Interesting Article on Whiskers

The November Issue of Cat Fancy has an interesting article about whiskers.
Maybe you folks knew this stuff but I sure didn't!

Apparently (most) domestic cats are farsighted so they use their whiskers to
help them sense prey. They pick up on minute air vibrations which tells
them something is nearby. They are able to parse this information into
possible prey vs. a breeze disturbing stalks of grass.

Whiskers are like "cat GPS". They serve as sort of peripheral vision and to
pick up information about the surrounding area. I've often wondered why it
looks like Persia is going to bump into the corner of an old monitor sitting
on the floor in my office but she veers away an inch just before she gets to
it.

The article also suggests if your cat likes to take its kibble out of the
dish to eat it could be that the whiskers are touching the side of the bowl,
giving the cat "unnecessary information". Of course, they also say some
cats just like to eat off the floor

Apparently if a cat's whiskers are pushed forward (normal, relaxed) it means
the cat is calm. If the whiskers are pulled back closer to the face the cat
is stressed or angry.

Himalayans and Persians grow curled down whiskers. Maine Coons sprout extra
long, tufty whiskers. There's an old saying that a cat's whiskers are as
long as their bodies are wide. Veterinarian Tracy McFarland says since many
of the cats she sees are chunky she suggests whiskers are actually as wide
as the cat's body *should* be

Jill

jmcquown wrote:

The November Issue of Cat Fancy has an interesting article about whiskers.
Maybe you folks knew this stuff but I sure didn't!

Thanks for the interesting post, Jill. There's something
else I've always wondered about. You'd think eyebrows would
be similarly useful, but although I don't recall ever seeing
a cat without whiskers, I've had several without eyebrows.
Cendrillon has magnificent sets of both - quite striking
since they're stiff and very white against a mostly
black-furred face. Melisande, on the other hand....
although well equipped with whiskers, she seems to have no
eyebrows at all! (Not just softer and less obvious, or grey
to match her fur, but simply not there!) Any comments?

Why do you think the expression for something real good is "It's the
cats whiskers"

Cats also use their whiskers just after making a kill. Photos taken
with those special cameras that can take pictures in very poor light
(forget the name) showing a cat that had just killed a mouse and the
cat is carrying lunch has their whiskers literally wrapped along the
mouse so that if the strike wasn't completely successful and lunch can
still move then the cat will know about it

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:
jmcquown wrote:

The November Issue of Cat Fancy has an interesting article about
whiskers. Maybe you folks knew this stuff but I sure didn't!

Thanks for the interesting post, Jill. There's something
else I've always wondered about. You'd think eyebrows would
be similarly useful, but although I don't recall ever seeing
a cat without whiskers, I've had several without eyebrows.
Cendrillon has magnificent sets of both - quite striking
since they're stiff and very white against a mostly
black-furred face. Melisande, on the other hand....
although well equipped with whiskers, she seems to have no
eyebrows at all! (Not just softer and less obvious, or grey
to match her fur, but simply not there!) Any comments?

Maybe someone else will know. I agree, you'd think those eyebrows would be
as useful. Persia has an impressive set of eyebrows

Jill

Thanks for the interesting post, Jill. There's something
else I've always wondered about. You'd think eyebrows would
be similarly useful, but although I don't recall ever seeing
a cat without whiskers, I've had several without eyebrows.
Cendrillon has magnificent sets of both - quite striking
since they're stiff and very white against a mostly
black-furred face. Melisande, on the other hand....
although well equipped with whiskers, she seems to have no
eyebrows at all! (Not just softer and less obvious, or grey
to match her fur, but simply not there!) Any comments?

In our household Tabitha is the one with eyebrows. They're long and
graceful and elegant - and almost invisble. Tabitha is solid black, and so
are her eyebrows.

Daniel Mahoney wrote:

In our household Tabitha is the one with eyebrows. They're long and
graceful and elegant - and almost invisble. Tabitha is solid black, and so
are her eyebrows.

Licky has white whiskers *and* eyebrows, which look very striking against
his black face.

Joyce

jmcquown kirjoitti:
The November Issue of Cat Fancy has an interesting article about whiskers.
Maybe you folks knew this stuff but I sure didn't!

snip interesting article

I've also heard that momcats bite off the whiskers of their too-rowdy
kittens to calm them down. Then they'll have to be more careful when
moving around.

Also, about eating and bowls etc. Nico seems to pull back his whiskers
when he eats, even tho he's not angry or stressed while eating. Maybe
it's just to keep the whiskers from rubbing against the sides of the
bowl, as he does tend to chow down heartily with his head practically up
to his ears into the bowl. He's the fluffier one of my two fuzzbutts.

--
Christine in Laitila, Finland
christal63 (at) gmail (dot) com
photos: http://s208.photobucket.com/albums/bb108/christal63/
photos: http://community.webshots.com/user/chkr63

Daniel Mahoney wrote:
Thanks for the interesting post, Jill. There's something
else I've always wondered about. You'd think eyebrows would
be similarly useful, but although I don't recall ever seeing
a cat without whiskers, I've had several without eyebrows.
Cendrillon has magnificent sets of both - quite striking
since they're stiff and very white against a mostly
black-furred face. Melisande, on the other hand....
although well equipped with whiskers, she seems to have no
eyebrows at all! (Not just softer and less obvious, or grey
to match her fur, but simply not there!) Any comments?

In our household Tabitha is the one with eyebrows. They're long and
graceful and elegant - and almost invisble. Tabitha is solid black,
and so are her eyebrows.

Baggy is black, so are all his eyebrows except one which is white, it does
look quite odd. ;-)
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy & Bagheera)
Cats leave pawprints on your heart
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk

Adrian A wrote:
Daniel Mahoney wrote:
Thanks for the interesting post, Jill. There's something
else I've always wondered about. You'd think eyebrows would
be similarly useful, but although I don't recall ever seeing
a cat without whiskers, I've had several without eyebrows.
Cendrillon has magnificent sets of both - quite striking
since they're stiff and very white against a mostly
black-furred face. Melisande, on the other hand....
although well equipped with whiskers, she seems to have no
eyebrows at all! (Not just softer and less obvious, or grey
to match her fur, but simply not there!) Any comments?

In our household Tabitha is the one with eyebrows. They're long and
graceful and elegant - and almost invisble. Tabitha is solid black,
and so are her eyebrows.

Baggy is black, so are all his eyebrows except one which is white, it
does look quite odd. ;-)

The lovely black shelter cat I saw while on my trip was black with a white
bib. Now that I think about it, her whiskers were white, too! And quite
long. She was very striking.

Jill

Lesley wrote:
Why do you think the expression for something real good is "It's the
cats whiskers"

All I ever heard was it's "the cat's meow"

Cats also use their whiskers just after making a kill. Photos taken
with those special cameras that can take pictures in very poor light
(forget the name) showing a cat that had just killed a mouse and the
cat is carrying lunch has their whiskers literally wrapped along the
mouse so that if the strike wasn't completely successful and lunch can
still move then the cat will know about it

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

Interesting. I never heard about that or saw a video about it. But then, I
don't get that many channels on my TV And Persia is my only cat, and
she's an indoor kitty so she only pounces on toys that aren't likely to be
alive (other than me, that is!)