t + Tanh[t], Cos[p] Sech[t], -Sech[t] Sin[p]}, {t, 0, 3}, {p, 0, 3 Pi}]