20 Fun Facts About Our Mysterious Feline Friends

Psst! Wanna learn something new about your cat? Or cats in general, too. We know they’re cute and funny; that’s why we share so many cat videos. But they are also pretty intelligent.

Sure, their brains are small, accounting for just 0.9 percent of their body mass. But according to Psychology Today, "the brains of cats have an amazing surface folding and a structure that is about 90 percent similar to ours." The cerebral cortex—the part of the brain that's responsible for cognitive information processing—is more complex in cats than in dogs, and cats have some 300 million neurons, as compared to 160 million in dogs. Some research does suggest that dogs are slightly smarter than cats, but cat owners might have a different opinion on that.

One more fun cat brain fact: The most sophisticated supercomputer in 2010 performed 83 times slower than a cat’s brain.

There are 19 other fascinating fun facts about cats over at mental_floss.

(Image credit: Erin McCarthy)