Whiskers

Yes, they are perhaps the single most identifying thing about your feline friends, and side from frame their face in a perfectly cute and cartoon like way, they are actually more function over aesthetic than you may think.

Unlike human moustaches, whiskers are filled with tiny nerve endings which help with your cat's senses of it's environment. It uses the whiskers to judge distance and space. At the tip of every whisker, there is a sensory organ which picks up vibrations in the environment meaning that even in complete darkness, the cat can sense where she is as well as everything around her.

Believe it or not, the whiskers extend from more places than just the upper lip. In-fact, there are whiskers in the eyebrows, chin and even near the feet. The ones by her nose are the same width as their body, and this allows them to "feel" whether a space is wide enough to fit through. Meanwhile, whiskers on the back of the legs help your cat to climb trees.

Whiskers are mood signals

At the base of each whisker, there are follicles with lots of nerve endings that send important messages from the whiskers to the cat's brain. They are also controlled by a complicated set of muscles allowing them to move the whiskers back and forth.

How these whiskers move will tell us how the cat is feeling. Relaxed, the cat's whiskers are still and not tense. When curious or hunting, the cat will press the whiskers slightly forward. When they are agitated or upset, the whiskers will fold back towards the face.