VMD 513: Pet animal Breeding, Management, Nutrition and Health Care (1+1)

STRUCTURE, MOVEMENT AND SPECIAL SENSES   [Web link.....]

Paws and claws

• The cat’s feet are digigrade, that it walks on its toes.
• The cat has five claws on the front paws and four claws on the back paws.
• Although these claws are referred to as “retractile”, they are actually “protractile” meaning that the claws are sheathed in the resting state like the nail of dogs.
• Each claw is attached to the final portion on its associated phalange and is controlled by a ligament that connects the middle and distal phalanxes.
• The cat’s claws are sheathed when the ligament is tightened.

   

Movement 

• In addition to the walk, trot, gallop, cat also excel at stalking, jumping, pouncing and climbing.
• They can jump up to 5 feet and are adept climber.
• Another aspect of the cat’s sense of balance is its well known ability to right itself when falling.  

 

Vision

• The cat’s eyes are specialized to detect movement and for maximum efficiency under conditions of dim light.
• Anatomically, the cat has a very large eye relative to body size, and the eyes are set well forward on the head.
• This provides a very wide field of binocular vision of approximately 120 °
• The cat has a much lower density of cones in the retina, tat react to light waves within the green and blue regions of the light spectrum.

    

Olfactory

• Cat has about 200 million scent receptors in the nose, slightly higher than dogs (human posses 5 million)
• Cat posses vomeronasal organ (Jacobson’s organ) fond in the roof of the mouth and is comprises of pair of small fluid filled sacs.
• This organ involved in feline courtship and sexual behaviour and in the ability of an individual to identify and recognize other cats and people.
• The characteristic behaviour “Flehmen” response is also exhibited by cats during courtship.

     

Auditory

• Cat can detect sounds within a very wide range and very high frequencies.
• Human can hear up to 20000 cycles per second, cats can detect sounds as high as 60000 to 80000 cycles per second.

Vibrissae  (web link...)

• Other sensory organs fond o the surface of the cat’s body are the vibrissae (whiskers), which are very thick, long, stiff hair fond on the muzzle and above the eyes.
• Another set of sensitive hairs, called carpal hairs are found on the back of the front wrist.
• Both the vibrissae and the carpal hairs are sensitive to air currents and provide sensory information about the precise position of the head and legs.
• This aids in movement in the dim light. The whiskers also function to protect the face and eyes by conveying information about objects close to the face.