By Brian Boone
Every cat is special, but these cats are a little bit more special than the rest.
ROCKET CAT
Most of the first animals sent into space didn’t survive the trip or didn’t make it back to Earth. Not the first cat to leave the planet. In 1963, French engineers sent a rocket into space, with a cat named Felicette on board. When the rocket reached its peak and descended back into Earth’s atmosphere, Felicette ejected and safely parachuted back to the ground.
MAIL CATS
It’s very difficult to train cats, a lesson learned the hard way in Liege, Belgium, in the 1870s. The postmaster there attempted to train three dozen cats to deliver the mail. They were outfitted with waterproof bags on their necks containing letters. On every single attempt, every cat wandered off. The cats were located; none of their mail was ever delivered.
SPY-BUSTING CATS
While serving as the Netherlands ambassador to the Soviet Union in the 1960s, Henry Helb lived in the embassy and kept two Siamese kittens as pets. One day he noticed the cats clawing at a wall and hissing, and they did it for so long that he investigated the spot that was bothering them. Inside the wall, he found 30 hidden microphones — the Soviets were spying on him.
RICH CAT
British antiques dealer Ben Rea left behind an estate worth $13 million when he died in 1988, and he left it to his favorite associate — Blackie, his cat. The money technically was bequeathed to a few animal welfare charities which all made sure that Blackie lived out his days in luxury. At one point, Blackie was listed in Guinness World Records as Wealthiest Cat.
INTERNET CAT
It seems like the internet consists primarily of cat pictures, cat videos, and cat memes, but the most famous online cat might be Nyan Cat. A pixelated, illustrated gray kat with a Pop-Tart for a body that shoots rainbows from its rear-end as it moves across a screen became an internet sensation in the 2000s. The real-life inspiration for Nyan Cat: creator Chris Torres’ cat, Marty, a Russian Blue variety.
FILM PIONEER CAT
Speaking of cat videos, the first one ever was made in 1894 by filmmaking technology pioneer Thomas Edison. He arranged for two young cats to swipe at each other inside of a tiny ring to make it look like they were “boxing.”
LARGEST CAT
Guinness World Records discontinued weight-based pet records to discourage the unhealthy pursuit of such records, but the last biggest cat commemorated by the book was a kitty named Katy from Russia. Given hormone shots by a veterinarian to prevent pregnancies (she’d given birth to multiple litters already), she had an adverse reaction that led to a voracious appetite, and a top weight of 50 pounds.
OLDEST CAT
Most well-cared-for domestic cats will live to the ripe old age of around 18 or so. A cat from Texas named Crème Puff doubled that. Born in 1967 and dying in 2005, Crème Puff lived three days past its 38th birthday, the oldest cat ever documented.