You wonder “why are my cats whiskers so long?” Sure, cats with long whiskers are related to genes from cat breeds with long whiskers but why are they so long?
Sometimes you look at your cats adorable and charismatic face with eyes staring at you meaningfully (saying “Leave me alone hooman! I sleeps”) and just can’t help yourself getting hypnotized by the length of its whiskers. Cats with long whiskers are generally bigger in size. I am not talking about being overweight here, the size we are talking about is the natural average size of the specific breed or the size of the healthy cat.
Before I can explain the reason behind the long whiskers, I need to explain just a little about the vitally important functions of the cat whiskers.
What do cat whiskers do?
Cat whiskers have a few very important functions, they are not just some aesthetic or accessorial hairs like human moustaches. We can even say that these functions are vital to your cat.
First of all cats are terrible at seeing or focusing on things that are closer than a foot or 30 centimeters. Whiskers let the cat know when to use its lightning fast reflexes while hunting or defending itself because there are nerve endings and muscles at the roots of the whiskers.
Another function of the cat whiskers are to spot sensitive points of their foes which helps them know where to bite when necessary. This particular function helps cats while hunting especially in the dark. Cats use their whiskers like a navigation device when they catch the scent of a prey in order to locate the exact location of it particularly when tight spaces are involved.
Cats also use their whiskers while they jump, climb or leap. It sounds irrelevant, right? Actually, whiskers are directly involved in these activities because cats use them to measure distances in order to get into difficult situations such as falling short when they leap. Well… That does not always work, does it? But it works most of the time 😸
The tight spaces we just mentioned has another relation with cat whiskers and the length of the whiskers. The length of cat whiskers are in proportion with a cat’s width which helps the cat to know if it can fit a particular space even before entering it. This is why cats don’t usually get stuck in tight spots even when you think it is impossible for the cat to fit in a certain box or even a bowl.
If you want to learn more about the vital functions of the cat whiskers and why cats have them, you may want to have a look here.
Can I Cut or Trim My Cat’s Whiskers If They Are Too Long?
Under no circumstances and I can not emphasize this enough, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES cut your cat’s whiskers! They may not look good to your eyes but maybe our hands don’t look good from their point of aesthetic understanding 😹 You don’t see a cat trying to shorten your fingers unless it is a wild cat such as a tiger, do you?
Whiskers are sensory hairs and as mentioned above, they have vital functions in your cat’s daily life. They have that specific length for a reason and cutting your cats whiskers might hugely impact their daily life. If you are thinking of cutting your cat’s whiskers, please read this before you take any action.
There may be occasional shedding though and that is natural so don’t be alarmed if you find one or two whiskers on your couch from time to time.
Do Cat Whiskers Regrow If Cut or Shed?
Cat whiskers are just like any other hair. If there is no medical condition that prevents the whisker to grow again they will grow back, however it takes time. Depending on the breed, health condition, diet, hormone levels and many other factors it may take 2-3 months for a whisker to fully grow back.
There are also reports that state some cats regrow their whiskers as fast as 6 weeks but that is not very common.
If your cat lost its whiskers somehow, you may read out post named Do Cat Whiskers Grow Back?
Why Are My Cats Whiskers So Long?
The answer to that question is they are not long, they are just the right length they need to be and this length is the width of your cat. If they were not at that specific length, your cat would not be able to move as carefree as it does. Some cats are even known to get stressed and lose the willingness to move after losing their whiskers until they grow back.
Do you have a cat with long and beautiful whiskers? Maybe a Maine Coon? Please share your experiences with long cat whiskers so another cat lover who needs that information can benefit from them.
Have a purrderfull day!!!
