Have you ever wondered why your cat has whiskers? They’re a unique part of a cat’s appearance and, even though dogs have them too, they’re much more obvious on your cat.
Can you cut a cat's whiskers? Do you need to trim them? Here are some cool things to know about your cat’s whiskers.
Actually just a really, really unique hair
It turns out that whiskers are just a different kind of hair called a vibrissi (in plural, that’s vibrissae, for you Latin fans out there).
Whiskers are tactile hairs, meaning they actually help cats sense their position in space. They are particularly useful when you have to do a lot of navigating in dim light, and as anyone who’s been awakened at 4 AM by a hungry cat can tell you, they have exceptional skills in the dark.
Do you need to trim them?
Just like the other hairs on your cat’s body, whiskers don’t need to be trimmed. They cycle through the phases of hair growth – anagen (growth), catagen (rest), and telagen (failing out) – like a normal hair.
Your cat is unlikely to suffer any harm if you trim your cat’s whiskers, but there’s no need to, and there’s a pretty good chance he won’t look as cute without them.
What if you do trim them?
If you do trim a whisker accidentally, it won’t start growing from that point. Once the telagen phase occurs, the whisker will fall out and a new one will start to grow.
How do whiskers “know” how long they should grow?
We’re not really sure, but it’s likely that over the many, many thousands of years that cats have been around (and we’re talking saber-toothed tigers on down to your own “Tiger”), their DNA has modified itself so that their genetic programs regulate whisker length to be appropriate (more or less) to the size of their head.
This makes sense when you think about it, as tigers and lions have much longer whiskers than your average housecat. Since they have to kill to eat, unlike “Tiger” who merely has to saunter over to the food bowl, these big cats also use their whiskers to detect the pulsations of arteries in their prey, and thus a good place to sink in their teeth for a quick kill.
Do all animals have whiskers?
You will find some type of tactile hair on the face of most mammals, including some primates.
They are much better developed in nocturnal species, and in your own cat you’re likely to find whiskers in places other than just on the muzzle, including in the “eyebrow” region, as well as sometimes on the back of the legs, close to the feet.
Is it true that if you cut a cat’s whiskers, it won’t be able to wander off?
No. This is an old wives tale. Keep your cat inside and secure, and it won’t wander away.
Indoor cats, on average, live three times longer than those that spend most of their time outdoors, due to a number of reasons, including decreased risk of trauma and infectious disease. But cutting your whiskers won’t keep it inside – you have to do this.