It might seem odd or even like straight from horror media, but Reddit user u/Cattitude0705 has a strange hobby–they collect the whiskers of their cats and sort them by color. Not to worry, though, for as long as they weren’t pulling it themselves, the cats are fine.
https://www.reddit.com/r/cats/comments/vxqngx/im_not_the_only_one_out_here_collecting_my_cats/
A commenter, u/Aggressive-Plum3252, responded that their wife likes to do the same thing, and so if they saw whiskers, they would give them to their wife, which earned them various accolades from fellow members of the community.
Commenters then exchanged advice on how to find the whiskers. Several pointed out that falling whiskers only happen once the cat is over a year old. User u/heartaccat shares that whenever she found a whisker, she would find her cat to make the whisker stand on top of the cat like a unicorn horn. Unfortunately, she didn’t provide pictures.
While it may be fun to collect fallen whiskers, many experts advise pet owners to never, ever pull out the whiskers themselves, as it may be detrimental to the feline. Whiskers have tons of nerves, and the whisker tip features a sensory organ known as a proprioceptor. These two make it such that the cat is very sensitive to minute changes to the environment, which may be helpful not only for them but also for the owners, as they may be helpful in detecting upcoming disasters like rain and earthquakes. The whiskers are also directly connected to the muscular and nervous systems, unlike their normal fur hair.
The asymmetrical distribution of whiskers in their body ensures that they may find it easier to measure the environment, kind of like their very own natural measuring tapes. They are also helpful when it comes to seeing nearby objects, as cats do not have the ability to clearly see anything nearer than 30 cm. Additionally, whiskers help cats determine where objects are at night by means of feeling where the air current is near these objects, as the aerodynamics of an object shape the air currents around it.
Did you know that whiskers may also be seen above a cat’s eyes, ears, jaws, and forelegs?
https://visualdictionary.org/cat-anatomy/
A diagram by Visual Dictionary illustrates roughly where these other whiskers are, which you can check for yourself in your own feline. And while they are not as visible as the usual whiskers around the nose, these secondary whiskers have served an evolutionary purpose, as the carpal whiskers on their forelegs, for example, help them detect the movement of prey, which makes them great predators in the wild.
In conclusion, feel free to collect your cat’s whiskers, for as long as you aren’t pulling them yourself. After all, they naturally shed them after a while. Shed whiskers could be a great memento or even medium in mixed-media art.
