Friday, May 20, 2011

Whiskers....our pride, glory, and a sign of intelligence?

Dear George,

Is there any connection between the number of whiskers one has and one’s intelligence?

My brother is trying to convince me that more whiskers one has ….more intelligent one is! He’s telling me that “tomcats” have more whiskers… generally speaking!

George, is this true? Or is my brother a misogynist? If this theory is true….does it applies to humans too? I can see that our “daddy” has more whiskers than “mommy” but why is he shaving every night then? Is he afraid that his intelligence will overgrow while he’s sleeping? And…what purpose will have shaving legs? I don’t get it!

George, what is the difference between our whiskers and human whiskers?

All confused

Minnie


Dear Minnie,

Your brother George is right that proper functioning whiskers are a sign of intelligence. They tell us if we can pass through tight places, they send sensitive messages back to the whisker pad and the brain, and when we catch a mouse, they move forward to touch it so we can tell if it is struggling while in our mouth (as our eyes couldn't swivel enough to see). Brilliant, brilliant things. Our Pride and Our Glory.

They are a sign of superiority over humans and our greater intelligence (more information reaches the feline brain from our whiskers). Many humans, including many females, don't have any whiskers at all. Those that do either shave them off, pluck them out (ouch), or have electric shock treatment to get rid of them. Why? Because their whiskers are non-functional bits of hair that aren't worth the face they are growing on. Human whiskers, even the thick long ones grown by the males in a beard, do nothing. They can't move. They just catch bits of old food. Horrible things.

However, where George has gone wrong is thinking that male toms have more whiskers than females. If toms are bigger than females, as they often are, then the whiskers will be longer so as to embody the right proportions with the bigger body. But they will be the same number. Incidentally blind cats grow super-normal growth whiskers to hellp them "see" with them. We also have whiskers above the eyes and on the forefeet, where they can feel a mouse if we jump on it and hold it down with our front claws.

Male humans have more whiskers than females but I do not think it is a sign of intellectual superiority. As females seem to be more addicted to cats, I consider the reverse may be true. Or may be there is no connection.

That, dear Minnie, is the glory and the beauty of our whiskers. Poor human pets are deprived of these wonderful organs.

Love George

PS. You both have lovely whiskers... purrrrfect


7 comments:

  1. Dear Minnie, our whiskers make us look more beautiful and aristocratic and human whiskers make them look "funny" if not plain ugly! That's the difference between our whiskers and theirs :-)
    Love
    Fluffy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Minnie, I don't think your brother is a misogynist (even if he sounds like one) I think he's simply reading too many books by Lillian Jackson Braun :-)
    Why not advise him to read George's books instead? The ones Celia is signing with her name (in such a sneaky way)
    Hugs
    Cayenne

    PS. I'm trying to look into "why shaving legs" but so far...I couldn't relate their legs to passing through tight places. It must be something else!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sir WinstonMay 23, 2011

    Yes! Our whiskers set us apart from everybody else; give us such an aristocratic air! My male housekeeper tried at some point to grow "something" (I've seen some hair on his face) but not for long! I shamed him with my whiskers :-)
    Sir Winston

    ReplyDelete
  4. SebastianMay 23, 2011

    May be your "daddy" is a werewolf and he's shaving at night....not to scare you :-)
    Sebastian

    ReplyDelete
  5. FredericoMay 23, 2011

    I'm going to look into why humans are shaving legs! Quite futile since they wear cloths that cover their bodies anyway. I didn't see my humans shaving at all! Hm!
    Frederico

    ReplyDelete
  6. You two look gorgeous!
    Love
    shumba

    ReplyDelete
  7. I think I solved the "shaving legs" mistery!
    Minnie, they want to look like chickens; that's why they are sometimes called CHICKS :-)
    Hugs
    Cayenne

    PS. Why humans want to look like chickens and not like cats is beyond my comprehension! What can be more beautiful then thick, long hair(legs included) and long, bushy whiskers?

    ReplyDelete

Help for cats whose humans show behaviour problems.

This blog is devoted to the study of human behaviour. We cats, who live with this sometimes unpredictable and always feeble minded species, can benefit from seeing their behaviour in its proper scientific context. The study of feline dilemmas, training problems, and difficulties with humans, can only benefit all of us. All of us train our humans - to buy the right food, for instance, but many of us do not have knowledge of how to improve our training methods. The human species is obviously not as intelligent as the cat, but nevertheless can learn quite a lot - if properly managed. Topics of interest include the use of claw and order, purring as a human reward, rubbing your human up the right way, when to bite, spraying as a method of making our wishes known, ignoring the human, human harassment, human inattention and sheer human stupidity. I welcome your questions. Photos can be sent via my secretary's website, www.celiahaddon.com This blog has been chosen as one of the top 50 feline blogs by Online VetTechprogramms.org