Cats are one of the most captivating creatures in the animal kingdom. They are graceful yet incredible hunters, seemingly social yet independent, and can be docile yet have lighting reflexes when needed.
They have many unique biological traits, and we wanted to celebrate them here. If you ever wanted to know what makes your cat special, then you’ll soon find out with these 10 fascinating facts about a cat’s anatomy.
1. Flexible Spine for Incredible Agility
Cats are incredibly adept at being able to get into anywhere they want to explore. This is due to their flexible spine. Not only do they have more vertebrae than the human spine, but the discs between them are flexible.
It allows them to have an incredible range of motion and contributes to their righting reflex. This is their well-known ability to always land on their feet. It also allows them to do those lightning-quick turns and squeeze into impossibly small gaps.
That ability to squeeze into small spaces is also helped by them having “floating” collarbones, meaning they are not attached to any other bone.
2. Superpowered Whiskers
A cat’s whiskers aren’t just a cute feature or an evolutional leftover like our facial hair. They are sensitive tools that are like the instruments on a fighter jet. They are used to navigate their surroundings, including giving information on orientation and distance.
These hairs are deeply embedded into the skin and connected to nerve endings. They aren’t the only incredible whisker fact about cats. They also help to sense air pressure, communicate, hunt in the dark, and aid in balance. It helps give the cat a huge amount of data to navigate the world.
3. Extraordinary Vision in Low Light
Anyone who has been around a cat will know their pupils can change dramatically. In fact, whereas humans’ pupils can increase by around 15x by area, cats can increase theirs by 135 times. It gives them a phenomenal ability to see in the dark.
A part of this is because cats also have a reflective layer behind their retina. This can make it appear as though their eyes glow in the dark but it’s there to maximize the available light. The amazing facts about their eyes don’t stop there either.
Cats also have a third eyelid (in addition to the upper and lower lids), which isn’t uncommon in mammals and birds. Humans have evolved to not need one, but this thin and translucent membrane helps to keep the eye moist while maintaining vision. You’ll rarely see this third eyelid, but it can sometimes be seen after they nap.
4. The Purring Mechanism
A cat’s purr is one of its more unique features. It’s able to do this with a rapid contraction and relaxation of the laryngeal muscles around the vocal cords. Interestingly, this is completely voluntary and almost always done when the cat is happy.
However, there are other reasons your cat may purr. It can be done as a form of self-soothing or to communicate. If your cat seems relaxed and happy, you can take the purring as a positive sign. Another interesting fact is that big cats can’t purr like our smaller feline friends.
5. They are Digitigrade Animals
Cats are digitigrade animals. This means they walk on their toes rather than their soles or heels. It allows them to walk silently, stalking their prey. Combined with their soft paw pads, it makes them adept hunters.
A key feature of their anatomy is also their retractable claws. When needed for climbing or hunting, they can retract their claws with deadly precision. Until needed, they are kept in a protective sheath, so they don’t become dull.
6. A Super-Sensitive Nose
Dogs famously have an incredible sense of smell, but so do cats. They have around 200 million scent receptors in their nose, whereas for a human it’s around 5 million. It makes their sense of smell quite incredible compared to ours.
They also have something called a vomeronasal organ (or Jacobson’s organ). Humans have this too, but it’s located in our nasal cavity. For cats, it’s located on the roof of their mouth and allows them to detect pheromones and other chemical signals.
7. Their Tongue is Full of Small Spines
One of the things you may not know about your cat is that their tongues are full of barbs. These small spines are called papillae and face backward. These spines are made out the of same substance as human fingernails.
They are useful for a few different reasons. They can help to remove loose fur and help with the grooming process. Added to this, it helps them strip meat from a bone. Next time they lick you and it feels a bit rough, now you know why.
8. Superfast Reflexes
Everyone knows cats are fast, but just how quick are their reflexes? For visual stimulus, a human’s minimum reaction time is around 250 milliseconds or 0.25 of a second. For cats, they can react in as little as 20 milliseconds, an astonishing 0.02 seconds.
Snakes are also known as incredibly quick creatures but for reference, their minimum reaction time is 44 milliseconds. This rapid response is part of what makes cats exceptional hunters and able to avoid danger in the blink of an eye.
9. The Tail as a Balance Tool
A cat’s tail may look soft and flexible, but it’s actually made out of up to 23 bones which are used for a variety of reasons. Mainly it acts as a counterbalance when they walk along narrow surfaces or make sharp turns, etc.
Cats also use their tail as a form of communication and it tells you a lot about their mood. In general, a high tail is a good sign, and a low tail is a bad sign. And whereas a rapidly waving tail is a sign of happiness and excitement in dogs, for cats it’s a sign of annoyance.
10. Incredible Hearing Abilities
The incredible anatomy of cats doesn’t stop there. Cats also have incredible hearing abilities and can detect frequencies up to 65,000 Hz. For us humans, that limit is around the 20,000 Hz range.
Their ears can also rotate 180 degrees, allowing them to pinpoint the source of a sound with incredible accuracy. This helps them locate prey before they’ve seen it, even if it’s hidden to human ears.
