I’ll bet there
isn’t a single cat owner among you who, at this very moment, isn’t bearing
visible proof that your cat has claws.
Those crusty streaks on your arms and legs; those pastel pink “neener
neener” streaks that prove she barely laid a glove on you.
And in most
households, furniture, carpets and door and window casings also bear visible
proof that your cat has claws. But, I
didn’t call you here today to tell you that.
Instead, I invite you to join us as we take a look at these interesting anatomical
features.
While the claws
are keenly capable of slicing you and your household to shreds, that is not
their main purpose. Claws were in place
long before we became BFF with them because the cats had to get along in a
pretty tough world.
Their claws
provide traction that enables them to evade danger and chase prey, climb trees as
required by both those pursuits, and maintain a grip on narrow branches until
their tormentors move on. They use their
claws to scatter debris to cover up their scent when they answer a nature call,
and, of course, the one we all think of first:
dispatch and tear into prey.
Like our
fingernails, toenails and hair, a cat’s claws are composed of a protein called
keratin. But the similarity pretty much
ends there. There’s also a layer of dead
keratin, called the sheath, which coats the cat’s claws.
That’s why house
cats scratch on carpets and furniture while outdoor cats use trees and
rocks. That activity removes the sheath,
leaving a freshly sharpened claw that’s ready for action. You probably find them around the house from
time to time. I have a sheath from an
African lion’s claw that a zookeeper gave me many years ago. Pretty impressive weapon.
Cats claws also contain
a “quick,” appearing as a pink streak in the center of the claw. That contains the claw’s blood supply. You have to be careful when clipping your
cat’s claws. If you cut the quick, it’s
painful to the cat and it bleeds generously.
But the biggest
difference between our nails and their claws is that the claws are
retractable. When not in use, the claws
are held in place by tight, elastic ligaments.
When she needs to use her claws, to climb up your leg for instance, she
employs a muscle (if you’re taking notes, it’s the deep digital flexor) that
defeats the ligament, keeping the claw retracted. When you gingerly remove her
from your leg, she relaxes the muscle and the claws retract.
Medical problems
with the claws aren’t too common, but they can happen and often involve
bacterial, viral and fungal infections or injury. One of the most obvious signs of a problem is
if the cat starts limping.
A little more
subtle symptom is when the cat constantly licks her paw. That’s easy to ignore because licking the paw
is such a routine part of grooming. You
might note if the cat pays particular attention to a certain digit or if the
licking is uncharacteristically frequent.
While the cat
usually maintains the claws, owners sometimes have to clip them. I’ll bet a tech at your vet’s office will
teach you. When you can hear them
clicking on a bare floor, it’s time for a manicure…or is it a pedicure?
Bob Bamberg has been in the pet supply industry for more than a quarter century, including owning his own feed and grain store in Southeastern Massachusetts, USA. He writes a weekly newspaper column on pet health, nutrition and behaviour and his articles appear on Niume.com and HubPages.com
Bob Bamberg has been in the pet supply industry for more than a quarter century, including owning his own feed and grain store in Southeastern Massachusetts, USA. He writes a weekly newspaper column on pet health, nutrition and behaviour and his articles appear on Niume.com and HubPages.com
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