Role of Tail in Cat Walk

The cat has five toes on its front paw and the back paw has four and, there are also cats that have seven front toes and, extra toes on their hind feet. A cat is known to step with both of its front legs and, then both of its right legs, when walking or running and they normally walk on their toes. Domestic cats are known to sprint at approximately thirty-one miles an hour.

Special Manner Of Walking

The cat is a skilful hunter and this may be the reason for a cat to walk in a special manner. Almost all animals employ alternate legs using right front and left rear followed by the left front and right rear. Three out of the entire list of animals deviate from this trend, these are Cat, Camel and Giraffe. The cat walk moves two legs on one side together first and, then shifts to repeat the motion with the other side. The good thing of this manner of walking is that it is a diagonal movement that saves the animal’s energy and provides speed, agility as well as silence.

Cat beautifully uses its tail for balance similar to a tightrope walker employes pole to balance himself. A cat that walks along a narrow ledge or fence can peer over in one direction by taking the help of its tail that moves in the opposite direction. Also, the footpads of the cat are extremely calloused and are of a modified skin that will cover the connective tissue and, thus is much tougher than normal skin. This allows the cat to walk even in the cold, without any problem.

When the cat walks, its paws bear the full weight and a cat will stand as well as walk on the entire paw and, if were to be de-clawed, it will have to modify its stance. It might force your cat to walk unnaturally putting undue strain of its paws. It would take the cat sometime to adjust to this changed circumstance, but once it does, the cat will walk with the adjusted motion, once again.

Big cats walk with their tails tucked behind them or tucked between their legs and this may be a ploy to conceal them to avoid being spotted by their enemies and, domestic cats may also walk this way, when stalking a mouse. That may be the reason why the term ‘cat walk’ was coined.