Concise summary of the domestic cat's skeleton

Here is a thorough yet concise summary of the domestic cat's skeleton. Useful for cat caregivers to know. Knowledge is very supportive of good cat caregiving. It is always useful to have some basic cat anatomy and cat health knowledge as it allows a cat caregiver to be better at their job! This is a 2 minute read.

MORE: CAT ANATOMY IN MORE DETAIL

The domestic cat's skeleton is designed for flexibility, strength, and lightweight agility. The key components of a cat's skeleton include:

Skull - A cat's skull is similar to that of other carnivores, with powerful jaws and teeth for catching and tearing prey. The skull has large eye sockets, a short snout, and strong neck vertebrae.

Vertebral Column - Like all mammals, cats have a vertebral column consisting of cervical (neck), thoracic (chest), lumbar (lower back), sacral, and caudal (tail) vertebrae. Cats have relatively flexible vertebrae which allow them to contort their body and squeeze into tight spaces.

Ribs - Cats have 13 pairs of curved ribs which cage and protect the heart and lungs. The ribcage is flexible to allow cats to breathe even when occupying small spaces or contorting their body.

Shoulder Girdle - Cats have well-developed shoulder blades (scapulae) and collar bones (clavicles) which anchor the front limbs. The shoulder girdle provides strength and range of motion for climbing, pouncing, and catching prey.

Pelvic Girdle - The pelvic girdle consists of the hip bones (coxal bones) which the hind limbs attach to. A cat's pelvis is adapted for speed, agility, jumping, and forceful backward kicks with the hind legs.

Limbs - Each limb consists of an upper arm or thigh bone, two lower arm/leg bones, delicate wrist/ankle bones, and five digits on the forefeet and four or five digits on the back feet. Limbs are lightweight yet very strong, enabling cats' amazing jumping, climbing, and hunting abilities.

The skeletal structure, together with lightweight but strong bones, allows cats an almost unparalleled degree of agility, flexibility, speed and balance. Did this overview cover the key points thoroughly? Let me know if you have any other questions!

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.