CLAWS & NAILS

How Cats See Hands & How Humans See Paws
From Paws to Claws & Hand to Nails
By: Sergio D Farias

Have you ever taken the time to look at your hands? If you look closely at them, they seem different than most other animals out there, especially cats. We tend to forget that humans are part of the animal kingdom, so we always tell ourselves and each other how different and “special” we are compared to the rest of our diverse friends out there. In this article, we will be looking for the similarities between human hands and cat paws.

Let's start by analyzing a human hand. Whether we look at the left hand or the right hand the pattern should be similar or to an extent the same copy-paste of each, but mirrored so they can face each other and fit into each other. Our hands start with our wrists, then move to our palms, then continue to our fingers and finally, we get to our nails.

On the other hand (pun intended) a cat's paws start with the carpal pads (the equivalent of stronger wrists to support body weight), the metacarpal pads (similar to the palms), and then we continue to the digital pads (which would be like human fingers) and finally we get to claws. Just like humans, cats also have paws that mirror each other.

If we were cats, how would we see human hands if our reference point were our paws? Look at your hand again, our wrists would be like carpal pads, the palms would equal the metacarpal pads, then the fingers would be like digital pads, and finally, our nails would look like claws.  I’m not forgetting the “declaw” I see it as an extension of the digital pads, try to imagine your thumbs on your wrists rather than your palms.

When you see it from a cat’s perspective you can imagine how your hands especially if you have long nails at the end can be seen as a threat to cats. If you grab a cat gently your hands aren’t seen as a threat, but if you swipe at a cat, you are using what they see as claws, which is a bad idea since you are starting a catfight without realizing it! Feel free to test this idea by keeping a closed palm in front of your cat (make sure you have its attention) and then quickly open it and point your fingers (semi-closed) and nails towards them and watch their reaction. If they take out their claws and start a fight or playfight then you know my idea on how cats perceive human hands makes sense.

Humans see a cat’s paw as totally different from a hand, but as you can see there are more similarities than differences. So, to those on the internet who ask, does my cat recognize my hand as a part of my body? I say the answer is yes, but if they are attacking your hands then you are most likely using your hands including your claws (nails) incorrectly. Never use your hands aggressively such as swiping or pointing your nails towards them otherwise you might be starting a fight that you might lose.

Fun fact: Your human nails and cat claws are made of the same material keratin.

Feel free to share what you think about this idea of mine. I’m not sure if other people have wondered the same thing. Also, share the experiences you had with your cats, and if you don’t have a cat test it with your dog. If your dog begins licking your fingers and nails, he or she might be trying to tell you to calm down or if they get angry or aggressive he might think you want to play fight or fight.

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Thank you for taking the time to read it and have a wonderful day!
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