Anatomy General

Size
Felines vary in size. The huge felines, inclusive the lion and tiger, are the largest. The house cat belongs to the smaller congeners. An adult house cat has a height of about 20-25 cm. The average length, measured from the tip of his nose until the basis of his tail is about 46-51 cm, and the tail has a length of about 25-38 cm. Female cats weigh about 2.7-4.5 kg, and tomcats weigh about 4.5-6.8 kg, depending on the size of their skeleton.

Head
The head is large compared to the rest of the body. The nose and jaws are small, so it looks like their face is flat compared to the face of other animal species.

Ears
The ears are large and stand at the basis. They are round and come to a point and they are upright with almost all type of cats. A cat has very good ears and can hear sounds which are inaudible for people. The cat is enable to observe frequencies until 40.000 Hz or higher. For comparison: a human being hears frequencies until 20.000 Hz. Usually, a cat doesn’t only turn his eyes but also his head towards the direction where he hears a sound. This contributes to this hearing and sight. The inner ear consists, just as with people, of a complicated mechanism in order to balance the body. This mechanism, and not the tail as many people might think, makes sure that the cat always lands on his feet when he falls

Eyes
The large and striking eyes of the cat can be found in front of his head. The cat has a binocular (three-dimensional) sight and, except for the ape and the owl, the cat is the closest to the human being in this respect. Because of the size and position of the eyes, as much as possible light comes in and the cat has a broad range of vision. These are important factors for hunting and for being able to see in the dark. A cat cannot see anything in complete darkness, but at dimmed light he sees better than most animal species. At glaring light the pupils narrow into narrow lines. But in the dark the pupils enlarge into round openings which can pass as much light as possible. Cat’s eyes seem to be luminous in the dark, this even happens if only a small amount of light enters. This is caused by the tapetum lucidum: a reflecting layer behind the retina. Cats react very alert on everything that moves, but probably cannot distinguish colors.

Nose
The tip of the cat’s nose may be black, reddish or pink. A healthy cat has a moist and cold nose. Cats have a very good scent ability; they can smell their deanery or favorite snack from a surprisingly far distance.

Whiskers
The whiskers function as delicate feelers and have a function when the cat bites through the backbone of the deanery. Cats have four rows of firm whiskers on their upper lips on both sides of the nose. Also on other spots small groups of whiskers grow, like above the eyes, on the cheeks and on the back of their hind legs. Cats don’t have a sharp sight on short distance and trust their very sensible whiskers and the long hairs above the eyes when they handle a deanery. Cats without whiskers find it difficult to execute the "coupe de grâce" (killing the deanery). Cutting off the whiskers doesn’t only affect the cat’s appearance, but also the cat’s touch.

Teeth
In the first place the teeth function as weapon and to flatten the food. Cats have thirty permanent teeth and molars. The four big, sharp, corner teeth are important for catching and killing the deanery. The cat uses the small front teeth (above and below) especially for his (fur) care. The molars are used for tearing the food. The cat has a scissorlike set of teeth, so when he closes his jaws his teeth perfectly fit into each other. The cat tears and flattens his food, but doesn’t chew on it. The food is often completely swallowed and is further digested with the help of digestion juices.

Tongue
The cat’s tongue is rough, it feels like sandpaper. The tongue is covered with a layer of rough papilla’s which can perfectly be used during personal care. Cats use their tongue to clean their fur and to “comb” but it is also an affective tool to tear up the meat from the bones.

 

Jaws
The cat’s jaws may be small, they are tremendously strong! Cats can press their deanery against the ground with such a power that it might break the bones of their deanery. The lower jaw is stuck to the upper jaw with a simple hinge joint, which makes sure that the jaws can only move up and down. A cat cannot move his jaw sideways, he can also not grind his teeth.

Vocal cords
All cats, both house cats and wild cats, can purr and also do this. This may sound very loud, but also that soft that we cannot observe the sound anymore with our human ear. Kittens usually start purring a couple of days after their birth. Vocal sound is caused by vibrations of the vocal cords. Nobody knows exactly how cats use their vocal cords in order to produce a purring sound. It is also unknown why the cat is the only purring animal. Except purring, cats make more noises like miaowing, growling and even crying.

The paws and the feet
The paws seem short compared to the rest of the body, but they are very strong. Strong muscles cause that much strength that the cat, at rest, can jump pretty high and far. Cats are able to run very fast in order to catch their deanery, and they are good climbers. This is also caused by the sharp edges of their knees and “heels” of the hind legs. The forepaws are also very strong and flexible. A cat is able to spread out his forepaws widely in order to grasp the body of his deanery and hold it. The cat can put his forepaws under his body and can bent them around his head when he washes the back of his ears. The first toe is located a bit higher on the forepaw than the other four toes, the first toe doesn’t touch the ground during walking, but is used during care and at grasping a deanery.  At the end of the toes there are strong, sharp, bent claws. The nails can be retracted. This mechanism is a distinguishing feature of the cat family Felidae.

Tail
A cat has a long tail. The motion system is extremely supple, which causes cats to be very limber. Cats can turn themselves in such a way when they fall that they always land on their feet.

Fur
With the exception of the nose, lips, teats and foot cushions the cat is completely covered with a thick fur. A cat’s hair grows about 3 millimeter per day. A single cat’s hair weighs less than one gram, but the total cat fur weighs about one pound. If the cat’s hairs have a length of about 4 cm, they die off and new hair will grow. The dead hairs are left behind, and are removed by means of washing or combing. The instinctive care of the fur with the teeth, tongue and the forepaws, with help of saliva with enzymes and fat out of a gland above the tail, takes about two hours a day.
Reproduction
Cats can reproduce themselves in such an effective way that world-wide millions more cats exist than good homes. Female cats are fertile (on heat) several times a year and can get nervous and bad-tempered (and even lose weight) if they cannot mate. Tomcats can walk around restlessly, start crying in order to get outside and can spray a strong smelling urine. In order to avoid above mentioned problems and (even more important) in order to avoid unwanted kittens, female cats can be sterilized from 5-6 months. Tomcats can be neutered from 8-10 months.