The Development of Whiskers on Kittens

Unlike facial hair for teenage boys, cats don't grow whiskers as a cultural right of passage. All cats, male and female, have them; they're born that way. As kittens grow, they lose and regrow whiskers just like adult cats, albeit more sporadically and accelerated at times.

  1. The Whole Kit and Caboodle

    • All kittens have a full set of whiskers. These whiskers are fully functional at birth, unlike their eyes and ears. In addition to the obvious whiskers below your kitten's nose -- of which there are 24, 12 on each side in three rows of four -- cats have similar hairs above their eyes, on their cheeks and on the back of their front legs. These specialized hairs go three times deeper than the rest of a kitten's coat. It's not just cats who have whiskers; almost all mammals have them, too. Kittens, however, are born with poor vision -- even as adults, their close-range vision remains so-so -- which is why whiskers are so important to them.

    Wonderful Whiskers

    • Whiskers aren't just long, stiff hairs; they're sensory organs, too. From the minute a kitten's born, these specialized hairs -- they're called vibrissae, if you want to get technical -- send tactile sensations through a cat's muscular and nervous systems. Your kitten's whiskers can detect everything from a slight breeze to direct touch. They're kind of like antennae, and are especially important when cats are in low lighting or near darkness. Whiskers also allow cats to gauge whether or not they can fit in a given space. That's especially important for kittens as they size up their new surroundings during their first few months of life.

    Growth, Loss and Regrowth

    • When kittens hit the 11-week mark, it's not unusual for them to lose quite a few whiskers. Some even lose all of them at once. Whiskers lost through this natural growth process usually fall out at the root. If one of your kittens has jagged, nubby whiskers, it's likely he's broken them via overzealous play or because of an overzealous playmate. Other kittens and even adult cats sometimes even chew the burgeoning whiskers off of kittens. If your kitten loses his whiskers through natural growth or aggressive play, fear not: They'll regrow naturally without any special effort on your or your cat's part. This growth, loss and regrowth cycle repeats throughout a cat's life, although it's usually slower and more rotational for adults than kittens.

    Other Considerations

    • Never cut your kitten's whiskers. He may look goofy -- maybe even disheveled -- as he loses and regrows whiskers, but he'll be fine. Cutting a cat's whiskers changes his sense of space and can make him disoriented and scared. It won't, however, affect his balance as was commonly thought at one time. In takes an adult cat about two weeks to regrow whiskers, but kittens may regrow them faster. Although many cats' whiskers extend to roughly the width of their bodies, their length isn't necessarily size related. That's why some kittens have whiskers that look abnormally short or long. As they grow up and grow older, a kitten's whisker length tends to standardize, though.