Cats are powerfully muscled animals. These muscles give the cat his grace and ability to jump. Muscles control all movement of the body allowing a cat to perform his day to day functions.
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Cats playing
Types
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A cat has three types of muscles: cardiac, smooth and skeletal. Smooth muscle is located in internal organs such as the stomach. The heart contains the cardiac muscle and skeletal muscles are found attached to the skeleton.
Features
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Smooth muscle is an involuntary muscle that is controlled by the nervous system. Cardiac muscle makes up the heart. Skeletal muscle is also called striated muscle and it is the muscle that is under the cat's control.
Functions
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All muscles bring about movement to the cat's body. Cardiac muscle will move blood throughout the body, smooth muscle will move food through the digestive tract and skeletal muscle allows the cat to move its limbs.
Structure
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A muscle is made up of cells held together with connective tissue. Skeletal muscle attaches to the skeleton using connective tissue tendons. A muscle contraction will pull on the tendon which will, in turn, pull on the bone causing the limb to move. Nerve impulses travel to muscle fibers. When a muscle fiber receives the impulse from the nerve it will contract.
Fun Facts
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The muscles in their hind legs allow cats to leap up to five times their height. The cat's tail contains muscles at the root that combine with tendons and muscles along the length of the tail to allow the cat to move his tail and to use it as a balancing aid.
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