Cat Health- Wiskers, a Real Indicator


Do you know why the cat having wiskers? It is nothing but nature??™s efficiency. In general, the house cat possesses 24 moveable whiskers (twelve on each side of the face). For maintaining your cat health, wiskers should be checked regularly, may be daily also.

Anatomy


Wiskers are twice the size of ordinary hairs. They have rooted themselves strongly to the skin superficial nerve endings. The main functions of whiskers are acting like radar and detect an object??™s presence from a distance. The presence of wiskers is extremely helpful for the cat when it is chasing a mouse in dark room to find the mice by moving air.

The wiskers are helpful for the cats to determine the size of tunnels/holes to creep through carefully without getting wedged. You can appreciate the wisker like hairs on the back of their front legs and above their eyes (cat??™s don??™t have eye brows), but won??™t function like wiskers. Don??™t worry if a wisker falls out, as another will replace that. Cats use their whiskers as ???feelers???.

It is interesting too note that new borne cat lacks vision on its birth but not wiskers that are fully functional. Wiskers have grown in womb before any other hair, while the ears and eyes are not.

It is noteworthy to tell that hunting felids can move their wiskers to and fro to collect information about its prey. This holds good for wild felids also! Even the condition of the prey can be assessed by means of whiskers. The cat may hit a wrong spot on the mouse if its wiskers have been damaged.

Do you know wiskers of a cat protect the eyes? Just you can touch a wisker and observe the eye blink of your pet. (Most of the cats won??™t like to have them touched).

By noticing a cat wiskers, its mood can be ascertained. If your cat is in good mood, the wiskers will point forward and down. If it is aggressive, the wiskers will be forward and up. Angered cat is having the wiskers flatten back against the cheeks. A sick cat will keep them forward and tense.

Common Diseases of the Whiskers


If you perform dermatological tests, you can easily evaluate the cat health wisker problems. Once your kitten wisker is affected, its hair coat and skin also being affected.

So, you have changed your opinion about wiskers- It is not only an indication of good look, but also supplying sensory information about his prey and his environment. If you are concern about cat health, Wisker checking should be given due importance at least weekly once. Healthy wisker Healthy kittens!!!

Glossary


Wisker- widely spaced, long, coarse sensory hairs located around the muzzle of cats.
Pyoderma- a bacterial infection of the skin.