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The mouth of an adult cat comprises of 15 teeth. Majority of them are tiny. Compared to the other teeth, the canines are the biggest in terms of size, edge and length. Cats catch and grasp their food with these fangs. They use canines to shred their prey into pieces.

Cats possess extremely specialized teeth used for shredding of meat. The first premolar and molar comprise the carnassials pair, present on both the sides of the cat’s mouth. This pair functions effectively to tear meat and thus acts as scissor. Canids also possess them, but they are highly evolved in felines. In addition, papillae or razor sharp spines are present on its tongue. These spines are beneficial for retaining and tearing the flesh of a prey. The tiny keratin having backward facing hooks also help in the grooming of a cat.

A cat uses different types of phonations for communication, because of its oral mouth structure.

Ears:

A cat can direct its hearing since it possesses single muscles in both the ears. The movements of both the ears are independent of each other. Most cats possess straight ears directed upwards. Some cats also have folded ears called Scottish Folds. Other cats have curled ears that resemble the Highlanders. Such ears are due to genetic mutation.

Cats use ears as a source of expression when they are scared or angry. They lay their ears back accompanied by hissing or growling voices. This is regarded as a caution from the cat. At times, when cats are playing, they turn their ears back to hear something behind them. One can effectively interpret a cat’s mood by observing its ears.

Legs:

Cats walk on their toes directly and hence are digitigrades. Each hind paw of a cat is placed almost accurately in the mark of the comparable forepaw, thus reducing sound and visible tracks. This method of walking is termed as register. Cats are less likely to lose their feet even on bumpy terrain.

Many animals move their legs alternately while walking. Cats on the other hand move both their legs in one direction and vice versa while walking. This manner of walking is similar to camels, giraffes, pacer horses and so on. There are not many reasons available to explain this.

All members belonging to the cat family possess retractable claws. In relaxed state, the retractable claws are covered with skin and fur. In a wild cat, this keeps its claws razor sharp despite continual contact with ground. Sheathing of the claws also enables a cat to follow its prey. The forefoot claws are considerably sharper than the hind feet claws. Cats draw out their claws in self-defense, to eat something, and so on. Sometimes, a cat will willingly extend its claw for nail clipping, thus co-operating with a human.

Many felines possess five claws and five or four claws on their front and rear paw respectively. At times, there is a protrusion called a sixth finger. This is called the carpal pad. It functions as an anti-skidding feature.

In spite of the fact that a cat has an external covering of fur coat which is supposed to keep it warm, the fur coat may provides little protection during the cold winter. Have you ever experienced the coldness during very cold weather even with your winter coat on? If yes, you should be able to understand how freezing cold your cat could feel if you leave it unprotected for some time. This is not something that can be taken lightly as the coldness may leads to hypothermia, and when such medical condition get worst, it can be life threatening.    

It is important for you to be aware where your feline is during very cold winter. If your cat has the habit of answering to the call of nature outdoor, make sure it is back in the house within minutes. Kittens, cats suffering from any illness or cats with thin covering of fur coat should be restricted from getting out of the house. Try using litter box in the house during cold days. Make sure your feline’s fur coat stays dry during this period, and if for whatever reasons it get itself drenched, make sure you dry it immediately even it happened indoor. 

It is the best option to keep your pet indoor during cold days. Make sure it cannot find its way out to the cold world because if it gets too far and the visibility is down to a few meters due to heavy snowing, your pet would stand a high chance of loosing its way home. And if it is out in such freezing environment for too long, the risk of capturing hypothermia will definitely be high.

So what exactly is hypothermia? Well it is a medical condition resulted from extreme coldness which could lead to malfunction of organs in the body. If your cat is exposed to extremely cold temperature, frostbite might occur as its body needs to warm up the important organs by shutting down less important body parts. Observe your cat carefully and if its movement starts to slow down, body begins to shiver and breathing becomes shallower, it most probably suffering from hypothermia. Do what it takes to gently warm your pet up or else, it would eventually pass out and die.

To make your cat warm will be good for it but it is best advice not to do it too quickly like putting directly into warm water. A quick sudden increase in temperature will only do more harm. Warm your feline’s body slowly by covering its body with warm blanket and providing it with warmer environment. You may also use a hairdryer, but make sure you turn the setting to a lower mode and do not get too near to avoid burning its body. Ensure that your cat has really warm up and that you have covered its body with enough protection from cold before you take it out of the house to visit the vet.

You may have ensured that all doors and windows are closed, but cats being cats still stand a chance of getting out of the house. Remember to check out your pet cat frequently and observe its behavior to see if it is shivering from the coldness. If your feline is showing any symptom of being cold, warm its body slowly by using the tips as mentioned. This advice is crucial to the life of your pet.