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Why Do Cats Have Whiskers?

cat with long whiskers looking up

Sensitive, versatile whiskers

24 brilliant hairs at work

You may think a cat can see in the dark, but it’s really the whiskers that are doing the work. Twenty-four mobile hairs, called vibrissae, sense vibrations in the air and can detect the presence, size and shape of obstacles without ever seeing or touching them. This makes whiskers a powerful hunting tool.

There's a ruler on your face

Whiskers help a cat assess if she can make it through a passage. A cat’s body is about the same width as her whiskers, which act like a built-in ruler. The tips are pressure sensitive. Have you ever seen a cat pause at an opening and stick her head through and back before she continues? She's checking the width of the opening and judging if she can fit.
closeup of cat with backlit whiskers

Specially designed hairs

​Whiskers are specialized hairs. They're rooted more firmly in the body to connect with muscles and nerves, and are thicker and longer. Cats have whiskers above their eyes, too.
orange and white cat with eyes closed and white whiskers.png

Legs with eyes

​Did you know cats also have whiskers on the backs of their front legs? They offer another hunting advantage by telling cats if their prey is moving.
closeup of cat's foreleg whiskers.png

How long can whiskers grow?

​If you ever wondered how long a cat’s whiskers can grow, Missi, a Maine Coon living in Finland, holds the record for the longest whiskers of any cat, measuring 7.5 inches long. Hmm, maybe this fella is a relative.
black and white cat with very long whiskers
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