Social-media pours out harmful videos. This time a such “trend” came before our eyes which may cause serious pain to the cat.

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We have already written many times about how cautiously everything that we see on the internet must be handled: in the age of artificial intelligence AI-created videos are being made in ever greater numbers, which appear real right up to deception, and owners themselves also produce dangerous, bad-example-setting content. This time we would like to call attention to one such case, explaining why the “innocent”-seeming movement may be enormously painful.

Owners Often Fall into the Trap of Social-Media

As you may see in the recording below, the owner plucks their favourite’s whiskers to the rhythm of the music, as if they were playing on a guitar. Already the animal’s facial expression reveals how unpleasant the situation is for them, but if a person has some knowledge about cats, they immediately hiss in.

The Whisker Is a Sensitive Sensory Organ for the Cat

The whiskers, that is, the vibrissae, are indeed extremely sensitive: they are thicker, and are embedded deeper into the skin than the other hairs, and their function is the gathering of information from the environment.

It is an interesting fact that in the case of an average size kitty the whiskers are just as long as the width of their body, thanks to which with the help of the vibrissae they are able to assess whether they fit into a given place, or whether they can get through for example between two fence bars. (This is also why it is essential that your favourite should not become overweight; otherwise they lose this truly useful ability.)

Whisker stress, or whisker fatigue is also connected with the sensitivity of these special hairs: some kitties poorly tolerate it if during eating or drinking the end of their whiskers touches the bowl.

So disturbing and unpleasant may this be for them that they may even suspend eating and drinking.

As it also becomes clear from these, the whisker is extremely sensitive. Touching it is not recommended at all, and to fiddle with them, to “pluck” them in this way is all the more forbidden!

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