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Cat Paws

While the cat’s paws are strong enough to offer protection while she’s walking on rough terrain there is not much protection from extreme temperatures. A cat’s pad are loaded with touch receptors that allow her to evaluate the texture, location, and liveliness of her prey. She can also very quickly detect how hot or cold a surface is. Cats have glands tucked between their paw pads that secrete oil with a scent only cats can detect. When your cat scratches a surface such as a scratching post, a tree, or your couch, she deposits some of her scent. The pigment that colours your cat’s fur is also the colour of her skin and so the cat’s paws are most likely to be the same colour as her fur. Your cat is a digitigrade walker, which means that instead of walking on her heels and the balls of the feet like we do, she walks on the balls of the feet and the fingertips only. The small size of her paws and the softness of her pads make it easy for her to move silently.

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