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Happy National Love Your Pet Day! Here's 7 quirky cat behaviors and what they mean

Amanda MaciasFeb 20, 2016, 20:16 IST

Amanda Macias/Business Insider

Happy National Love Your Pet Day!

Nearly 100 million cats are kept as pets in the US.

My temperamental calico cat, Harlem, is one of them.

And while she's the only one I have, she embodies many of the most common, and most perplexing, cat stereotypes.

So why does she - and the tens of millions of cats like her - act that way?

Here are some explanations, backed by cat researchers, for why our feline friends behave the way they do.