Why do they have whiskers?

Answer 1

Cats have whiskers so they know if they can fit in a hole or not

Cats have whiskers to see if they will fit into tight spaces. Their whiskers are as long as their body. However, if a cat is overweight, its whiskers don't grow more, making them more likely to get stuck.

Cats can use their whiskers to help guide themselves, especially at night.

Answer 2

They have whiskers to feel where they are going. They have little sensor like cells at the tip and if they were to squeeze through a crack, they would use it and feel how wide the crack is, determining if it is possible.

Answer 3

Like all cats, big cats and wild cats, each feline has whiskers. Notice that the whiskers are the widest part of the body. When you look at a felines face, you will see that the whiskers are wider and longer than their face. They use their whiskers as a guide. Because they are the widest part of their body, it helps the feline to determine whether or not it is able to go through narrow gaps.

Answer 4

A cat's whiskers are used to sense if a gap the cat is trying to get through is wide enough for him to pass. The catch phrase is, "the width of the whiskers is the width of the cat," but that's not quite accurate; it is better to think that the cat learns how wide he is relative to his whiskers and uses that to avoid places so narrow that he will get caught. If he suddenly loses all his whiskers, he will lose that guide and quite possibly end up trapped because he thought he could go through a gap narrower than he is.

Answer 5

Whiskers are very sensitive to touch or air vibration, and essentially serve as an extra sensory organ.

they also help animals judge space

Answer 6

So they can fit through spaces as it gives them a sense of their size, if their whiskers can fit through a gap - so can they.

Answer 7

They are just like the whiskers next to their nose they just grow above there eyes.

Answer 8

For sight if they are blind. They use them to feel around.

Answer 9

Cats use their whiskers for navigation, mood indication, and to figure if they can squeeze into an opening or not.