File :-(, x, )
Anonymous
Hey /an/, I have a concern about my cat. I'm positive it isn't serious enough to go to the vet over (though I'm sure someone will say it anyway) but I'm still wondering what's going on.

Pictured is my cat, Tux. I've posted her before on this board in a thread about tuxedo cats and asking about cat life-span, but this time the picture is even more relevant. If you notice, some of her whiskers are very short. Everyone in my house loves her very much, and would never dream of hurting her or cutting her whiskers. She is strictly an indoor cat and has never gotten out since we've been in this house. What could be causing this? She often rubs her head against the corners of furniture and such, but so does her sister who doesn't have this whisker problem. I've had several other cats in my life, even some that were indoor/outdoor a long time ago and none of them had this problem. What could be causing it, and is it hurtful to her?
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
Er.. maybe she just has short whiskers? Were they long in the past and have gotten short recently? Is it possible they were always short and you just noticed?

If she's getting around fine then don't worry about it. Lack of whiskers really only becomes dangerous (though it can be a bit annoying and inconveniencing for the cat) when they are extremely out of balance, when one side is short and the other long.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
I probably should've mentioned that, yes, they were long all her life and the shortening problem just started recently. She's getting around as well as always, she has always been a bit clumsy. Her sister is kind of aggressive and sometimes I find cuts on Tux (her sister gets jealous if someone is showing attention to Tux instead of her and will attack her later). Not sure how frequently they fight, but Tux is a scaredy cat and her sister, Sable, is the huntress of the group.

The whiskers are short enough that they dig into your skin and hurt if she rubs her head against you wrong, and it's only some of them. She has a few long ones on each side and a few short ones.

Pic is her sister attacking paper, possibly related? Do cats fuck up eachothers whiskers in fights?
>> adsad Anonymous
asdasdd
>> Anonymous
Hm, my dog has this problem, in a way. I don't have ANY idea how it happened, but I recently noticed that a few of her whiskers on the left side of her face have been, what it seems to be, cut in half. I never remember them being short before. We have no children in the house, and unless she got a hold of some scissors while I was sleeping, it seems completely random and curious that she lost half her whiskers. We do have another older dog, but she's much tamer and never acts out unless dog1 baits her, but even then it's just play.

Since I obviously can't fix it or know how it happened, I was wondering, how could it potentially be "dangerous"? And what should I look out for her?
>> adsad Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
I've never seen evidence that cats bite each other's whiskers, but I've seen them yank them out, so I suppose it's possible but not likely. Does someone in the family leave candles or open flames unattended? If she's always been clumsy and it's not getting any worse, and the amount of short/long whiskers is roughly the same on both sides, I don't think you should worry. Even if you took her to a vet, there isn't anything they could do for her.

>>137012
adsad goes in every field
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
Oh! I should note that cats can and do get their whiskers stuck in doors and cabinets. Usually it just kinks them or pulls them out, but it's possible she is rooting around something with hinges and clipping her own whiskers.
>> Anonymous
>>137007

She's clearly went and grew her whiskers short with the help of, say, metallic edges yanking them out. I'm guessing some were pulled out, giving her a temporary sparse look until others grew to replace them, and you only just realised that there are replacements.

Considering you said she was always a clumsy cat, I'm not too surprised. Good luck with her.
>> Anonymous
>>137018

When I went to go buy my cat from a cat nursing home, I walked by a cage with a mother cat and about 5 kittens. 3 of the kittens was holding down the runt and they were chewing his whiskers.

I took the runt home with me.
>> Anonymous
My cat is 17, an outdoor cat, and her whiskers come up short all the time. She doesn't seem affected by it, and they always grow back, so I'm guessing it's okay, possibly even normal.
>> Anonymous
Your cat may have a very serious medical problem, mine had problem with the whiskers like that, but when they got short they just started to fall out. After that, the hair on her face fell out, and she died later the next week.

I can't stress it enough that you go and see a vet.
>> Anonymous
Sometimes cats will over groom each other and chew each others whiskers off.

Usually when I see that kind of over grooming the cats are housed in small areas though (ie kennels at a shelter).

Just watch how your cats interact. I wouldn't be surprised if the more dominant cat was just chewing up Tux's whiskers.
>> Anonymous
i realized one day my cat had lost all the whiskers on one side, they weren't cut, they were just gone. they grew back fine though.
>> Anonymous
>>137235
oh lawd
>> Anonymous
One time I had a candle on the counter and apparently my cat got close to it to sniff it and it burned it's whiskers of a little. Burn any candles lately?
>> Anonymous
cat's don't have sex, silly
>> Anonymous
>>137315

Why do cats smell lit candles and other types of open fire? It really boggles the mind.
>> Anonymous
If your cat is older, it's vision might be waning, like most living creatures that age. Cat's overuse of whiskers (to aid in 'seeing') can cause the whiskers to break.
>> Anonymous
are you there OP?
>> Anonymous
You know, if you have a regular vet, you could probably just call and ask them if you should be concerned.
>> Anonymous
>>137511
Yeah I'm here, just gathered from all the replies that it's no biggie so I shouldn't really be worried (except for the obvious troll of course). She is getting older, she's around 13 or so now, so maybe>>137329is right.

I've noticed that she doesn't come running up to me to greet me as she usually does lately until I talk, so maybe her eyes are starting to go but her hearing is ok? I still wonder is 13 is a little early for her eyesight to start fading, all of the other cats I've had have lived past 13 and didn't have such problems. Would that be something to be concerned about, or is 13 a reasonable age for the senses to start weakening in a cat?
>> Anonymous
>>137557
13 is actually pretty old for a cat. I honestly never knew a cat that lived past 15. But it completely depends on the cat, and in part how well you take care of them, but I think some cats just have better longevity than others.
So I guess you didn't have any candles burning. I wouldn't worry as long as it only happens once.
>> Anonymous
>>137619
My cat reached the age of 18, he was outside three times in his life, every time he fell from the balcony, broke a leg or two, and crawled to hide under a bush

I guess he had a strong will to live
>> Anonymous
>>137648
Good thing you kept him inside. Obviously your cat was retarded and clumsy.
>> Anonymous
>>137007

Hair breaks, does it not? What are whiskers? Hair. They break