Has your cat lost their whiskers? Are you wondering how long it takes for a cat’s whiskers to grow back? Well, we are going to try and answer all of the most burning questions that you have right here on this page.
If your cat has lost his or hers whiskers, you don’t need to worry, they’re not gone forever. You can expect it to take at least 3-months for them to grow back. However, older cats may find that the whisker growth will take a little bit longer.
This isn’t all that you need to know, though. We want to give you a bit of a detailed answer on how long everything will take. However, we also want to go into a bit more information about cat whiskers and whether losing them is going to cause any sort of pain or long-term issues.
How Long Does It Take For A Cat’s Whiskers To Grow Back?
It depends on the age of the cat. If you have a younger cat, then their whiskers will probably grow back within 2-3 months. It may take up to four months, at a push.
As your cat gets older, the speed that its whiskers grow back will slow down. In fact, in the older cats, the whiskers may not grow back at all. This is just going to be natural hair loss and every mammal is going to go through it. In an older cat, you can expect most whiskers to grow back within 6-7 months, although some may take a little bit longer.
It is likely that there are some breeds that may have slightly slower regrowth of their whiskers. However, the variance in whisker growth speed will probably not be that high. Maybe a month or two there. Since there are dozens upon dozens of cat breeds, it would make no sense in us listing them all here. However, if you notice that your cat’s whiskers are growing a little bit too slow, then you may want to look up their breed to see whether this is a common complaint with that cat.
Can You Speed Up The Regrowth Of A Cat’s Whiskers?
Unfortunately there is no way to speed up the regrowth of your cats whiskers. However, you can give your cat a decent diet to encourage a cat’s whiskers to grow back, but hair can only grow so fast, sadly.
There are some people that have suggested that you feed your cat a high protein diet to encourage the growth of their hair. However, we don’t recommend this. If you are giving your cat something other than their normal diet, then they will suffer from nutritional deficiencies. This is probably going to end up causing far, far more problems than losing their whiskers ever would.
What Impact Will No Whiskers Have On A Cat?
Whiskers on a cat are there for a reason. They aren’t just a fancy piece of hair.
At the end of a cat’s whiskers will have a sensor. This sensor can send all sorts of signals to the brain of the cat. Basically, cats will be using the whiskers to get a sense of the environment that they are in. They will often use the whiskers for navigating around in the dark (so they don’t end up walking into walls), but the whiskers will also be used during their daytime activities too.
If your cat loses all of its whiskers, then it may have a bit of anxiety moving around. This is because they have essentially lost one of their senses. It is as if we humans somehow lost our sense of touch. We would be terrified too.
Thankfully, if a cat does lose its whiskers naturally, then it will probably only be losing a whisker or two at a time. This means that there is not going to be any adverse impact on the cat.
Will a Cat’s Whiskers Grow Back Damaged?
Yes. Well, sometimes. If there is no damage to the hair follicle that the whisker is growing from then they should be fine. However, if there is any damage, then the whisker may grow back slightly damaged. In rare cases, there may be no growth at all.
There isn’t much that you can do about this. You just have to hope that the cat’s body is able to fix itself. This may not happen. Thankfully, it is incredibly rare that it will happen to all of your cat’s whiskers,. so you shouldn’t really expect any long-term adverse effects on your cat.
Is It Safe to Trim a Cat’s Whiskers?
No. It is not safe at all. Do not touch your cat’s whiskers.
If you trim your cat’s whiskers, then you will be causing them discomfort. It may also make it difficult for them to get around your home. Because you are effectively cutting off one of their senses, they may even become a little bit wary of you.
If you touch your cat’s whiskers, it will send a signal to their brain that essentially says to them “danger, you have collided with something”, so expect them to jump away from you. We have yet to find a cat that actually enjoys having its whiskers touched.
What Can Cause a Cat to Lose Their Whiskers?
There are a lot of situations where a cat can lose their whiskers.
Truth be told, a lot of cats end up losing their whiskers due to grooming gone wrong. If you are cutting the fur around their face, then it is common to slip and cut a whisker or two off. Some people have had children pull the cat’s whiskers off too.
In other cases, it may be because the cat was injured during playtime. For example, if they accidentally ran into something a little bit too hard and one of their whiskers ended up getting caught.
If your cat fights with another cat, then there is also a strong chance that they could end up losing their whiskers. They are pretty delicate, after all.
Whiskers, as with most hair, can also naturally fall out. It is rare that all of the whiskers are going to fall out at the same time, though. If it does, then this is not a natural shedding of the hair. It indicates that there could be a serious problem with your cat. This, incidentally, leads us onto the final part of this section.
In rare cases, a cat’s whiskers can just fall off without any cause to it. Some people say that this may be down to issues with their diet. However, that is incredibly rare. Your cat would have to be suffering from serious nutritional deficiencies if they are losing their whiskers. However, if your cat is losing their whiskers fairly regularly for no reason, then it is still work taking a trip to the vet. That way you can see if there is anything that you should be worrying about.
Do Older Cats Have Fewer Whiskers?
As a cat gets older, it will start to have fewer whiskers. This is just a natural progression of age. It is pretty much the same as you or I losing our hair as we get older.
This will probably be a gradual process that you never even notice. This is not really something that is going to be impacting your cat all that much. This is probably an evolutionary thing. As your cat gets older, chances are that they will not be moving about quite so much. This means that they do not actually need to have a need for all of those whiskers.
You probably only need to be concerned if your cat ends up with no whiskers and there seems to be no sign of them growing back. This does, sadly, indicate that there is a problem with the cat.
FAQ
Does it hurt for a cat to lose their whiskers?
If they fall out naturally, then no. However, if the cat’s whiskers are pulled off of their face, or you accidentally cut them off with some scissors, then it can cause a bit of discomfort to the cat. However, this pain probably isn’t going to be that long-lasting.
What if my cat’s whiskers don’t grow back?
The chances of this are slim. However, if you have a cat and their whiskers don’t grow back within 5-months and there seems to be no sign that they are going to be growing back, then you should head to the vet just to be double sure that there are not any issues.
Is it natural for a cat’s whiskers to fall out?
Cat whiskers are hair. As with most hairs, you can expect them to fall out on occasion. However, if it is something that seems to be happening frequently, then you will probably want to work out what is causing it.
How Long Does it Take for a Cat’s Whiskers to Grow Back Final Thoughts
If a cat loses its whiskers, then it will eventually grow back. This is assuming that the hair follicle has not become damaged. Don’t expect it to be a quick process, though. Even in young cats, you can still expect the process to be at least 2-3-months.
Have you ever noticed that your cat has lost his or hers whiskers? Did it worry you? Let us know in the comments below and as always feel free to checkout or latest cat articles