The Best Cat Parts

These are my Top Five Cat Parts.

Paws

Cat paws are one of life's awesome things, not just because they are fluffy and squishy and a bit sort of silly and blobby, but also because they can transform into terrible weapons at the flick of a claw.

Their general appeal is perhaps best summarised by point 5 in this list.

It is no small accomplishment.

A cool thing about Tail's paws is that the pads are two-tone (well, she has always been precocious).

Also of note is the fact that paw pads are usually the same colour as a cat's nose. Felines are masters of interior design.

This does not mean they have any inbuilt respect for sofas or wallpaper.

Tails

A cat's range of tail signals is far more advanced than that of a dog.

Of course, in Mouth's case, you have to bear in mind that his tail is probably just where he left it.

If you see Tail waving her tail around, it's likely she's simply trying to download the latest series of The Big Bang Theory.

Whiskery bits

I don't actually know what these bits are called. Cheeks? Jowls? Lips?

What about philtrums? Do cats have philtrums?

Mouth's approach to whisker-growing is notoriously haphazard. Unlike other cats, whose whiskers tend to be uniform in colour, Mouth's are an array of colours, patterns and lengths.

Perhaps it is his own special way of being expressive.

Whenever my boyfriend and I find a discarded whisker on the floor, we 'plant' it in the rug. We pretend it will grow into a cat tree.

Mouth and Tail enjoy this game and delight in nibbling the whiskery sapling.

Good thing really - we couldn't cope with all those new-seeded kittens.

Feet

Something that has always entertained me about Mouth is that he has no tabby pattern on the back of his lower legs.

It's as if the Cat Design Factory were working to a tight budget when they drew up his blueprint. I imagine the conversation going:

"It's bad news, boss. With this month's cuts we can't afford to finish the tabby spray on this one."
"Ah, just leave out the hard-to-see bits. Nobody'll notice."

Mouth does not care, because he doesn't look under his feet. He has no subtlety and is all about the obvious.

However, he has an amusing habit of lifting his legs in the air to clean his bottom and then forgetting and leaving them up there, so we get a good view of them pretty often.

Ears

Cat ears are GREAT. They are like owl ears. They swivel about like furry antennae.

If you are ever bored and in the company of a cat, you can do a lot of fun things with its ears. You can make them pointy or flat or backwards-facing.

I reckon ear-spotting could become a legitimate hobby. They are infinitely more interesting than birds or trains.