missing whiskers...

by Heather Nelson
(Seattle, Wa)

Hi,

My sister just inherited a 3 year old female cat. I do not know if she is spayed. If she's not, my sister will make sure that it happens. Anyway, she has had this cat for less than 24 hours, and she noticed that she's missing whiskers on one side of her face. Since cats use whiskers to navagate, she's worried that they won't grow back, and she'll have problems. I told her cats are very adaptable, but that I would try and find some information for her. Will they grow back? I know it's hard to determine, not knowing how she lost them in the first place. Maybe you can shed some light on that too...how would a cat lose all the whiskers on one side?

Thanks,
Heather

Answer by kate
I must admit to not having thought about if cats whiskers grow back or not. i would assume that they would as they are just another type of hair. I know my own cat burn some of her whiskers off sniffing a candle (silly girl) and they seem to be back now. So as long as the hair folical is still Ok I would imagine that in time they will come back.

I wouldn't like to guess how they lost them, apart from some horrible person plucking them out ( I am afraid I have heard of this happening before). Perhaps they got them caught in some thing and pulled them out escaping, who knows.

All i would say is when the cats is taken to the vets They may be able to shed some more light on the issue.

Best wishes kate

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