CNDNFighter

For the first question, a little bit of yes and a little bit of no. I think that is partially the case while it is also just a bit of a 'go away' type of thing.

As for funny stories, I don't care to tell you how much cat pee I have drank on account them pissing in my face. Funnier though was what happened with member of our pubic.

Long story short, a group of people got a chance to see our tigers mating one fine day. They were intrigued (which was good to see, how often do you see tigers having sex?) by the action so stuck around to see the whole thing. HOWEVER, the male had different ideas and instead of finishing his business inside of his mate, he pulled out and.......projectile finished on the visitors. I was in side-splitting laughter to say the least.

Lions, no question. They are the only cat that lives in social groups so they actually seem to enjoy human interaction and play. Tigers, leopards, jaguars on the other hand frequently A) don't even pay attention to you B) want to kill you C) Pee on you.

YES!!! So happy somebody asked this. For whatever reason, when I have given it to our jaguars, they just turn into a 200lb house cat. They do the whole rolling over and going insane thing that house cats do. It is completely hilarious to see.

Hmmmm good question.

I would probably have to think long and hard about this, but off the top of my head is that some cats have a vomeronassal organ (also called a Jacobson's organ). This is essentially a piece of their brain that hangs down at the back of their throat. They make a funny face which allows 'air particles' around them to come into contact with said organ and give them a better idea of their surroundings.

If you are wondering what other animals have this....it's what snakes are doing when they flick out their tongue.

Happy this was asked. Believe it or not we actually used long lengths of 'firetruck grade' fire hose. One of the owners had a close friend who worked as a firefighter and would provide some materials when they were out of use. For whatever reason, the cats seemed to LOVE allspice (the cooking spice), so I would soak the 'rope' in an allspice/water mixture for a few hours before tossing and end of it into their enclosure. They would jump on it immediately and they seemed to have a blast with the activity