You may think that the whiskers of your cat look super cute. But whiskers are also very useful for your cat. Whiskers are an extra sense that the cat uses to gets extra information about its environment with. In fact, hoarse hairs are tactile hairs. His nose, upper lip, eyebrows and even the back of the front legs also have tactile hairs. These help your cat to orient itself in the dark and to explore the environment. A cat cannot see clearly close (up to 30 cm). The tactile hairs help the cat to observe what is happening within that 30 cm. The touch hairs above the eyebrows ensure that the cat notices when there is danger and this ensures that his eyes remain protected.

Body language and whiskers

The tactile hairs can move in all directions through muscles. You can see how a cat feels from the position of the whiskers. Whiskers flat against the head? Your cat is probably scared. Whiskers forward and down? Then the hunting mode is on.

Avoid whiskers pain for your cat

Although a mustache hair can grow back on, you should never cut a mustache hair off your cat. Therefore, try to ensure that the whiskers remain intact. Without whiskers, your cat can no longer orient itself well and this can cause stress because your cat can feel unsafe.

Whiskers while eating

When choosing a food bowl, make sure that the whiskers have sufficient space. A cat can move its whiskers backwards (as a result of which they temporarily “switch off”). If your cat has to do this too often this can become painful and this can even cause your cat to stop eating.