They are thicker, longer, and more rigid than normal hairs, and can be found not only around your cat’s muzzle but on their chin, above their eyebrows and on the backs of their paws. Whiskers, or to be technical about it, vibrissae, are highly sensitive and specialised hairs. The little hook-like papillae help with this too.Īlso Read: 10 Little-Known Facts About Your Cat’s Tongue Whiskers But if they get too hot, they use their tongue to lick their fur, covering it in a layer of saliva to help them too cool down. Unlike dogs, cats don’t stick their tongues out and pant to stay cool. That’s because it is covered in lots of tiny keratin hooks (called filiform papillae), which helps their tongue act like a hairbrush during grooming. If ever a cat has licked you, you’ll know their tongue feels like sandpaper. They can, however, taste salty, sour, bitter and umami (savoury/meaty) flavours.Ĭats use the tongue when vocalising and grooming. Unlike us, they are not attracted to sugary carbohydrates as they lack the receptors needed for tasting sweet things. Your cat’s tongue is covered in tiny keratin hooks, allowing them to brush through their fur and get a thorough clean.Ĭats are obligate carnivores – these means they must eat meat to survive. It’s these structures that become inflamed in cats with dental disease.Īlso Read: How To Brush Your Cat’s Teeth Tongue Each tooth is held in the jaw by the periodontal ligament and surrounded by gum tissue. The tooth is made up mostly of dentine, is covered in enamel and has a central pulp cavity that contains the tooth’s nerves and blood vessels. The biggest teeth in the jaw – these are the last upper premolar and the first lower molar on each side. You may hear people refer to the carnassial teeth. Molars – these are similar to the premolars but a little larger.Premolars – flatter teeth towards the back of the mouth, used for shearing and grinding food.Canines – large sharp pointy teeth in the corners of the mouth, used for grasping and holding prey.Incisors – small pointy teeth at the front of the mouth, used for grooming and nibbling food.They have 4 different types of teeth, each of which have a different shape, location and purpose: They usually appear between 2-4 weeks of age, before you even welcome them into your home (so thankfully there’s no need to worry about sleepless nights with teething kittens!).Ĭats usually have all their 30 of their adult teeth by 6 months of age. Just like us, kittens have baby (deciduous) teeth – 26 in total. If a cat is sick, this eyelid can sometimes be seen sitting across the eye.Īlso Read: What Does It Mean When A Cat Winks At You? EarsĪn adult cat has 30 teeth, broken into four categories-incisors, canines, premolars, and molars. It protects the surface of the eye and helps to keep it moist. Big wide eyes with dilated pupils can mean your cat is excited or scared, but squinty eyes might mean they’re in pain.Ĭats have a third eyelid, or a nictitating membrane. That is certainly is true of cats – their eyes can give you lots of clues as to whether they’re happy and healthy. People say the eye is the window to the soul. Researchers think this pupil shape allows for a much greater change in the pupil size the dilated and constricted states and is what allows them to hunt during both the day and night. Unlike dogs and humans though, the pupil is a vertical slit shape, not circular. Another feature that gives them realty good night vision is the tapetum lucidum – a yellow layer at the back of the eye that reflects light (just like the cats’ eyes you see on the road).Īs in other species, the iris of a cat’s eye can relax and constrict to change the amount of light coming in through the pupil. The retina of the cat is made up of lots more rods (95%) than cones (5%), which means they can see well in low light. This is typical of many predator species and gives them good binocular or 3D vision and helps them to accurately locate their prey. They’re also positioned on the front of their face. A cat’s eyes are large and well-adapted for their status as predators.Ī cat’s eyes are large relative to their body size.
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