Saturday, February 27, 2016

The smarter the whiskers, the smarter the cat.....

Dear George,
I read an article about whiskers and IQ; the article stated that more whiskers we have higher the IQ. I wonder if it’s true! Because if it is true I must be the most intelligent in our house. Not only my whiskers outnumber everybody else whiskers but mine are slightly curly too! Does this give an extra kick to my grey matter?
Can you expand on this idea George? It is very important for me as I’m trying to protect my Alpha Cat status in a household with four cats.
In whiskers I trust
Bentley

Dear Bentley,  
Whiskers rule! I agree with you - the smarter the whisker, the smarter the cat. It's a question of style.
It's not just the size or length - the longer the whisker the wider the cat, because whiskers allow us to put our head through a space and measure it. If the whiskers get through, the whole cat gets through. 
It's also the way they move. We can't see our prey if we are too close to it but the whiskers "see" it for us. They sweep forward and touch the prey so that we know where to put our claws to grab it. You can see that in slow motion here. It is so fast that humans cannot see it unless they slow down the film. 
We've also got whiskers above our eyes and on our legs (look at the photo on the right) - again to help us sense prey or the environment.
We are super-tactile. Poor humans their whiskers are more like fur, and what is more they usually shave them off. I suppose they are ashamed of them. What a strange species.
Yours
George



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5 comments:

  1. LennyFebruary 28, 2016

    Ah! When it comes to whiskers I definitely outnumber my humans :-)
    I'm the smartest in the household :-)
    Lenny

    ReplyDelete
  2. pilch92February 28, 2016

    Great explanation George :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dragonheart, Merlin, Devi, and ChloeFebruary 28, 2016

    We disagree! We Sphynx don't have any whiskers, and we are smart and get around just fine! We move just fine and never get stuck in places. Now, we are indoor cats, so we don't hunt prey. But we do just fine with no whiskers!

    ReplyDelete
  4. DiegoFebruary 28, 2016

    Right! That's why you are sphinx(s) :-)
    Look at the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx - no whiskers and is there for thousand years doing just fine! But....never caught a mouse either - missing on fun greatly!
    Diego

    ReplyDelete
  5. TheaFebruary 28, 2016

    Bentley, you look gorgeous with or without curly whiskers :-)
    Beautiful, big eyes too!
    Thea

    ReplyDelete

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