Are whiskers like eyelashes?

I have noticed that my black cat Simon seems to be losing whiskers fairly often. Do they fall out periodically like eyelashes? I'm sure I notice them because the whiskers are black and show up quite well against my white tile.

Is this something I need to watch? Is there a "normal" rate of loss? I don't think I've ever seen a whisker from my other cat, Max.

I have had several different cats over the years, and all of them occasionally lost a whisker. I'm not sure what the normal rate of loss would be, but if it only happens once in a while, it's nothing to worry about.

I find the odd one now and again, and i kept a couple and stuck them to one of her pictures when she was a kitten

Susan