I have searched through the fluff on the dog and the cat (no I’m not a pervert) but no belly button!. They are mammals, we are mammals. We have umbilicals cords and the belly buttons. Do they have have umbilical cords (if not why not!) and if they do where are their belly buttons and why can’t we have have the “no visible scars” kinda birth? I have nothing against belly buttons, I just think what’s good for human should be just as good for feline/canine/weasel etc. Oh I remember…they miss out on the peircing option (lucky them)
why do cats (for example) have “an elongated scar”, and not the clasic innie (or the chic-er outie)? what is special about humans that we have such cute navels?
jb
You don’t find cat bellies cute? Are you some kind of freak?
Because almost no cats are born where there is a veterinary doctor on hand to snip off the umbilical cord and tie it off, so the umbilical cord is just left to become necrotic and fall off, leaving a scar.
I still don’t get it. The place where the doctor snips it is good inch or two from the body. That inch or two should be no different between humans and other mammals. Why does the point at which the necrotic cord fall off look so different?
Here’s another angle: When I was a child, I thought that the doctor actually ties a knot in the cord and then tucks it inside. Both innies and outies do have that sort of appearance, IMHO. Where does that appearance come from (if not from a knot), and why don’t other mammals have that appearance?
right on, Keeve. i’m pretty sure my umbilical cord got all necrotic and fell off.
your last sentence is the sentence i would have written, had i phrased my question well.
jb
Read it again, Keeve. What doctor? Cats are not generally born in veterinary hospitals, with doctors helping yank 'em out and then snipping off the umbilical.
Maybe your first question should be, “How do kittens manage to get separated from their mother?” Once we get that cleared up, it may be pretty clear why cat (etc.) belly-buttons don’t look like ours …
Sorry, SCSimmons, what we have here is a failure to communicate effectively. I suspect one of us knows far more than the other on this topic, and I sincerely don’t know who is which. So I will restate my question more clearly, and perhaps we can get to the answer.
The obstetrician cuts the cord of the newborn human baby, and clamps it about an inch or two away from where the cord meets the body. The purpose of the clamp is to prevent bleeding, leakage and similar stuff. Nothing is done to the point where the cord (now referred to as a “stump”) meets the body. Nevertheless, for reasons which perhaps someone can enlighten me on, the body knows that the stump is different than the body, and so the stump becomes black and necrotic (<Lat., lit. “dies”) over the next week or two and eventually falls off.
My guess is that other mammals, especially the ones who are born without the benefit of an obstetrician or midwife, never have a clamp attached to the cord. I presume the cord gets severed from the placenta somehow, since we don’t usually see puppies and kittens dragging their placentas around.
Anyhow, my point is that I would imagine that a human stump dies and falls off in a manner very similar to that of other mammals, since the only real difference I see is the clamp, which is not placed at the very beginning of the human stump, but a couple of inches away. That’s why I want to know why human navels look different from that of other mammals.
I believe that Mama Cat (or Dog) are known to chew the umbilical off of the newborn fluffball, which may explain why the scarring happens differently. Also, I don’t think newborn dogs and cats have as much subcutaneous fat in the vicinity of their umbilical connections as newborn humans do, which may bear on it as well.
Thanks, KneadToKnow. I figured that the mother might bite the cord to sever it, but I didn’t realize she’d chew it down to the bottom. Makes sense. The fat part too. Thanks.
Further information from the Master on belly buttons: Why are some belly buttons “innies” and others “outies”?
Thank you all. This place really is the font of all wisdom. I can stop mauling the cat now!..the cat thanks you.
Nah, mama cats don’t chew the cord down to the belly, they just bite it in two while they’re cleaning the newest kitty. You DON’T want to know what happens to the placentas.
The leftover cord stubs eventually shrivel up and fall off, though I don’t remember exactly when this happens.
I stand corrected.
I still don’t get it. Could a human doctor cause a baby to have a slit-like scar in place of a normal belly button (by chewing on the umbilical cord instead of clamping it, perhaps)? If not, why not? Subcutaneous fat? I’m not sure I buy it.
Bitches in my experience however do chew the cord down to the belly (experience of about 130 puppies, and 3 bitches) and eat the placenta, which sometimes makes them sick.
nobody has any idea why humans have special belly buttons? harumph…
the only thing i can think of is positioning. dogs and cats and all spend their time standing up, right out of the womb. whereas human babies do not.
but i don’t buy this.
jb
You haven’t spent much time around newly whelped pups. I’ve already had my meager knowledge of newborn kittens shown up, but I can assure you that freshly-popped pups spend most of their time sort of lolling all over each other.