Detailed overview of the nervous system of the domestic cat

Here is a detailed overview of the nervous system of the domestic cat:

The cat's nervous system, like that of all mammals, can be broken down into the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system.

The Central Nervous System consists of the brain and spinal cord.

The cat brain is similar in organization to the human brain, containing the forebrain (which includes the cerebrum and thalamus), midbrain, and hindbrain (which includes the cerebellum and medulla oblongata). However, the cat brain is significantly smaller relative to body size compared to humans.

Some key things to know about the cat brain:

• The cerebrum is smaller compared to body size than many other mammals. However, areas associated with sensory processing (sight, hearing, touch) are well-developed, reflecting the cat's strong reliance on these senses for hunting.
• The cerebellum coordinates motor control and balance, important for their agility and hunting abilities.
• The olfactory bulbs are 40x larger than in humans, showing their enhanced sense of smell.

The cat spinal cord resembles the human spinal cord, containing ascending and descending nerve tracts. It transmits information between the brain and the rest of the body.

The Peripheral Nervous System consists of nerve circuits originating from the central nervous system that interface with sensory receptors and govern organs/tissues outside the brain and spinal cord, like muscles.

It contains the somatic nervous system and autonomic nervous system:

• The somatic system includes the neurons that innervate skeletal muscles to enable voluntary movement.
• The autonomic system controls involuntary functions like digestion and heart rate. It has sympathetic and parasympathetic arms for “fight or flight” vs “rest and digest” responses.

I hope this helps summarize the basic organization and features of the cat's nervous system? Let me know if you need any part explained further or have additional questions!

CLICK HERE TO VISIT A PAGE ON CAT ANATOMY.

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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.

Domestic cats can assess a snake attack and react all in 0.04 of a second

I have written about the cat's rapid reactions before when mentioning the ability of the diminutive sand cat to kill snakes fearlessly. The cat is able to out-react the snake. The snake has no chance in a fight with a humble stray cat. In the early days of cat domestication they were used to keep down rodent numbers and deal with snakes. That was thousands of years ago and they are doing the same thing today in the front-line trenches in Ukraine where cats keep the Ukrainian soldiers company and kill snakes and rats.

RELATED: Tender, beautiful and sad picture of a domestic cat sleeping with their Ukrainian warrior companion.

Cats probably have faster reactions than snakes and snakes are known to have impressive reaction times. The humble domestic or stray cat is incredible when it comes to the rapidity of their reactions. The video shows us this amazing skill. The cat can kill snakes as they can avoid the bite even when the snake is right in the face of the cat as seen in the video.

Cat avoids snake bit in a most impressive way. Screenshot.

"Cats have highly developed sensory systems, including keen eyesight, acute hearing, and sensitive whiskers, which contribute to their ability to react swiftly. They are known for their ability to pounce on moving objects with remarkable accuracy and agility." - AI computer Poe.

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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.

Cat's hind leg has a mind of its own forcing the cat to fight back

This video is scarcely believable because what we see is a cat losing control of his right hind leg to the point where the hind leg in question has a mind of its own and starts to attack the cat. The cat then fights back. That's what it looks like and it is incredibly odd.

My brief thoughts about this strange video is that the right hind leg was scratching the cat's neck which is very typical cat behaviour. And my theory is that this scratching process is an automated, instinctive process perhaps partially governed by the autonomic nervous system which is the nervous system which runs the beat of the heart and the breathing.

And therefore, the hind leg takes on a mentality of its own almost which in this instance annoyed the cat so he or she fought back.

That's just a thought but you have to try and understand what's going on and there does seem to be a fight between the hind leg and the cat who owns the hind leg! But it ends up in play-fighting. Cool. This cat does not need a caregiver or another cat to play with!

Sometimes cats do something similar with their tails.

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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.

Hind leg fights back! Screen grab from video above.