Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with paw

Maybe she just needs a crazy straw...

nevercalm — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:25:48 -0800

Not really worried, more just curious about my cat and how she's been drinking water...she dips her paw and then licks the water from it, repeatedly. My cat Smudge is a real doll, and like many cats, totally fascinated by water. She's there every time fresh water is poured into the dish, trying to drink out of the jug and then spending some quality time with the bowl. Taking a bath? She's right on the edge of the tub, with that "how do you DO THAT????" look on her face.

As of late, she's developed a strange habit...she seems to exclusively drink by dipping her paw in her water dish and then licking up everything she can get. She then repeats this until, presumably, she's had her fill.

She's done a version of this since she was a kitten, but we always interpreted it as "finding the surface," trying to figure out where the water is in the dish so she didn't submerge her nose. For the past month or so now, she's pretty much only using the paw.

Anyone had a similar experience? She's pretty normal otherwise, so I'm not thinking this is something to worry about....but it's a pretty strange little quirk. Is she just another weird cat, or what?

Why can't Godfrey work the trackpad?

Dr. Wu — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:50:06 -0800

Why, when I drag the fleshy (i.e., not furry) part of my cat's paw across the trackpad on my MacBook, does the cursor not respond? No, seriously.
What is it about the difference between his paw and my finger that makes the cursor move?

No cats have been harmed in the formulation of this question.

Why does my cat's paw have whiskers?

arnicae — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 11:32:33 -0800

Why does my cat have whiskers on his legs? I was stroking my cat last night, and he was letting me touch his paws, which doesn't happen often, and I felt these odd little nubs half-way up his legs.

I found a cat physiology page (albeit one in French), and if you scroll 1/3 of the way down to the illustration of the paw, I'm definitely not talking about the cat's "thumb" (called tubercule de pouce in the illustration). It could be the tubercule carpien, higher and on the right hand side, but my cat doesn't have a formed pad, just something that feels like a growth on each side.

Here's the really wonky thing: he has three honest-to-goodness whiskers growing out of each of the little growths. They are definitely not guard hairs- they are the same thick, glossy texture to his whiskers, and are definitely whiskers. They are about 1.5" long.

I've never seen this on a cat. Can anyone tell me what is going on here?