Many cat owners like to get close to kittens, but the proud cats refuse to touch humans who have no sense of boundaries and want to touch their hands as soon as they come up.
Why is it so hard to shake hands with cats?
In fact, unlike loyal dogs, humans have never completely domesticated cats.
Like many felines, cats are born to be solitary hunters. Most domestic cats still retain their original wild nature, their hunting and scavenging skills are still sharp, and they can easily survive independently of humans.
Therefore, in the eyes of cats, they are never anyone’s pets. As a solitary predator, it is normal to be somewhat arrogant and aloof.
Especially what you want to touch is their delicate claws. For cats, these four claws are artifacts that have evolved over many years of traveling around the world, and it is reasonable not to let you touch them.
This pair of paw pads is composed of three layers of precision structure, which would make even professional sports shoes feel inferior.
The outermost layer is the epidermal layer. As the part in direct contact with the ground, this layer of sole is made of the toughest material. It is responsible for directly withstanding friction and impact during exercise and has full anti-wear properties.
The second layer, called the dermis, is rich in elastic fibers and collagen fibers and can withstand strong pressure. The dermal papilla, which is composed of matrix tissue, is intertwined with the epidermis to form a honeycomb structure that helps absorb impact during impact. This middle layer is like an air cushion in the sole and has a very good shock absorption effect.
The third layer, called the subcutaneous layer, is composed primarily of fatty tissue and is the most important energy-absorbing layer in the paw pad. As the innermost and softest layer among the three layers, it is equivalent to adding a thick layer of cushion to flat shoes, allowing cats to enjoy the pleasure of “stepping on poop”.
It is precisely because of this set of powerful paw pads that cats can fly over walls and walls with ease, and can jump up to 4.5 times their body length in one leap.
The metacarpal pad in the center of the cat’s front paw and the two outer toe pads bear the main impact force when it lands. The function of the cat’s claws can be much more than these. In addition to the shock absorption function, more importantly, the cat can use them to sense the surrounding environment. environment.
A variety of receptors are densely distributed on the paw pads of cats [5]. These receptors can transmit various stimuli in the environment to the brain, allowing cats to detect various information around them with their claws alone.
Cutaneous sensory feedback from the paw pads plays an important role in regulating body balance, especially on uneven surfaces such as ladders or slopes, where the loss of skin sensation will significantly affect balance control. In actual measurements, when the receptors on one side of the paw pad are numbed by drugs, the cat’s center of gravity will unconsciously shift toward the anesthetized side while walking.
Inside the cat’s claws, there is also a receptor called Pacinian corpuscle, which is sensitive to vibrations of 200-400Hz, giving the cat the ability to detect ground vibrations with its claws.
These receptors receive various information from the environment and cooperate with each other to greatly enhance the cat’s ability to perceive the surrounding environment.
Especially in terms of sensing the speed and direction of movement, the claws have the most obvious increase for cats. It is not an exaggeration to say that they are cats’ extra eyes. After all, the position of the cat’s brain that processes the tactile information of the claws is Located in the same area as the eye that processes visual information.
Not only that, cat claws can also keenly detect differences in temperature, and their sensitivity to temperature is no worse than that of human palms. They can detect temperature differences as small as 1°C. When encountering high temperatures, as the only part of a cat’s body equipped with eccrine sweat glands, the paw pads can also play a role in dissipating heat.
Cats can also remove some heat through evaporation by applying saliva to their hair.
Therefore, this set of artifacts is of great significance to cat people. It can fly over walls and can see all directions. For those who are not familiar with them, the hands of the proud cats are not something you can pull if you want.
In order to get to know the kitten as soon as possible, you can usually open more cans and build a good relationship with the cat. Maybe one day the kitten will allow you to pinch their precious claws.
Post time: Nov-01-2023