If you have a feline at home, you are thinking of taking one in or you are simply fascinated by these animals, surely more than once you have been intrigued by their whiskers. For example, do you know what they are exactly and what they are for? In addition, something common is to worry when we see that they fall out and wonder if they will come out again. Likewise, something that we also usually think about is whether the fact of falling or trimming them hurts them or not and if the latter should be done or not.
If you also have all these doubts about these hairs on your pet's snout, continue reading this article on our site in which this frequently asked question is answered: ¿ do cats' whiskers grow back?, we are going to discover the answers to all these questions.
Do the whiskers grow back?
One of the big doubts when we see that our pet has lost some of these important and striking hairs is to know if they are going to come out again or not. Rest assured, the answer to this question is that YES cats' whiskers grow back, either because they have been trimmed or because they have fallen out of shape. natural. We have to think that the functioning of the cycle of these hairs is the same as that of any other hair on the animal's body.
Thus, like all hairs, whether on the snout or on other parts of the body it falls out naturally, is born and grows again. For this reason, if the hair is trimmed, it will continue its cycle and grow to end up falling out, giving way to a new one.
What are cats' whiskers used for?
These technically striking hairs are called vibrissae and they are not only on the animal's snout but can be found in other parts of the body of the feline These are hairs that are thicker than the rest and that normally measure the same as the width of the feline and, for this reason, among other things, are useful to measure the spaces they can fit or pass through.
These whiskers are sensors for the animal, since around the root or base each one has many highly sensitive nerve endings that communicate to the brain the distances of the objects around you at all times, the spaces and the pressure of the air or anything that touches them.
But how many whiskers does a cat have? This is one of the most frequently asked questions that surround these hairs on the snout and the answer is simple. A feline usually has between 16 and 24 whiskers distributed equally on both sides of the snout and, in addition, these are usually in a minimum of two equal rows on each side.
Also, it is on the sides of their nose in the part of their body that they have the most because they use them to “see” up closeThe vision of felines is not very good up close, so to orient themselves and detect nearby things they use these thick hairs. In fact, the latter is one of the 10 things you didn't know about cats or probably didn't know, just like all these details about these whiskers on their face.
Likewise, they also use these hairs to express their mood and their feelings. So if they have these thick, relaxed hairs, that's how they are too, but if you see that your pet has their vibrissae forward, they are alert and if they stick to their face, it is because they are angry or scared.
What happens if you cut a cat's mustache?
It is very common to think that if the vibrissae of a feline's face are cut, it can suffer damage, pain and even bleed him This belief occurs because it is thought that these hairs have nerves inside them, just as happens with nails and therefore, in the event of a bad cut, they can be painful and bleed. Well, nothing is further from reality, as we have seen, the whiskers are like the other hairs on the animal's fur, only they are thicker and have different functions. But, there is no nerve along the vellus so there is no risk of bleeding or pain.
Anyway, what does happen if we reduce the size of the whiskers is that the cat loses the ability to orient itself properly in space. That is, it will be difficult for them to perceive things up close since they do not see well at close range. They will not be able to differentiate well if they have an object near or something further away and they will not be able to determine with certainty if they fit in a space or not, for this reason it is easy for our pet to become clumsy, even have an isolated accident and end up suffering stress.
Therefore, like trimming this facial hair on felines, we do it out of aesthetics or out of belief that it will be more comfortable for them and this is not true, nor do we offer them any benefit for their he alth but rather on the contrary, we must say that it is not advisable to do so under any circumstances.
False beliefs about cat whiskers
As we have been able to see, these hairs on the feline's snout are very special, necessary and still arouse various doubts in us. For this reason, below we reveal the main false beliefs about mustaches:
- They do not grow back after a cut or fall.
- When cut they hurt and bleed.
- If you cut the animal, nothing happens.
- Felines with trimmed whiskers will not leave the house.
- If these facial hairs are trimmed they will safely return home when they leave.
- They lose the ability to land on their feet when they fall or jump from a certain height.
