no whiskers

hi,
i was just wondering what happens to a kitten without whiskers and will it have any long-term effects? (my cousin cut them off. he's stupid). Also, how long does it take for them to grow back? I don't know if this is the right forum to put this in, but please move it if necessary.
Thank you.

They grow back, it doesn't take long.
I did it once myself as a kid, got one of the worst beatings for doing it too

I've never heard of any long term effects,
The only short term effects I know of are funny looking cat face and sometimes they stumble a bit.

I hate to say this, but when we adopted Abby (my mother's dog) her whiskers had been burnt off. She's a sweetheart but to this day she is cautious when a new person touches her whiskers. I don't think it will effect all animals long term, but some. Abby's also grew back quicky. They say that they can have some balance problems and things from cutting them. Like they will have a more difficult time judging whether or not they can fit in an area.

Sturgis pulls the other cats whisker out if they let him. I often send foster kittens to their new homes with no whiskers. He just starts cleaning their head then will grab a whisker and pull, then lick some more, the process continues till someone stops it (me or the other cat). I never seen any long term effects from it, though Milo's are still growing back even though he is almost double Sturgis's weight.

They will come back in a few weeks. But maybe you might check that there are no holes he can get into - as cats use their whiskers to judge widths, he might get stuck somewhere.

They'll grow back. Plus the kitten is young and they tend to be a little more adaptable than an adult.

My dad's dog regularly sticks his nose near the burn pile in the backyard (after the fire has long since gone out) and singes his whiskers off. Never burns himself, but he always has tiny little curled whiskers. His balance hasn't been affected at all.

i cut mine off as a lil kid too, they grow back no worries!

Originally Posted by ilovejoelyo

i cut mine off as a lil kid too, they grow back no worries!

Click to expand...

So did my brother. He learned the hard way to be kind to animals and never forgot the lesson. Salty's wiskers grew back too.

You know, it's amazing for being cat-lovers how many of us cut the whiskers off the cat as a kid! Put me in that group as well . And yes, they will grow back in a few weeks.

Cindy
Mom to Narsil, Mithril and Kellie da Peke

Sheeba chews off Piku's whiskers all the time when she's grooming him. He's perpetually walking around the apartment with whiskers on only one side of his face, no whiskers at all, or a few really short ones. Having never seen the poor boy with a full set of long whiskers, I'd say he does quite well without them.

Most Devons dont have whiskers and they cope fine.