My cats whiskers are curling?!?

I don't understand when it happened but the ends of my cat Ray's whiskers are curling up and it looks really horrible. He was near the kitchen this morning and i didn't see anything on him, he is a indoor cat and has not gone out so it couldn't have been anything bad like another cat. Is this serious because it looks really strange and not very natural... Is this a sign of aging? (He is only 6)

Could he have gotten near an open flame or a hot oven door or a bowl of boiling water or something?  Whiskers that were burned or exposed to a very hot surface might very well curl.