Mustachioed-striped: why cats and cats need mustaches. Do cats' whiskers grow back?

The cat rightfully ranks first among the most comfortable pets. Her purring soothes and relaxes, soft fur gives a pleasant feeling, and unobtrusive nature makes communication comfortable. The structure of a cat sometimes raises many questions among lovers of this animal. In particular, whiskers: what are they for, what functions do they perform, how important is it for a cat to have them? It's time to sort out this issue.

What is the name of the mustache and why

In fact, a mustache is the common name for a very important organ. Vibrissae - this is their scientific name (from the word "vibrate", translated from the Latin vibro - to oscillate, wriggle), which they received due to the constant fine trembling, vibration. If you look closely at the muzzle of a cat, you can see that the whiskers are constantly trembling.

Features of the structure of the mustache in cats and cats

There are no differences in the structure of vibrissae in cats and cats. This body is not associated with the gender of the animal, it performs the same functions. The difference may be slight in length and thickness. But this is determined solely by genetics.

Locations

There is a popular belief that vibrissae in cats are only on the muzzle. Long, thick hairs have been seen here and everyone knows. They are located:

around the nose;
on lip pads;
above the eyes;
on the lower jaw, more precisely, on the chin.

But the same is on the front paws. True, they are not so noticeable. But it is enough to look at the paw just above the place where the dewclaw is located, and you can easily find them.

Vibrissae are located not only on the muzzle, but also on the paws of the cat

Length

The length of the whiskers on the face of a cat is on average 5–7 cm. But in this matter, much depends on the breed. So, the owners of the longest whiskers are Maine Coons. Their vibrissae give an incredible charm to an already charismatic appearance. In Sphynxes, on the contrary, vibrissae are very short, moreover, they are often twisted. Curly whiskers are carriers of the Rex gene. The name of these breeds contains the prefix "Rex". For example: Cornish Rex, Devon Rex and others.

The length of the vibrissae is also determined by the nutrition of the cat. If it is balanced, the mustache will be truly luxurious.

There is an opinion among the people that the longer the mustache of a cat, the more mice it catches. So our ancestors considered this relationship.

Thickness

The thickness of the whiskers differs only by gender: cats have thicker whiskers than cats. Location differences can also be identified:

on the cheeks the mustache is much thicker than above the eyes;
on the forelegs, the vibrissae are only slightly thicker than the guard hairs of the animal.

In general, the thickness of the vibrissae is explained by the fact that the growth site of each hair is rich in nerve endings. And if we take into account that their number is quite large, it becomes clear why the vibrissa has a tubercle at the base.

Other structural features

By themselves, vibrissae is already a very mysterious organ. Each hair has a connection with its own part of the brain and is responsible only for a certain function. Therefore, if a cat loses one of the antennae, then it temporarily experiences problems in hunting, coordination, touch, etc.

Each antennae is equipped with nerve endings and has its own "representation" in the brain

Photo gallery: whiskered cats

Maine Coon - a breed that differs in the length of the mustache Small curled antennae are allowed in the Don Sphynx For some cats, whiskers are not only a necessity, but also an ornament. Fluffy cats have whiskers to match them

What are the functions of the mustache in cats and cats

From the foregoing, it becomes clear that the mustache is not just ordinary wool. This is a whole sense organ in an animal, the so-called mechanosensitive, which regulates the whole cat's life: from safety to communication with its own kind.

Touch

First of all, vibrissae are responsible for touch. With the help of whiskers, the cat will accurately determine the degree of freshness of food and its safety.

Mustache before tongue will determine the quality of food and water

Navigation

Any owner of his cat knows about her ability to move in absolute silence and darkness, when the eyes and ears can absolutely do nothing to help the animal. This “trick” is obtained only thanks to vibrissae. Being in absolute darkness, the cat, touching the objects with its whiskers, will calmly go around them. She does not even have to touch them: moving hairs, vibrating, create air vibrations, which in turn, reflected from objects, come back and are captured by vibrissae. The received signals are transmitted to the brain, and the animal receives a three-dimensional picture of the surrounding space.

Whiskers help the cat navigate even in pitch darkness

Another nice moment for the animal is the ability to determine the diameter of the hole into which the cat is going to crawl. Since the length of the whiskers is greater than the width of the head and equal to half the circumference of the cat's body, the animal can easily understand whether it will crawl through this gap or not (even rushing headlong from danger).

Hunting

Whiskers are also indispensable helpers of a cat on the hunt. The slightest fluctuations in the air created by a running mouse are instantly caught by a cat. The huntress will easily determine the location of her victim, her position, condition, direction of movement. As soon as the victim is caught, it disappears from the field of view of the cat. The vibrissae located on the front legs come to the rescue. With their help, the cat will determine the position of the prey, assess the situation and be able to control the behavior of the victim.

Whiskers help the cat to hunt by communicating the slightest changes in the position of the victim's body.

During the hunt, navigational and tactile functions are connected and closely intertwined.

Communication

For their fellows, during communication, the cat uses not only whiskers. Everything is clear there. But what about a person? An attentive owner understands what the position of the whiskers on the muzzle of the animal means, but it would be useful for guests to find out the reaction of the cat to the appearance of a stranger next to her:

Whiskers are the first to form in a kitten during its embryonic development. This is not accidental, because it is this sense organ that helps the baby to establish contact with the world around him.

Can you trim a cat's mustache?

Because whiskers are vital to a cat, losing them can make life difficult for a cat. Of course, over time, compensatory mechanisms will come into effect, and the animal will adapt to do without additional information about the world around it, but it will still not be such a full life that an animal could have. Therefore, you cannot cut a cat's mustache.

In rare cases, veterinarians shave off the vibrissae on the cat's face to improve the effectiveness of the treatment, for example, from a fungal infection. But such actions are dictated by necessity, when the benefits for the animal from such actions outweigh the possible risks.

Video: why mustache cats

Mustache problems in cats and cats

Whiskers are not only an organ that helps a cat in its difficult life as a predator, it is also a good signal of health problems. Whiskers can reduce a cat's quality of life. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor the condition of vibrissae and take timely measures to eliminate all sorts of troubles that may affect them.

brittleness

Mustache fragility appears due to some deviations in the environment. So, for example, dry air in the room leads to the drying of the hair and its breaking off. The absence of fresh water in a cat and, as a result, insufficient fluid intake also affects the mustache in the same way. Frequent bathing also has a negative effect on the elasticity of the antennae. If you still use a low-quality tool, then the result will not be long in coming.

Broken whiskers can be a sign of insufficient fluid intake by the animal.

The solution to these problems is obvious:

normalization of humidity (if the pet lives in an apartment);
availability of fresh water;
using quality hair care products.

Dropping out

Loss of mustache is a more serious signal than breakage. If fragility is mainly influenced by the environment, then loss is caused by health problems.

Vibrissa prolapse often accompanies cat allergic reactions. An allergy in a pet occurs, as a rule, to food, most often to milk and fish. Associated symptoms are clearly visible:

hair loss;
lacrimation;
stool disorders.

Faced with mustache loss, you should pay attention to the cat's diet.

Vitamin deficiency also causes massive mustache loss. It occurs against the background of a monotonous diet, which causes a deficiency of important trace elements and vitamins.

A fungal infection of the skin, causing peeling and itching, also signals its appearance by the loss of vibrissae.

To solve these problems, it is necessary to contact a veterinarian as soon as possible, who will prescribe treatment.

bad growth

Poor whisker growth depends primarily on the general condition of the cat. The quality of food, the presence of vitamins and microelements, good hair care - all this is directly related to the growth of not only the mustache, but also the animal itself. Poor mustache growth can also be caused by endocrine problems, metabolic disorders.

If the improvement in the quality of keeping a cat has not led to a positive result, consultation with a specialist is necessary.

With the help of vibrissae, the animal receives information about obstacles on the way, about changes in air currents, and thus orients itself in space. Nerve impulses from vibrissae enter the brain along with information from other organs. Therefore, even minor changes in the surrounding space will not go unnoticed by the cat.

Cat whiskers are several times thicker and longer than ordinary hair. Longer and more sensitive vibrissae are located in four rows on both sides of the nose, above the upper lip. The top two mustache rows can move independently of the bottom ones. Shorter vibrissae are located above the eyes, on the cheeks, on the chin, on the ankles of the paws, between the pads of the front paws, and even on.

The base of the cat's whiskers is located in the surface layer of the skin. The root of each of them is located in the hair bag, nerve endings approach it, which transmit information about it to the brain.

Mustache for cats

Cats use their whiskers to measure objects. For example, by touching the walls of the hole with vibrissae, the cat can immediately determine whether it will crawl through this hole. Mustaches allow you to determine the location of objects, avoid obstacles in. Vibrissae are indispensable for a cat when, with the help of them, he determines the direction and wind to make the most accurate jump. With the help of whiskers, the animal controls the victim when it holds it in its teeth.

Damaged whiskers in a cat grow back in a few weeks.

Vibrissae on the paws help the cat feel the vibrations of the floor. Eyebrow vibrissae protect the eyes, allowing timely closing of the eyelids. A cat's whiskers are indicators of an animal's mood. In an excited or interested cat, they are directed forward and widely spaced.

If the cat is frightened or angry, he presses his mustache to his muzzle.

The average length of a cat's whiskers is 6-7 cm. The Maine Coon has the longest vibrissae. The length of the Maine Coon mustache named Missy (Finland), which was 19 centimeters, was listed in the Guinness Book of Records. Vibrissae are very sensitive, so animals do not like to be touched.

It is impossible to cut vibrissae, cats without them become confused, their movements become uncertain. Frequent loss of a large number of mustaches can be caused by malnutrition, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, or be a symptom of a disease. In such cases, it is advisable to consult a veterinarian.

Why does a cat have a mustache? The whiskers not only help the cat determine its location in space, but they also serve as an additional organ of smell. With the help of them, the cat can “feel the object” without directly touching it, and even “hear rustles”, which helps her navigate in space, for example, in complete darkness. Whiskers also help to feel the slightest change in temperature and pressure of the surrounding world. Don't worry, cats grow whiskers.

What happens if a cat's whiskers are cut off?

Having performed so many important functions, it is no wonder that if they were lost, as, for example, if a cat's whiskers were cut off as an experiment, the animal became completely inadequate.

If you shave off a cat's mustache

It could stumble upon objects for no reason at all (at night, it generally became completely disoriented in space). In addition, the feeling of an adequate perception of the world was lost: often, if a cat’s whiskers were cut off, he could get stuck in a hole, unable to correctly “estimate his dimensions”. There were also ridiculous cases when a cat, walking straight, simply fell or did not reach the target when jumping (as it flew over).

If a cat's whiskers fall out

A cat's whiskers are somewhat similar to human hair - from time to time they fall out and change. You should not panic when you find whiskers on the floor - cats' whiskers are growing and soon there will be new ones - this is a natural process of changing old ones that have lost sensitivity and a number of properties to new ones.

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Mustaches break and why does a cat need a mustache?

The most harmless case is a genetic predisposition. The whiskers of a cat break by themselves, for example, in sphinxes.

This is how short mustaches can be

Does a cat's whiskers sometimes become soft and brittle? This is a sure sign of a lack of vitamins - beriberi. It is worth reviewing the pet's diet or changing food. It is also possible to add some special vitamins, which the veterinary clinic can help you find. The most unpleasant thing that possibly happened to a cat is that he got worms. In any case, there is no particular health hazard, a sign that the whiskers of cats are breaking.

If, however, the kitten’s mustache breaks, it’s worth worrying a little more, because the baby is still a growing organism. All that can be done in this situation, like a kitten's whiskers break, is to add more vitamins to the kitten's menu: a spoonful of vegetable oil in porridge, a little cottage cheese for the night or a little milk in the morning. Or change dry rations in favor of some more enriched with minerals and everything you need.

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Does a cat not grow whiskers?

And, probably, the last options, the mustache of the cat falls out, in case of infection with a tick or deprive. The tick needs to be treated. And depriving, you also need to detect it first: for this, the muzzle of the animal must be illuminated with a special Voodoo lamp (the lichen will light up in an emerald color), or take a scraping - in any case, you need to go to the veterinary clinic.

It's hard to imagine a cat without a mustache

There is not much attractive in the loss of whiskers; a kitten or a cat may begin to feel not very comfortable. So watch your pet!

In villages where there are a lot of rodents, it is customary to say: the cat has a long mustache - mice scatter, rats scatter. Probably a good catcher would have come from Maine Coon Missy from Finland. In the Guinness Book of Records, he is listed as the cat with the longest whiskers - almost twenty centimeters.

Hunting

Tracking its prey, especially at night, the cat relies not only on sight and hearing, but also on tactile sensations. The antennae, touching the ground, transmit to the brain of the animal the slightest fluctuations and vibrations that the prey emits when moving: the mouse runs away and the air shudders. When the victim is caught, it begins to beat off with a mustache. With this, the cat "probes" whether the prey is alive or not. Please note that cats do not eat live mice, as this is very dangerous for the occurrence of wounds and infections. Not only hunting, but also determining the safety of the dinner contain "miracle antennas". Loss of whiskers for a cat means changes in behavior- she will have to check the food with her paw, confidence is lost.

Orientation

It is the whiskers that help the cat navigate, especially in an unfamiliar space. They, like the most sensitive navigator, track and calculate the route, “show” obstacles. You have probably seen how a cat moves with its muzzle low. In this position, the antennae of the animal are in contact with the soil, grass, tree bark, etc.

Communication

The antennae help to understand the mood of the cat and the attitude towards the owner and a stranger. Scientists even determine her mood by the location of her mustache. If they are stretched forward, this means that the cat is in a good mood and is happy to communicate. The cat is aggressive - the whiskers are bulging in different directions. Her formidable appearance indicates a lack of desire to communicate. It happens that the whiskers are, as it were, pressed, which means that the cat is not up to you now, it must be left alone. The same position of the antennae speaks of her other condition, of fear and obvious hostility.

In addition, the cat capable of tearing out the mustache of an opponent, which is especially often observed during the mating season. Without whiskers, the cat becomes insecure, which allows the rival to dominate her in front of the owners or males.

Many have probably heard of veterinary trimming? Yes, there is such an experience. All this is due to the fact that the veterinarian performs this operation in the event that the area of \u200b\u200bgermination of the antennae is injured and needs to be treated. It is in this case that it is necessary to perform this manipulation in order to disinfect the damaged area and exclude the possibility of bacteria entering the pet's body.

As you can see, the cat's whiskers perform very important and vital functions. Therefore, you need to protect your pets, take care of the health and condition of the mustache ( watch the kids who often intend to prove themselves as a cat hairdresser).

It turns out that a cat in the dark sees well not with its eyes, but with vibrissae. That's why a cat needs a mustache.

For some reason, everyone is sure that cats see perfectly in the dark. Actually it is not. Our pets navigate in pitch darkness with the help of hearing and touch, and the latter sense is able to coordinate the cat even in complete silence. At the same time, it works better in close contact with objects and is completely unaffected by lighting.

Mustache as an organ of touch

Cat's whiskers are an important organ of touch

The organs of touch in a cat include the so-called vibrissae - very sensitive hairs that protrude slightly above the general surface of the coat. They are located above the upper lip of the purr, by the way, these are the most sensitive of the vibrissae, on the chin, cheeks and above the eyes. Vibrissae also grow on the ankles, tail and between the paw pads.

Vibrissae can hardly be called hairs; rather, they are cat receptors modified in the process of evolution, which are responsible not for the thermal insulation of the animal's body, but for tactile sensations. At the same time, they react sharply to the smallest changes in the surrounding space, even to changes in atmospheric pressure.

How a cat "sees" with a mustache

The secret of the vibrissae is that they are able to capture air flows reflected from an object and thereby accurately determine not only the distance, but also the location of objects, even in complete darkness.

No matter what the cat is going to do: sniff something, climb somewhere or jump, she always stretches, spreads and strains her whiskers at the same time.

Without vibrissae - she is practically blind

It is also a good indicator of the mood of the animal - being in good health and in a good mood, the cat will not press its whiskers, and vice versa, if it is unhappy, sick or angry, then they miraculously become pressed, as if becoming smaller in size.

However, the "antennae" of the pussy all over the body!

In addition to places of special accumulation, vibrissae are scattered throughout the cat's body, and they are not difficult to notice - they stick out slightly above the surface of the coat. Perhaps this is why cats like to be stroked, thereby stimulating the vibrissae. But when stroked against the wool, the cat tries to break free and run away, as this creates an electrostatic charge on its surface, to which the vibrissae immediately react.

The principle of operation of the vibrissa is simple. It grows from the surface layer of the cat's skin and is well supplied with blood.

In addition, nerve endings are somehow specially brought under it, which gives the cat the opportunity, with the help of these receptors, to catch the slightest changes in the environment. Even at the slightest contact with air, the vibrissa reacts immediately, and an impulse is sent to the brain.

For wild felines, the loss of vibrissae is a guaranteed starvation. Without them, they won't be able to hunt.

Broken or aged vibrissae replace new ones, and the ability to move them is provided by the striated muscles of the cat.

An interesting fact is that it is the whiskers that grow first in a kitten, when he has not even been born yet and is in the womb of a cat mother.

Studies show that if a cat's whiskers are trimmed, then it will not be able to navigate not only in the dark, but also in the light too. In this case, the animal is completely disoriented and stressed.

Cats without whiskers

True, there is a special breed of cats - - it not only lacks wool, but also poorly developed vibrissae, and some representatives do not have it at all, which does not affect the ability of this breed to navigate in space.