Cats and whiskers.

The whiskers on the face and legs of cats are their GPS. These whiskers allows the cat to access an environment,gauge the distance when climbing and flight is required and also navigate their way around in the dark. Whiskers allows a blind cat to navigate her way around an environment and determine stressors and comfort zones. The mood of a cat can be determined by the direction in which the whiskers faces,so when approaching a cat ,look at those whisker before you make any sudden movements. These whiskers are thick and filled with tiny, super-sensitive nerves that help the cat judge distance and space. The whiskers acting as a radar apparatus helps the cat to make decisions such as; Is this box too small to get inside? How far do I need to jump to reach that counter? do i need to run or snuggle? The whiskers are in sacs called follicles that hold the hairs ,these are deep with lots of nerve endings that send messages to the cat’s brain. Each whisker has a sensory organ at the tip which picks up vibrations in the environment that help the cat sense where she is and what other creatures are around her. The whiskers are not evenly distributed as whiskers in various locations perform various functions and their sizes vary as well. The majority of whiskers are rooted in the thick pads on the upper lip, but smaller sets are in the eyebrow area, along the chin, and near the feet. There are others on the sides of the nose which are the same width as the cat’s body and the function is to determine if a space is wide enough to squeeze through or not. The whiskers on the back of the legs help your cat climb trees. The movement of the whiskers back and forth are aided by strong muscles on the face,these movements will help to access the mood of the cat at anytime. When the whiskers are still and sticking straight out from the side of her head,then the cat is relaxed and thus approachable. When the whiskers are pressed slightly forward,then cat is in hunting/ curious mode and when the the whiskers are pulled back toward the face,then the cat is in anger/upset mode(keep off.) Whiskers like other hairs on the body grow throughout the lifespan,but nature keeps this down by shedding. You will not need to trim the cats whiskers because of the shedding principle,but if you attempt to trim the whiskers you will affect the navigation system of the cat which will destabilize the cats.