cat anatomy

Author: Laura McKinney
Date Of Creation: 8 August 2021
Update Date: 13 November 2024
Anonim
Understanding Cat Anatomy - Lovely Animal
Video: Understanding Cat Anatomy - Lovely Animal

Content

THE cat anatomy includes the feline's internal and organizational structure. Do you want to know your bones, muscles, organs and senses? In this PeritoAnimal article, we will offer you a broad perspective on the most outstanding characteristics of these animals. Those that make it possible to identify them, without a doubt, as athletic animals, agile and, let us not forget, predators.

Cat lovers will have, below, basic information that will allow them to discover the fundamental aspects of the constitution and functioning of the cat. feline organism. That way, it will be easier to understand both their behavior and the diseases that affect them.

General characteristics of the cat's anatomy

The cat is an animal mammal, which implies that it has mammary glands with which the females, after giving birth, will feed the new kittens. Also, it is a carnivorous animal. In the following sections, we'll discuss the basic characteristics of each of your body's systems.


Cats skin and fur

Let's start talking about the cat's anatomy with fur and coat as they play important roles. One of them is protection against adverse weather conditions. They also play an important role in maintaining the feline's body temperature. cats are animals homeotherms, which means that they are able to maintain a constant body temperature, in this case, between 38 and 38.5°C.

In addition, fur is also very important for cats' language and communication. For example, a cat with bristly fur is letting you know that it is angry. Others by modified play tactile functions, like mustaches and eyebrows, as we will see.

Finally, we highlight in this section the role of claws, which the cat can keep retracted or, if necessary, exposed. This ability allows the claws to remain sharp, unlike the case of dogs, which by having the claws always exposed, wear them out when coming in contact with surfaces. A cat's claws should never be removed.


the cat skeleton

As for the cat's anatomy in relation to bones, the skull stands out, in which only the lower jaw is mobile. THE spine it is composed, from top to bottom, by seven cervical vertebrae, thirteen thoracic, seven lumbar, three sacral and about twenty caudal vertebrae. Intervertebral discs are responsible for ensuring the much-celebrated flexibility of the feline skeleton. Thirteen pairs of ribs are attached to the thoracic vertebrae. If you ask yourself how many bones a cat has, the answer is that there is no fixed number, but the average is 244 bones.


When walking, cats lean on their fingertips. They have five toes on their front legs and four on their hind legs. The hind limbs are capable of giving large thrusts when bent into a Z-shape. skeletal musculatureis very powerful, especially the one found in the extremities, which also gives speed to the animal.

Cat's Anatomy of the Digestive Tract

The cat's anatomy in relation to its digestive system starts in the oral cavity, where food begins to be processed for digestion. Cats' teeth formally differ according to their intended function. In addition, cats, like humans, have a double set of teeth, ie, the baby teeth and the perms.

Kittens are born without teeth. Baby teeth appear at about 2-3 weeks old and fall out at approximately six months to be replaced by permanent teeth. The tusks stand out for being adapted for hunting. Cat teeth consist of 12 incisors, 4 tusks, 8-10 premolars and 4 molars.

The tongue of cats is characterized by being very rough, serving for food and also for the cleaning. Due to their grooming habits, cats can form and expel fur balls. After the mouth, the pharynx and esophagus lead to the stomach and intestines, where nutrients are absorbed and unusable substances are directed to the rectum for expulsion.

Anatomy of the cat's cardiorespiratory system

The lungs are responsible for gas exchange with the outside, that is, for breathing, through the movements of inspiration and expiration.

O heart, divided into two atria and two ventricles, distributes blood throughout the body. Arterial blood is what comes out of the lungs and is therefore oxygenated. The venous, on the other hand, contains the residual substances from the various organs of the cat.To find out where a cat's heart is, you can lay it on its right side and place your hand on its chest, where its upper limb ends.

Anatomy of the cat of the urogenital system

This part of the cat's anatomy is very important as these cats often suffer from urinary problems and, very often, kidney problems. The kidneys are the organs responsible for filter the blood and eliminate toxic substances by urine.

On the other hand, the cat has two testicles in the scrotum, to ensure the proper temperature for the formation of its sperm. The uterus of females is bicornuate and they are seasonal polyestric, which implies that they are in heat for most of the year.

cat senses

To finish this article about the cat anatomy It is important to talk about the senses of cats, they are:

  • Vision: how is a cat's vision? A cat's pupil can dilate and contract depending on the light it receives. Thus, it may be occupying almost the entire eye or, conversely, it may be reduced to a hairline. Cats have a third eyelid, also called the nictitating membrane, which helps protect their eyes. Vision is adapted to hunting at night, but that doesn't mean the cat can see in the dark.
  • Hearing: the pinna picks up sounds that will pass to the middle and inner ear. These pavilions can move to go towards the source of the sound. Cats have a good ear.
  • taste: The cat's taste buds don't seem to be able to appreciate the sweet taste, instead they identify and like the salty one.
  • Smell: Cats have this highly developed sense. It serves for hunting, but also for communication, because cats use the pheromones to communicate. At birth, the sense of smell is very developed and the puppy is guided by it to find the mother's breast and thus start to feed. In addition to the nose, cats can sniff by opening their mouth and using the Jacobson's organ.
  • tact: cats have, throughout their bodies, different receptors that serve to perceive contacts with the outside world. These are especially important when they need to move around in the dark. The eyebrows and mustaches stand out.
  • Balance: The mechanisms that maintain balance are well developed in cats. That's why they don't get dizzy and fall on their feet most of the time, in addition to being able to climb with agility from a very young age. Even so, you should not neglect safety measures, as the cat can fall through a window and suffer dire consequences.