What is the purpose of a cat’s whiskers?
I heard they were there so the cat could judge how easily it could go thru a small space.
I heard that too, and it might be true. Fat cats have long whiskers, skinny cats have short ones. Thats just sircumstantial evidence, I know.
it helps them judge distance between them and the object next to them, like curb feelers.
In college we collectivally had a dorm cat which we all fed and took care of, one night a drunk A-Hole cut the cats wiskers, the cat had trouble walking without bumping into the wall. He walked sideways while moving fwd until he bumped into it, mover away and it started it over again.
Some of us beat the guy who did that to a bloody pulp, and for the next month would cut his phone/electric and tv antennia daily until he finally moved
Well, since I have yet to master the cut and paste of an URL taken from Ask Jeeves and that, further, there doesn’t appear to be any official URL on the page displayed:
"A cat has about twenty-four movable whiskers, twelve on each side of its nose (some cat’s may have more). Whiskers are more than twice as thick as ordinary hairs, and their roots are set three times deeper than hairs in a cat’s tissue. Richly supplied with nerve endings, whiskers give cats extraordinarily detailed information about air movements, air pressure and anything they touch.
The scientific word for whiskers is vibrissae, a name that suggests their exquisite sensitivity to vibrations in air currents. As air swirls and eddies around objects, whiskers vibrate too. Cats use messages in these vibrations to sense the presence, size, and shape of obstacles without seeing or touching them. Whiskers are also good hunting tools. A cat whose whiskers have been damaged may bite the wrong part of a mouse it’s attacking, indicating that signals from these delicate structures provide cats with vital information about the shape and activity of its prey - interestingly, whiskers also help cats smell odours.
Whiskers can also be a bother to a cat, especially if he tries to eat food out of a bowl. The end of the whiskers touching the side of the bowl transfer irritating sensations to his brain, making it hard for him to continue eating.
Whiskers are extremely sensitive as they are closely connected to the nervous system. Any damage to his whiskers will cause your cat discomfort, and he may become confused or disoriented. DON’T ever trim his whiskers, and DON’T ever wash them, he will keep them clean himself.
When kittens are cleaned by their mother, she may chew off some or all of the whiskers - don’t worry, this is normal and they will soon grow back.
Cats also have a number of reinforced hairs similar to whiskers on other parts of their bodies: over the eyes, on the chin and at the back of the legs."
WOW, had no idea they were that involved, kinda justifies the action I mentioned above
Well dave, judging from the action you mentioned above, you must surely love cats and/or have viscerally hated the other guy’s guts! Beat him to a pulp?!