Shandong Vlink Pet Products Co., Ltée
Have you ever been scratched by your family cat with its seemingly petite but surprisingly strong claws? Have you ever been curious about how cats are always eager to scratch all kinds of objects? Chats’ claws are not only flexible and small, but also powerful, which implies their unique physiological structure and instinctive behavior.
A cat’s claws are some of nature’s finest bioengineering. The sheath-like structure of the claws keeps them sharp at all times, like a samurai’s sword hidden in its sheath. The tips of the claws are covered with a cuticle made of keratin, a substance homologous to human nails but denser, which allows cats to leave 1-millimeter-deep indentations in tree trunks. The dense network of capillaries within the paw pads not only provides cushioning, but also acts as a natural pressure sensor, helping the cat to accurately judge the point of impact when climbing.
Wild clouded leopards can vertically climb eucalyptus trees up to 20 meters high with the help of such a powerful tool, and domestic cats retain the same proportional strength configuration despite their reduced size. The paw pads can withstand 3 kilograms of pressure per square centimeter, which is six times the force exerted by human fingers. When a cat leaps from a height of 2 meters, the instantaneous friction between the sharp claws and the ground is enough to counteract the impact of 40 times its body weight.
Scratching behavior is much more than just physical claw grinding. The pheromone glands between the cat’s flesh pads secrete a distinctive odor when scratching, and these chemical codes dissipate quietly in the human nasal cavity, but convey a wealth of information among their own kind: territorial boundaries, estrus status, and individual identity. Fabric sofas tend to withstand 2-3 times more scratching than cat scratching boards because the fluffy material is more likely to retain odor molecules.
Behaviorists have found a clear correspondence between cat scratching frequency and mood. Scratching increases by more than 50% when stress levels are elevated, and more often chooses locations near doors and windows. Peak scratching in the morning and evening hours is associated with residual biological clocks from hunting in the wild. Scratching behaviors that are interpreted as “petting” by the owner are in fact marking behaviors that include humans in the “pack”.
The 37-million-year-old fossil of the Beginning Cat already shows the beginnings of modern feline claw structures. In the era of saber-toothed tigers, curved claws up to 20 centimeters long were a deadly weapon for hunting mammoths. With the disappearance of large prey, feline claws began to evolve towards multi-functionality: the African caracal used its sharp claws to excavate rodent burrows, the fishing cat’s specialized webbing between its claws helped catch swimming fish, and the snow leopard’s wide paw pads became natural snow boots.
The modern domestic cat retains 97.6% of its wild genetic sequence, and the scratching instinct is deeply embedded in its DNA. Even pet cats that are well clothed and fed still obsessively rehearse this survival routine. Studies have shown that cats deprived of scratching develop stereotypical behaviors and have cortisol levels that are 42% higher than normal cats, equivalent to humans in a constant state of anxiety.
When your cat scratches your beloved furniture again, look at it from a different perspective: the extended limbs outline the silhouette of a cheetah in pursuit, and the arched spine replicates the preparatory stance for a jungle raid. Instead of fighting this memory of survival from the distant past, why not erect sisal poles in the corners of your living room and replace de-clawing surgery with regular trimming? After all, we are not only choosing the company of a cute pet, but also accepting a time-traveling miracle of evolution. Those fine scratches, how is not the epic of life engraved in the home space of the poem line?
