cat whiskers

I was wondering if it is okay to cut a cat's whiskers? Amos has ONE whisker that is growing straight up into his eye. It has a curl to it also,so the curl let's more of the whisker touch his eye, and it is really bothering his eye. It is constantly poking him, and his eye is always wet. He walks around squint eyed. I have tried to smooth the curl out with my fingers, but it just goes "sproing" right back up into his eye. I have heard to never ever cut a whisker....so I thought I would ask here. I dont want to cause him any pain.

I was wondering if it is okay to cut a cat's whiskers? Amos has ONE whisker that is growing straight up into his eye. It has a curl to it also,so the curl let's more of the whisker touch his eye, and it is really bothering his eye. It is constantly poking him, and his eye is always wet. He walks around squint eyed. I have tried to smooth the curl out with my fingers, but it just goes "sproing" right back up into his eye. I have heard to never ever cut a whisker....so I thought I would ask here. I dont want to cause him any pain.

Hi DCH.:grouphug: I don't think cutting just the one whisker is going to harm him. If it's hurting his eye it would be a good idea. It's when they are all cut that cats lose their balance and bump into things at night. If you notice cats' whiskers they are in direct proportion to the size of the cat. A smaller cat will normally have smaller whiskers. A larger cat will normally have longer whiskers. This way they can judge a small space they are wanting to explore. If their whiskers get jammed up and squashed they know the area is small. Doesn't always stop them from exploring it (and getting stuck) but at least they know.
Whiskers do fall out on occasion and a new one grows in it's place. It will be interesting to see if once you trim back that troublesome one if it comes back as kinky.

hmmmm well technically you aren't supposed to, but if it's poking him in the eye I guess you don't have a choice. I've had to cut cats whiskers before for surgeries, like facial and eye surgeries.. but the cats have all been more or less asleep when I've done it. If I were you I'd get a tiny pair of scissors or nail clippers and quickly just snip the whisker.. like a pair of manicure scissors or something so you don't come at your cats face with a giant pair of kitchen shears..

thanks +14 and Kathryn.:grouphug: I was just going to trim it below the curl, it is one extremely long whisker. I call it his "old man" whisker, like the hair that grows out of some old men's ears....:D Seeing his head is the size of a small pumpkin he has got some mean ones.
Dexter has one interesting whisker also, he has got a face full of white and ONE black whisker. And Olivia's are finally fully back, when I adopted her, someone had cut all the whiskers off her left side.
So I am off to do the ninja sneak on Amos, and get that nasty whisker.

thanks +14 and Kathryn.:grouphug: I was just going to trim it below the curl, it is one extremely long whisker. I call it his "old man" whisker, like the hair that grows out of some old men's ears....:D Seeing his head is the size of a small pumpkin he has got some mean ones.
Dexter has one interesting whisker also, he has got a face full of white and ONE black whisker. And Olivia's are finally fully back, when I adopted her, someone had cut all the whiskers off her left side.
So I am off to do the ninja sneak on Amos, and get that nasty whisker.

Luck with that my friend!! :thumbs up

I think Dexter tipped him off, Amos is MIA. Dex was sitting on my lap when I was typing.......grrrrr........so Dex got his nails cut:p

I think Dexter tipped him off, Amos is MIA. Dex was sitting on my lap when I was typing.......grrrrr........so Dex got his nails cut:p

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

I think Dexter tipped him off, Amos is MIA. Dex was sitting on my lap when I was typing.......grrrrr........so Dex got his nails cut:p

:laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:

You'll likely have to keep clipping off this one whisker as it will likely grow the same way as before.

As far as cats without whiskers needing them to balance and bump into things at night? This is an "old wives' tale" or something. My two Devon Rexes have very short twisted whiskers, and Sphynx the same or even less so. Both these breeds are extremely athletic, and my Devons have absolutely no balance problems at all, nor do they bump into things at night. I have a railing that goes along stairs, and I used to have fits that they would fall off the railing and land way down the stairs. In 6 yrs. it's never happened (not to say it might not), but I no longer worry about it when I see them getting into their chase games and try to knock each other off the railing.

Another thing about balance myths is that cats need a tail to balance. Never had problems with Manx and I had a lot of them for many years. Naturally bobbed-tailed cats, like Lynx and Bobcat, don't have a problem balancing either. The shorter body length compensates for the tail.

Wow, lots of false info out there.................

http://animals.howstuffworks.com/pets/question592.htm

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/72647/keep_your_cats_whiskers_protected.html?cat=32

http://www.inspirationline.com/Brainteaser/whiskers.htm

http://www.pet-tails.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=282

http://www.pets.ca/dogs/articles/whiskers/

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2104/are-a-cats-whiskers-essential-to-its-sense-of-balance

i know, that is why I thought I would ask here first. If not it was vet visit, but I didn't want stress the big boy out. So many well seasoned cat owners, and I know if it was of great importance, I would have been told to take my cat immediately to the vet.

i know, that is why I thought I would ask here first. If not it was vet visit, but I didn't want stress the big boy out. So many well seasoned cat owners, and I know if it was of great importance, I would have been told to take my cat immediately to the vet.

It's not so much the balance thing. That actually may be false. It's the not being able to judge how close things are. Cats' eyesight is not that great. They count on their whiskers a great deal in the dark. One whisker being cut is not going to do a lot of damage. You're ok mf. :thumbs up

I got the offending whisker, just cut the curl off of it. Amos is not impressed with me, I would like to trim it just a bit more, now it is still long and pointing straight up, it is now touching the bottom of the eyelid. That is still going to make him crazy, but at least now it isn't rubbing on his actual eye. He sneezed a bunch of times, I imagine me playing in his whiskers gave him a nose tickle. Then he got out his ol mean look, and I figured tickle time was over.

DCH, don't be shy, trim it down. ;)
I would be more worried about him getting a scratch on his cornea than living with one shortened whisker.
When I rescued one of my kitties he was being held "hostage" by a family with wild children.
He was only a few weeks old and they had cut off ALL his whiskers as well as a patch of
hair on his side. THEN they said, "oh and he won't use a litter box". DUH
Anyway, the whiskers grew back nicely. Good Luck !

LOL........Bina....you saw right thru me. I don't want to trim it too much. I kinda gave him a tiny human spit grooming (with my finger.....!!!) and it is sticking waaaaay out to the side now.
73141

old man looks real impressed with me, eh?

If I were you, I'd be sleeping with one eye open tonight.... ;)

If I were you, I'd be sleeping with one eye open tonight.... ;)

I agree, if looks could kill... :laughing:

I think Dexter tipped him off, Amos is MIA. Dex was sitting on my lap when I was typing.......grrrrr........so Dex got his nails cut:p

well that will teach him to snitch! LOL

In that pic Amos looks like he's calling u a very bad name! :laughing:

If I were you, I'd be sleeping with one eye open tonight.... ;)


Hahaha I agree with you huskymom,cats are "evil" he knows what you did haha. The look says it all. He WILL get his revenge.

I always wondered what was true along the lines of cats and cutting their wiskers. Good to know.

old man looks real impressed with me, eh?

Yup, he looks kind of grumpy in the latest pic....imagine cutting a whisker, how rude. :rolleyes::D

Wow, lots of false info out there.................

http://animals.howstuffworks.com/pets/question592.htm

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/72647/keep_your_cats_whiskers_protected.html?cat=32

http://www.inspirationline.com/Brainteaser/whiskers.htm

http://www.pet-tails.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=282

http://www.pets.ca/dogs/articles/whiskers/

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2104/are-a-cats-whiskers-essential-to-its-sense-of-balance

@ 14+kitties, Hmmmm, guess I should tell my Devons not to stick their heads in glasses and cans? Wonder why it is that often mama cats chew off all their kitties' whiskers? I had a female one time that used to bite off all her special cat friends' whiskers too.

@ catlover2 - I am not going to negate years and years of education and learning from a ton of folks much more educated in all things cat just because one breed and one breeder says differently. I think it says the whiskers let the cats know how small the space is. It does not say it keeps the cats out of that space. :shrug:

:sorry::offtopic:
Does anyone know who is was that started that horrid act of "@"? I think it is very rude. I noticed it on FB first some time back. I'd like to knock them upside the head a bit for starting it. :p

@ 14+kitties, Hmmmm, guess I should tell my Devons not to stick their heads in glasses and cans? Wonder why it is that often mama cats chew off all their kitties' whiskers? I had a female one time that used to bite off all her special cat friends' whiskers too.

There are two thoughts on this, but I don't think anything conclusive;

1. To keep the kittens from wandering away and
2. A social hierarchy issue.

i think i would have snuck up on him with nail clippers and got the offending whisker...pretty cat