Today we are going to be talking about arthritis, a common and painful condition often that is often missed in cats. Typically arthritis occurs in older cats (>10 years of age) but it can affect younger cats too.
Read moreManaging arthritis in cats
![Cats whiskers are also known as ‘vibrissae’, which comes from the Latin word ‘vibrio’, meaning to vibrate. 😺 Cats have twelve whiskers on either side of their muzzle, some situated above their eyes, on other parts of their face and on the back of their front legs ( carpal hairs) 😺Whiskers are important as cats use them as sensory tool, enabling them to pick up air movements, touch, and vibrations. Whiskers are much thicker than normal hairs and are situated deep inside a cat’s skin, where sensory neurons pick up information sent down the whisker from the outside world. A cat’s whiskers are very sensitive and should never be cut! 😺The whiskers situated either side of a cat’s muzzle are known as mystacials. These whiskers are used to help cats navigate in darkness and in small spaces. Cats use their whiskers for hunting as they are less able to focus on objects at close range. Once their prey is close enough cats will use their mystacial whiskers, which fan out and push forward, allowing them to accurately locate their prey. 😺The positioning of cats’ whiskers can also help indicate their emotional state. Cats that are tense or hypervigilant may have whiskers that fan out and face forward. Cats that are fearful or anxious may have whiskers that are close together and flat against the face, whereas a relaxed cat is likely to have whiskers that are relaxed and drooping downwards. 😺More recently, whisker position has been used to assess levels of pain in cats using the ‘feline grimace scale’. This scale shows that cats with whiskers that are slightly curved, straight, or straight and pushed forward are more likely to be in pain that those with lose whiskers that curve downwards. References: Bradshaw, J., Casey, R. and Brown, S., 2012. The Behaviour of The Domestic Cat. 2nd ed. Wallingford: CABI Brown, S., 2020. The Cat: A Natural History. London: THE IVY PRESS Icatcare.org. 2020. Cat Communication International Cat Care. [online] Available at: <https://icatcare.org/advice/cat-communication/> [Accessed 14 September] For more information about the feline grimace scale go to: www.felinegrimacescale.com](https://thecatnurse.co.uk/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)