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'Do Cats Always Land on Their Feet?'
Oct. 10, 2006 — -- In two new books, "Why Do Dogs Drink Out of the Toilet" and "Do Cats Always Land on Their Feet?" veterinarian Marty Becker answers some of the most embarrassing questions he's been asked about pets.
October is National Pet Wellness Month. If you want more information about caring for your pet, visit www.petconnection.com.
"Good Morning America" also featured two animals up for adoption -- Toby, a terrier, and Morrissey, a 7-week-old orange tabby cat. Both are available for adoption through the Humane Society of New York.
Read an excerpt from "Do Cats Always Land on Their Feet?" by Marty Becker and Gina Spadafori, below:
Q. What is it about the way cats walk that always makes them look so elegant and smooth?
A. If you've ever carefully watched dogs walk, you may have noticed that they alternate sides when they step. In other words, the front right paw steps forward at the same time the rear left paw does. Then the front left and rear right paws step out. Speed this up and it's known as a trot.
Cats move differently. They step with both left paws, then both right paws. Their natural gait, in other words, is what's known as a pace. (Only camels and giraffes have the same natural gait, although some horses are trained to race using the pace.)
One thing cats and dogs do have in common: They walk on their fingers and toes.
Most cats have five toes on their front paws, but only four of them hit the ground. The fifth toe is called a dewclaw, and is found on the inside of the front paw. The dewclaw is the feline equivalent of our thumb, and it's used for grasping prey and climbing trees. A normal feline back paw, by the way, has four toes that are all called into service when walking.Q. What exactly is a hairball?
A. Cats spend 30 percent of their waking hours grooming themselves -- which seems like a lot, until you consider that they spend 70 percent of their day sleeping. Still, they are very fastidious animals. Their tool of choice is that raspy tongue, which can pull free lots of hair, especially if the cat is longhaired or has a lot of undercoat (the soft, downy hairs that lie close to the skin).
Swallowed hair is indigestible, even for cats, so when it's in a cat's stomach, it has two ways to go: down and out or up and out. When it comes up-to the accompaniment of that middle-of-the-night "ack! ack!" serenade every cat lover knows so well -- it's a hairball.
If you want to impress your friends, the scientific name for that gummy mass you step in on your way to the bathroom at 2 a.m. is trichobezoar. It is made up of the excess hair your cat swallowed, held together with a sticky mucous . . . but you knew that from cleaning it off your bare feet, didn't you?
Hacking up a hairball every now and then is normal and usually doesn't cause problems, but if you see anything else in the mix, take the cat and the hairball (the former in a carrier, the latter in a plastic bag or container) to your veterinarian. Likewise, if your cat is hacking without producing a hairball, the vet is waiting to see you. Chronic coughing can be a symptom of many health problems, from heartworms to heart disease to asthma. Occasionally, hairballs can cause an obstruction that will require veterinary attention.
The easiest and best way to prevent hairballs is to brush your cat frequently. The more dead hair you pull out on your brush, the less she will have to swallow when she grooms. Regular brushing is good for your cat and good for your furniture and rugs.
For cats who seem to have a chronic problem with hairballs, additional fiber in the diet may help. Special hairball-busting diets can be recommended your veterinarian; milder cases may be resolved by adding a little canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling mix) to a cat's wet food.
One caution: While over-the-counter hairball remedies are available, don't let your cat become so dependent on them that you're always giving her hairball remedy. And definitely work with your veterinarian while using them. Overuse of hairball remedies can inhibit your cat's ability to absorb some essential vitamins. That's why it's also a good idea not to give them to your cat just before or after she eats.
The enduring feline mystery we can't help you with: Why do cats always hurl hairballs either on the most expensive fabric or the most well-traveled hallways? The best we can say: If your tummy hurt, wouldn't you want sympathy from a loved one? It also makes for great drama. So go brush your drama queen.
Q. How many bones does a cat have?
A. It depends on the cat. Or, more precisely, on her tail and feet.
A long-tailed Siamese will have more vertebrae than a Manx with no tail, or a Japanese Bobtail with just part of a tail. And a cat with extra toes -- they're called polydactyl -- have extra bones too.
The range is usually between 230 and 250, with the average cat counting about 244 bones -- if cats could or cared to count.
Any way you count it, the average cat has about 30 more bones than we do -- and think about how much bigger we are than cats. No wonder they can lick behind their shoulders and sleep in a perfect circle!
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