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My wife gets the Arca Max Cats and Dogs newsletter. This was in today's issue. I found it very interesting.
Joe
What's The Purpose Of Cat Whiskers?
By Lamar Deane
The common response is that the whiskers are feelers that enable a cat to tell whether an opening is large enough for it to squeeze through, however the fact is more complicated and more noteworthy. Besides their apparent purpose as feelers sensitive to touch, the whiskers also function as air-current sensors. As the cat moves along in the dark it needs to maneuver past solid objects without touching them. Each solid object it comes near causes slight swirls in the air, minute disruptions in the air current, and the cat's whiskers are so amazingly sensitive that they are able to read these air shifts and react to the presence of solid obstructions even without touching them.
The whiskers are especially essential when the cat hunts at night. We recognize this from the following observations: a cat with perfect whiskers can kill flawlessly both in the light and in the dark. A cat with damaged whiskers can kill cleanly only in the light; in the dark it misjudges its killing-bite and plunges its teeth into the wrong section of the prey's body. This signifies that in the dark, where precise visual sense is obstructed, healthy whiskers are capable of performing as a extremely sensitive guidance device. They have an amazing, split-second ability to determine the body outline of the prey and guide the cat's bite to the nape of the animal's neck.
Somehow the tips of the whiskers must show off the details of the form of the prey, like a blind person reading braille, and in a split second tell the cat how to respond. Photos of cats carrying mice in their jaws after capturing them show that the whiskers are literally enwrapped around the rodent's body, continuing to transmit information about the slightest motion, should the prey still be alive. Because the cat is by nature predominantly a nocturnal hunter, its whiskers are understandably vital to its survival.
Anatomically the whiskers are greatly enlarged and stiffened hairs more than double the thickness of average hairs. They're embedded in the tissue of the cat's upper lip to a depth three times that of other hairs, and they're provided with a multitude of nerve-endings which carry the information regarding any contact they make or any shifts in air-pressure. On average the cat has twenty four whiskers, twelve on each side of the nose, formatted in four horizontal rows. They're able to move both frontwards, when the cat is inquisitive, threatening, or examining something, and backwards, when it is defensive or purposely avoiding touching something. The upper two rows can be moved independently of the lower two, and the strongest whiskers are in rows two and three.
Technically whiskers are known as vibrissae and the cat features a number of these strengthened hairs on different sections of its body; some on the cheeks, over the eyes, on the chin and, surprisingly, at the backs of the front legs. All are sensitive sensors of motion, however it's the overly long whiskers that are by far the most crucial whiskers.
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***Be sneaky, get closer, bust the cap on him when you can put the ball where it counts .***
Actually, most cats like to have their wiskers stroked back against the side of the face. It's the same sensation they get from rubbing on things. But they don't like them pushed the other way. Just tried again for the heck of it. My big ole male cat got huffy and left the room. Don't worry, he'll be back, he'll be wanting his lunch soon.
Jeepnik AKA "Old Eyes"
"Go low, go slow and preferably in the dark" The old Sarge (he was maybe 24.
"Freedom is never more that a generation from extinction" Ronald Reagan
"Every man should have at least one good rifle and know how to use it" Dad
Thanks for posting that. One learns more each day. DON'T clip a cat's whiskers 'cause they WILL get stuck in the weirdest places. I don't mind putting down a feral cat, but hate to see ANY critter get abused and maltreated. Anyway, cats are very tactile critters. Try putting a piece of scotch tape on the bottom of their paw or even brushing a bit of oil on it. It drives them nuts because it feels weird. And they brush up against things to leave their mark and probably for the same reason we like to get a back rub or back scratch - it feels good.
Yep, I like cats.
They taste like chicken.
But tend to have more interesting "personalities", like most predators as opposed to prey.
Paul - in Pereira
"He is the best friend of American liberty who is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion." -- John Witherspoon
I thought cat whiskers went on your bowstring to help quiet things down.
KI6WZU
NRA member
"When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer 'present' or 'not guilty.'"
--President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)
“Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner”
Naah, the purpose of a cat's whisker is to "tickle" a crystal so you can listen to voices from the ether...
Tom
Tom
'A Man's got to have a code...
I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted and I won't be laid a hand on.
I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them." -John Bernard Books. Jan. 22, 1901
Back when I was a kid my older brother just to be a jerk cut off all the whiskers off my cat, and at night while being chased by my sis's smaller kitten while rough-housing we could hear her running into the walls and furniture legs on the new moon night. 40 years later not sure I forgave him for that yet.
In the 60's when I was in high school some jerks tied two cats together and then through over a high power wire every time they came together the sparks flew. The only problem the jerks had was not making sure I wasn't in the area. I beat the stuff out of all of them while my friends made sure it never got past 3 on 1 fair odds for me back then. We got the cats down with help of the power company found out who's cats they where and found some replacements.
Yes I do like cats, I even had one is service best watch dog I ever had, no one moved without that darn cat knowing. I surprised a few because of that cat and they never did figure out how I knew they where there. See cats don't bark when a strange thing is moving around they hiss, meow or like mine did tap you on the face real quite like and it worked real good.
In a free society the government doesn't fear its citizens
NRA Endowment member
DAV
.***
That is a purrfict explanation, though.....
DON'T clip a cat's whiskers 'cause they WILL get stuck in the weirdest places. I don't mind putting down a feral cat, but hate to see ANY critter get abused and maltreated. Anyway, cats are very tactile critters. Try putting a piece of scotch tape on the bottom of their paw or even brushing a bit of oil on it. It drives them nuts because it feels weird. And they brush up against things to leave their mark and probably for the same reason we like to get a back rub or back scratch - it feels good. 
