Do cat whiskers grow back? There are people who are fascinated by felines: they live with one or several or are thinking of welcoming one into their home. Of course, cats do not leave anyone indifferent; they can be affectionate, surly, tremendously hilarious… Their personality and physical characteristics are unmistakable. For example, his mustaches are very characteristic; Apart from the fact that they have a utility for the feline, they are a very striking feature. If at any time our cat has lost whiskers for some reason, we may be concerned about whether he will recover them or not grow back.
If this is your case, in this OneHOWTO article we tell you everything you need to know about whether cat whiskers grow back once they have been dropped or cut.
Contents
What Is The Function Of The Cat’s Whiskers?
What are a cat’s whiskers really for? This is a frequently asked question when we talk about these animals and, to know the real importance of cat’s whiskers, surely we must know its function. These mustaches, really they are called vibrissae. They differ from the rest of the feline’s hair in that they are thicker and longer. These hairs are located in more places in their anatomy besides the snout. Its function is to transmit information about the outside world: They are touch receptors.. With them they can capture the temperature, air pressure or the origin of the wind (very useful to locate the trace of an odor). Another of the uses that the vibrisas have is to help them orient themselves, position themselves in a fall and perceive the distances of obstacles.
These hairs, in addition to being thicker in general, are especially thick at the base (up to five times more), where they penetrate deeper than the rest of the hairs and have a root surrounded by nerve endings. Cats usually have between 16 and 24 mustachesso we can notice if it’s missing too many.
To learn more about it, we encourage you to read this other article that deals with this topic: What are a cat’s whiskers really for?
What happens if you cut a cat’s whiskers?
With this information, it seems to be quite clear that it’s not a good idea to cut them much less tear them off (which would also hurt) because we would leave him unprotected.
If only one or two are missing, obviously nothing different will happen. However, if too many whiskers have been clipped or plucked, the cat will have less ability to orient plus, “you will see” worse up close (They don’t see well up close, so the whiskers help them at short distances.) As a consequence of this, the cat could become insecure, fearful and clumsy, at least temporarily. This can cause the cat to become stressed and, in some cases, it could have an accident, as it does not have enough data to calculate its movements as usual.
That is to say, it is not that it is a very serious act to cut its whiskers, but it will suffer the consequences of not having them, so, unless it is strictly necessary for some reason indicated by the veterinarian, it is best to leave the cat its whiskers as they are, since they are there for something. In case you’re wondering if trimming his whiskers will bleed like nails cut too short or will it hurt, the answer is no.
Do cat whiskers grow back?
Once we know that it will not bleed or hurt, but it will cause orientation and distance recognition problems, we have to find out if they will grow back. The answer is that do cat whiskers grow back after losing them.
These hairs function practically identically to the rest of the coat in terms of growth cycles. In this way, when a mustache falls off, is plucked or cut, it follows a natural process by which a new one grows back, which, in the future, will fall off and grow back, exactly as with the rest of the animal’s hair.
Now knowing all this and, above all, if you think that your little feline’s whiskers are falling out excessively, we recommend you read this other OneHOWTO article on Why my cat’s whiskers are falling out.
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