A cat's whiskers are incredibly important for navigation and balance, but what would happen if they were taken away? Is it okay to cut a cat's whiskers, or is it seriously cruel?

We've all got that one family member who has shared rather uncomfortable and disturbing thoughts at the dinner table. One of the most common of those thoughts and theories is that a cat will fall over all the time if you cut its whiskers. Could that be true? After all, whiskers are important for their navigation.

In this cat guide, TAG24 takes a look at what would happen if you cut a cat's whiskers. Can you cut a cat's whiskers, would that be okay? Or would your cat fall over without whiskers, could it hurt itself?

You should never cut a cat's whiskers as they are vitally important for its navigation and orientation skills. These gorgeous tufts are more than just fancy and distinguished decorations. They play a key role in helping your cat make sense of the world around it, keep its balance, and fit through tight spaces.

Any cat owner will have noticed that their feline friend gets rather irritated when you start tickling its whiskers. This is because each hair is connected to a sensor in the brain that reacts to stimuli. They can detect changes in air movement (helping them to notice other animals and humans), help them balance their bodies, and figure out whether certain spaces are too big or small for them.

By cutting off a cat's whiskers, you risk them accidentally hurting themselves or worse. It is inhumane and cruel and not something that anyone should do. With that in mind, if you are interested in learning more about cat whiskers and their uses, our guide to what cat whiskers are for has everything you need to know.

While it may take quite a long time, cat whiskers will grow back if they have been cut (or have fallen out). If somehow your cat has lost its whiskers, though (and your vet has told you that everything is okay health-wise), it's a good idea to keep your cat indoors and safe until they have properly grown back.

Seeing as a cat's whiskers helps it navigate the surrounding environment, and kitties aren't particularly smart, if it goes outside and out of sight with no whiskers, it could do something profoundly stupid and get hurt. Their whiskers do take a long time to grow back, though, so be prepared.

Seeing as your cat's whiskers are hairs and do not contain any nerves or blood vessels, they will not hurt when cut. While uncomfortable, if you accidentally cut off one of your kitty's whiskers (not sure how that'd happen!), it wouldn't be in pain.

Do keep in mind, though, that if its whiskers are pulled out, then it will experience pain at the base of the hair - on the cat's face. Think of it like when you get a haircut: The scissors don't cause any pain, but if your hairdresser gave your luscious locks a good tug, it would hurt like heck!

The rumors and stories are one hundred percent true: If you cut your cat's whiskers, its spatial awareness will be severely impacted, and it will have a variety of issues. These problems can then result in injury, discomfort, and unhappiness until its beloved whiskers grow back and things return to normal - in turn, this can lead to an increase in cat anxiety.

Some things that can happen if your cat's whiskers are cut include:

• Constantly falling off things that it was previously capable of balancing on
• Bumping into objects
• A lack of spatial awareness of its surroundings, not picking up on other animals or humans in the nearby area
• Serious disorientation
• Less capable of protecting itself in dangerous situations

All-in-all, cutting a cat's whiskers is a very cruel and dangerous thing to do, not funny in the slightest, and could even be considered animal abuse in certain circumstances.

Cutting a cat's whiskers is an incredibly traumatic and cruel thing to do. If your veterinarian needs to clip them for a health-based reason (to be honest, we can't think of any), then sure, but otherwise, you should keep your scissors to yourself.

After all, why would you even want to cut a cat's whiskers? The only logical reason to do so is for the purpose of a prank, but considering the distress that this prank will cause your kitty, it isn't a joke worth making.