HELP!! KITTEN'S WHISKERS CUT OFF
LISA D. KERBO
Hello again everyone! Haven't had much time to read/post the last couple
of weeks, but today I need your HELP! We are in the process of finding
homes for all our beautiful kittens. Oliver is black w/a white stripe
down his nose, w/white whiskers. My three year old butthead of a son,
Nicholas, was supposed to be cutting construction paper with his scissors
last night. I swear, I only took my eyes off him for a second, and next
thing I know, OLIVER is sporting a new whisker do. He cut them short,
(all of them!) on both sides. Ollie-boy seems no worse for wear, but is
this going to affect his balance and equilibrium? I can't very well give
him away yet, with him looking this way? If we keep him very much longer
we won't be able to part with him at all, and since we are keeping
WinkypDink, that's already 10 cats, and that's enough! At least my
little demon cut them off evenly. I made the Nickmeister go night-night
after we said prayers telling God we were sorry about Oliver's whiskers
an he tearfully apologized to the kitten, then me and my parents silently
laughed until we nearly cried. We couldn't help it. But my question is,
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR WHISKERS TO GROW? SHOULD WE GO AHEAD AND FIND
A HOME FOR HIM NOW, IF ANYONE DIGS HIS ALTERNATIVE LOOK, OR WAIT TILL
THEY'VE GROWN OUT A BIT? I thought about giving Nicholas away instead,
but I guess that isn't really an option, huh? Well, everyone give me
their thoughts on this whisker situation, if you don't mind. Thanks, and
if you have kids, keep an eye on your kitties! Nicholas is grounded from
scissors until he's 18!
Lisa 'Turbo'Kerbo
Kimberly Davis
I often work by candlelight at night because the light disturbs my
sleeping fiance and the candle dispels the smell of cigarettes being
smoked outside my window (Thank God we're moving Thursday!!). Well when
Tati was a wee kitten she got a little too interested in the flickering
light of the candle and in the thirty seconds I was turned away burned the
whiskers off one side of her face. She didn't catch on fire, they just
sort of melted and shriveled up like a piece of plastic. Poor baby! The
whiskers left behind were all curled up on one side of her face. She
looked like I'd given her a cut and perm! But it didn't seem to disturb
her balance at all and they grew back relatively quickly.
I think as long as Oliver is an inside kitten he should be OK. He'll need
his whiskers for defense and exploration if he's outside, but in a home he
should be okay.
Kimberly and Tatiana (who curled her whiskers on purpose! Momma does it
every morning!)
Raiders46
A cat's whiskers take about 2 months to grow back. This will not effect
their equilibrium or balance, but they do use their whiskers to navigate -
it's kind of an addition to their sense of touch. Anyway, the kitten
might look a little funny, but there's no harm in finding him a good home
before his whiskers grow back. In fact, perspective owners would probably
be amused by the story of how he lost his whiskers in the first place!
Karen
The Cat Burglar
In article <kkitten-1308...@libsta113.acns.nwu.edu> kki...@nwu.edu (Kimberly Davis) writes:
>I often work by candlelight at night because the light disturbs my
>sleeping fiance and the candle dispels the smell of cigarettes being
>smoked outside my window (Thank God we're moving Thursday!!). Well when
>Tati was a wee kitten she got a little too interested in the flickering
>light of the candle and in the thirty seconds I was turned away burned the
>whiskers off one side of her face. She didn't catch on fire, they just
>sort of melted and shriveled up like a piece of plastic. Poor baby! The
>whiskers left behind were all curled up on one side of her face. She
>looked like I'd given her a cut and perm! But it didn't seem to disturb
>her balance at all and they grew back relatively quickly.
>
>
>every morning!)
Just last night Dal discoved fire also! I had a candle burning on the
coffee table & he wanted to see what it was... I kept a CLOSE eye on him
the whole time, as I didn't want him to get hurt! He singed his "eyebrow
whiskers" on one side like you described (melted & curled). At that
point he learned (or seemed to) the power of fire & wouldn't go near the
candle (but watched it from a distance). He did spend the next half hour
or so trying to see his singed eyebrow, though! :) (I tried not to
laugh at him, really!! ;) )
-Kris
(owned by Fizzy & Dal)
Katie with an E
Fortunately, whiskers grow back...but I don't think there's any reason to
wait to find him a home. Just tell people he's a punker, I wouldn't go so
far as to pierce his ear tho...
gl...@ov.com
Go ahead and find a new home for Ollie-boy. It's not unusual for a littermate
to chew off the whiskers and the whiskers always grow back. It does take several
weeks to a few months for all of the whiskers to be replaced, but this is no
reason to delay giving him a new home.
Cat-rina: "NF" Bd+W G+Y 7 X W+ C-- I++ T+ V+ F- P+ B- PA- PL-
Tabby-tha: "MC" (B+G)t+W H+Y 2 X C+ I+++ T+/--- A+ E+ S+ V++ Q+ B- PA+ PL++
guest cats:
Penelope: DS B+W G .5 X C+ I+++ T++ A++ E+ H S+ V+ F- Q+ P PL+
Jimmy: DS (Bd+W)t G .3 Y++ C+ I+++ T++ A++ E++ H V++ F- Q+ PA- PL-
David A Thomas
LISA D. KERBO (SL...@msg.ti.com) wrote:
> ...My three year old butthead of a son,
> last night. I swear, I only took my eyes off him for a second, and next
> thing I know, OLIVER is sporting a new whisker do. He cut them short,
> (all of them!) on both sides. Ollie-boy seems no worse for wear, but is
> this going to affect his balance and equilibrium?
Not much. Cats, like most (all?) mammals, rely on their middle ear for
equilibrium. Whiskers don't enter into it, in spite of folktales to the
contrary.
> ...
> HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR WHISKERS TO GROW? SHOULD WE GO AHEAD AND FIND
> A HOME FOR HIM NOW, IF ANYONE DIGS HIS ALTERNATIVE LOOK, OR WAIT TILL
> THEY'VE GROWN OUT A BIT?
Well, it'll probably be about four months before they look relatively
normal. Best to keep looking for a home for him while he's little.
Just tell 'em what happened--they'll probably be amused.
> I thought about giving Nicholas away instead, but I guess that isn't
> really an option, huh?
You're even less likely to find any takers.
--
David Thomas (da...@micro.ti.com)
Texas Instruments, Houston (713)-274-2347
Warren Coffin
In article <321092...@msg.ti.com>, SL...@msg.ti.com
says...
换 My three year old butthead of a son,
换Nicholas, was supposed to be cutting construction
paper with his scissors
换last night. I swear, I only took my eyes off him for
a second, and next
换thing I know, OLIVER is sporting a new whisker do.
He cut them short,
换(all of them!) on both sides....my question is,
换HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR WHISKERS TO GROW?
We had a similar experience with an adult cat (8 y.o.)
and it took almost two months before the tonsorial
operation was no longer noticable.
mrg...@htp.net
Your cats throat was cut by your child ?????
Great parent-
Smart kid-
Wiskers grow back in 2 or 3 months. This IS fairly serious (especially for
outdoor cats) as cats rely on wiskers for many spacial & orientational
sensory inputs.
Mike-
>
>i heard they didn't grow back??
>our old cats, calvin and hobbes used to play-fight lots, and somehow it
>was hobbes that ended up breaking off his wiskers.. they were much
>shorter, and never seemed to come back... calvin and hobbes were three
>years old..
>
>REG
Susan Carroll-Clark
Greetings!
Cat whiskers DO come back. Our silly orange cat got too close to a
lit candle once, and singed one halfway off. While it doesn't taper
as nicely as the others now, it's definitely grown back. Cats also
"blow whiskers"--we find one laying on the floor or bed occasionally,
and get to figure out whose it is. Half of them seem to be Caelin's,
and since she has the same long, beautiful whiskers she always has
had, they must be replacing themselves.
Cheers!
Susan Carroll-Clark
scl...@chass.utoronto.ca