Cat Songs to Sing For and With Cats
Cats sing some of their best numbers on back fences in the middle of the night and do some of their best purring on the laps of people they own and love.
Every year about four million cats end up in shelters, including thousands of kittens who are born in the spring and summer "kitten seasons." The American Humane Council celebrates Adopt-A-Cat Month each June to encourage people to adopt a cat. These fun songs will help children appreciate cats and their habits all year around.
Cat Curtain Calls
No matter what color a cat‟s fur or whether it is a Tabby, Persian or Alley cat, cats all come from the same species- Felis catus.
What Kind of Cat Am I?
(To the Tune of Where is Thumbkin or Frere Jacques. Use as many cat varieties as the children can name)
What kind of cat am I?
What kind of cat am I?
I 'm a Tabby,
I'm a Tabby,
I like paper bags twice my size,
I like chasing butterflies,
I‟m a Tabby,
I‟m a Tabby.
What kind of cat am I?
What kind of cat am I?
I‟m an Alley cat,
I‟m an Alley cat
I like paper bags twice my size,
I like chasing butterflies,
I‟m an Alley cat,
I‟m an Alley cat.
I‟m a Tiger, etc.
I‟m a Siamese Cat, etc.
Cats are as Old as People
Some historians say Egyptians first kept cats as pets 4,000 years ago when they discovered that cats caught the mice that ate their grain. Egyptians made mummies of their cats and they also mummified mice so that cats and mice would be together in the Egyptian heaven. People in other countries around the world adopted cats as their partners in mice control and as their pets.
Calling Cats Names
Male cats used to be called rams or boars. Then in 1760, an anonymous author wrote a book called "The Life & Adventures of a Cat." The main character in the story was a male cat called "Tom the Cat." The book turned out to be very popular and male cats quickly became known as Tom Cats. A group of cats is called a clowder and a group of kittens is called a kindle.
Kitten Song
(To the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star)
Kittens are sleeping in the chairs,
Kittens are sleeping on the stairs,
Kittens wake up with a stretch and a yawn,
They stay up all night and go to sleep at dawn!
Kittens meow and chase the broom,
Kittens don‟t take up very much room,
The sure thing about a kitten is that
A kitten grows up to be a big cat!
Cat Communication
Cats talk to each other and to people by purring, in ordinary voices, or hissing, yowling, or screeching. They communicate with other cats and mark their territories with their claws and by spraying their scent on their territory.
Cat Chat
(Sing to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat)
I like to purr and lick my fur
Oh, I really do,
Pet me, pet me, pet me, pet me,
And I‟ll purr and lick you too!
I like to rub against your legs,
Get up out of your seat!
Feed me, feed me, feed me, feed me,
We‟ll share my favorite treat!
Cat Bodies
Cats are nimble and their long tails help them keep their balance. Their eyes reflect light and they have sharp hearing. Cats have rough tongues that allow them to clean up every bit of food in their dish and to clean themselves. The ridged pattern on a cat's nose is as individual as a human fingerprint. Cats breathe at the rate of 20-30 breaths per minute. Some cats snore at the same rate.
Thor's Snore
(To the tune of the Farmer in the Dell)
I hear my pet cat Thor,
Outside my bedroom door,
He sleeps there on the floor,
And all he does is snore!
Each night I go to bed,
Pull the covers over my head,
The noise sounds like thunder's roar,
But it is only Thor!
One night I yell and billow,
Settle Thor on my soft pillow,
My mom calls me a grouch,
But I'm sleeping on the couch!
Cat Paws
Cats perspire through their paws. The front paws of a cat has five toes and their back paws have four toes. There are some cats who have more than 18 toes. When a cat has more than 18 toes, it is called a polydactyl.
Polydactyl comes from two Greek words, polys which means many and dactyl which means finger. Cats can use their paws to run about 30 miles per hour at their fastest speed.
Cat Litter
The use of clay cat litter came about by accident. In 1948, a young man named Edward Lowe worked in his father‟s company that sold industrial absorbents. She complained to him that she was tired of cleaning up ashes from the litter box that got tracked all over the house. He gave his neighbor a supply of absorbent material called Fuller‟s Earth that was used to absorb grease to replace the ashes she was using in her cat‟s litter box.
Ed realized that he had a good product going and started marketing Fuller‟s Earth as Kitty Litter in pet shops and at cat shows. After a slow start, it became a multimillion dollar business.
Litter Party
(To the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb)
All of the humans are out of sight
Out of sight,
Out of sight,
All of the humans are out of sight,
It‟s a litter party night!
Toss the litter up and down,
Up and down,
Up and down,
Toss the litter up and down,
Spread it all around.
All the cats roll down the hall,
Roll down the hall,
Roll down the hall,
All the cats roll down the hall,
Throw litter instead of a ball.
Cats Make Good Pets
Cats are interesting, fun, and affectionate pets. The American Humane Council suggests adopting one during June, National Adopt-A-Cat month or any month of the year.
References
Gallico, Paul, The Abandoned, Knopf, 1950.
Gallico, Paul. The Silent Meow: A Manual for Kittens, Strays, and Homeless Cats, Three Rivers Press, 1985.
Masson, Jeffrey Moussaieff, The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats: A Journey into the Feline Heart, Ballantine Books, 2002.