Clawes

Shed sheaths for claws

Claws on cats may retract and extend.[54] The flesh and hair around the toe pads of the paws
encase the claws when they are in their relaxed, natural configuration. This allows for the quiet
tracking of prey and keeps the claws sharp by preventing wear from contact with the ground.
Generally speaking, the forefeet's claws are sharper than the hindfeet's.[55] Claws on one or
more paws can be freely extended by cats. They can use their extended claws for climbing,
kneading, hunting, and self-defense, as well as for added traction on softer surfaces. When cats
scratch hard surfaces, the outer layer of their claw sheaths sheds.[56]

The front paws of most cats have five claws, whereas the back paws have four. The other claws
are closest to the dewclaw. There is an outgrowth that seems to be a sixth "finger" closer in. The
unique characteristic of the front paws on the inside of the wrists is believed to be an
antiskidding mechanism utilized during jumping, but it serves no purpose during regular
walking. "Polydactyly" refers to the tendency of certain cat breeds to have extra fingers.[57]
There are polydactylous cats in Great Britain and along the northeast coast of North America.
[58]

Accusation
It's a digital kitty. With the foot bones constituting the lowest portion of the visible leg, it walks
on its toes.[59] It has a "pacing" gait, meaning that it moves both legs on one side of its body
before the legs on the other, in contrast to most mammals. It minimizes noise and discernible
prints by positioning each hind paw in close proximity to the corresponding fore paw's track,
thereby registering directly. Additionally, it gives the hind feet secure traction on uneven ground.
Its gait shifts to a "diagonal" gait when it picks up speed, moving its fore and hind legs
simultaneously in a diagonal manner.[60]

Harmony
Thirteen minutes and thirty-seven seconds.13:37
Cat righting reflex comparison in zero gravity and gravitational fields
Cats typically enjoy perching or sitting in high spots. An elevated location can function as a
hidden hunting spot; house cats typically attack their prey by leaping from a perch, such a tree
branch. Another theory is because the cat can better observe its surroundings from a higher
altitude, which enables it to map out its territory. A cat can balance itself and land on its paws
after falling from heights of up to 3 m (9.8 ft).[61]
A cat's remarkable sense of balance and flexibility allow it to automatically twist its body during
a fall from a height and right itself to land on its feet. The cat righting reflex is the name given to
this reaction.[62] When a cat has enough time to recover after a fall, it will always do it in the
same manner, which applies to falls that are 90 cm (3.0 ft) or greater.[63] The "falling cat
problem" refers to research on how cats can get back up after falling.[64]

Jackets
Main article: Genetics of cat coats
The felidae family of cats is capable of producing a wide range of hues and patterns in their
progeny. The range of colors in coats is made possible by the domestic cat genes MC1R and
ASIP. There are three coding exons in the feline ASIP gene.[65] From a domestic cat BAC clone
carrying this gene, three unique microsatellite markers associated with ASIP were extracted and
utilized for linkage analysis in a pedigree of 89 domestic cats that separated for melanism.
[Reference required]

Senses
Article main: Cat's sense of vision

Flash reflection from the tapetum lucidum

A tabby cat that has part of one eye covered by a translucent third eyelid
When a cat blinks, its nictitating membrane is visible.
Cats can see in less than half the light that humans need to see in the daytime, and they have
great night vision.[51]: 43 This is partially due to the tapetum lucidum in cat eyes, which
increases the sensitivity of the eye to low light by reflecting any light that enters the retina back
into the eye.[66] Big pupils are a response to low light. The slit pupils on domestic cats' eyes
enable them to focus intense light without experiencing chromatic distortion.[67] A cat's pupils
dilate to cover the majority of its visible eye surface in dim light.[68] With only two types of
cone cells that are specialized for sensitivity to blue and yellowish green, domestic cats have
relatively weak color vision and limited capacity to discern between red and green.[69] A third
type of cone may be responsible for a system's reaction to middle wavelengths that is different
from that of rod cells. Rather than being an accurate representation of trichromatic vision, this
seems to be an adaptation to low light conditions.[70] Additionally, cats have a nictitating
membrane that lets them blink without impairing their eyesight.
Observing
The 500 Hz to 32 kHz frequency range is where domestic cats' hearing is most sensitive.[71]
Humans can only sense frequencies between 20 Hz and 20 kHz, but it can detect an incredibly
wide spectrum of frequencies from 55 Hz to 79 kHz. Its hearing range is 10.5 octaves, compared
to approximately 9 octaves for people and dogs.[72][73] Its big movable outer ears, the pinnae,
which amplify sounds and aid in noise location detection, increase its sensitivity to sounds. It can
hear ultrasonic sounds generated by rodent prey since it is capable of detecting ultrasound.[74]
[75] According to recent studies, cats' socio-spatial cognitive capacities enable them to map out
their owners' whereabouts in their minds simply by hearing their voices.[76]