Cat's whiskers really look cute on them. In fact, you can recognize a cat with its whiskers. Most people mistake its whiskers to just like human hair. Hence, these are not only tactile hairs they do actually have purposes.
WebMD reports that the whiskers of the cat are their radar system and GPS. They also serve as the touch receptors. "They are a powerful and important part of how a cat senses the world," said W. Mark Cousins, DVM, the founder of a veterinary clinic in New Orleans.
PetMD states that whiskers are also known as vibrissae are linked deeply to the nervous and muscular systems of the cat. They send information about the environment to the cat's sensory nerves. They help cat detects and responds to its surrounding.
#DidYouKnow Each side of a cat's face has about 12 whiskers. pic.twitter.com/PbhtzTpKAY
— Yuppiepet (@YuppieVet) March 2, 2016
The whiskers grow on a cat's muzzle, above each eye and elsewhere on their bodies such as ears, forelegs and jaw. At the end of the whisker is a sensory organ called proprioceptor that sends tactile signals to the nervous system and the brain.
This can make the cat sensitive to its environment, respond to vibration in the air and can grope in darkness. It also helps in detecting dangers. You can recognize the mood of your cat by just looking at its whiskers.
If your cat is relaxed its whiskers remain still, that stick straight out from the side of its head. Its whiskers would pin back toward its face when the cat is upset or nervous. If it is on the hunt or curious, its whiskers are pressed slightly forward.
Never trim your cat's whiskers because this may cause them to shed. If in case your cat's whiskers are cut, it would become disoriented and scared. "If you cut them, that's like blindfolding someone, taking away one of their ways of identifying what's in their environment," Jane Brunt, a veterinarian said.
