The Anatomy of the Cat

It describes the cats as "carnivorous hunters ", a function for that they are perfectly adapted; there are very few anatomical differences between a family cat and a lion that strolls around the plains of the Serengueti. The selective baby of domestic cats has originated some differences from the Siamese of short, long and slender hair, to the robust American of short hair, passing for the Persian of long, long and massive hair- but there is too much less differences in the type and size of the breeds of cats those who are seen between the domestic dogs. Most of the cats weigh between 2.5 and 5.5 kg.

The cats have an extraordinarily flexible skeleton that gives them force, breed and an athletic capacity of the first order. The dorsal spine – too much flexible-allows a wide scale of movements; indeed, the cats walk on tiptoe, lengthening effectively his members.

Besides, the clavicle (the bone of the neck) is a small piece of cartilage, which allows the scapula to move it with the rest of the front leg, increasing this way the length of the step. This, together with the back members and the pelvis-with much muscles- allows to the cat to reach a great velocity in short distances (up to 30 km per hour), as well as to jump on his prey with very long jumps. The tail is the "fifth member" of the cat and helps him to support the balance, besides indicating of what humor the feline is.

Cats have little resistance and almost always they prefer preserving his energies, rarely they strain to the maximum. They have thin bones; only a small blow can produce fractures.

The coordination of the cat depends on his haughty sense of the balance, stimulated his nervous system. A cat is almost never wrong on having jumped and to move and, if he does it, the normal thing is that he could fall down on foot.

Q/A My cat, Tiger, has six fingers in every front hoof, is it normal?

No. Most of the cats have five fingers in the front hoofs, (including a false finger) and four in the backs. However, there are many cats that have more fingers, six in the front legs and five in the backs; they are polidáctilos. This is an advantage to hunt, to climb and to defend himself. Sometimes, it is necessary to cut the nails, in order that they do not grow too much.

My cat, Marcopolo fell down from the window of the fourth floor and he did not damage himself; the neighbors' cat fell down from the sixth one and killed itself. How can there be so much difference in only two floors?

The veterinarians call to this phenomenon the "Height Syndrome ". The reflexes of the cat to straighten up, that allow him to land on the legs, avoid the damages to minor heights. But, from a fifth floor up, he cannot absorb the force of the impact. The curious thing is that a cat that falls down of a high height (more than 10 floors, with many frequency does not suffer serious wounds. This occurs, when the cat has straightened up, he continues in the same position, with the extended members and the high head. The muscles relax and the widespread members do that stops his fall, diminish the fall when finally hits the floor.