Understanding Whisker Fatigue in Cats and How to Solve It

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“In basic terms, whisker fatigue is simply over-stimulation of the sensory system of the whiskers. What happens when the whiskers are touched too much, even if it is basic brushing against food and water dishes, is the cat’s brain gets an onslaught of sensory messages transmitted to their brain.” Dr Keyes from Cat Vet Tucson. A full article on this condition can be found here.

So why do pet cats suffer from this? Well in nature their Whiskers are there to allow them to navigate their territory! A cat identifies if they can fit through small spaces or if there are obstacles close up from the touch of their Whiskers.

And of course a wild cat wouldn’t have a human servant provide them food in a bowl! They would have to hunt their prey and would eat it in the open without their whiskers touching any hard objects while eating (or drinking out of streams and rivers).

It is something we had never really thought about until we noticed that one of our cats would ignore her normally favourite food! But what are the exact signs to look out for?

Refusal to eat or drink from their usual dishes
Pacing in front of the food bowls and meowing like something is wrong
Pawing at food and water to try and pull it from the bowl
Acting more aggressive around food or treats when it is given to them out of the dish

After reading about whisker fatigue we tried many different types of bowls but none of them seemed to be quite right until we found the Necoichi extra-wide bowls and also the extra-wide tilted bowls!

It’s not surprising that this bowl from Japanese company Necoichi won the 1st place in the Global Pet Expo awards. Not just does it address the whisker fatigue problem but it also addresses the issue of cats liking to eat from the middle of the bowl! Thanks to its designed curve the food naturally gravitates towards the center avoiding the oh so common issue of a cat complaining that the bowl is empty while it’s still half full!

Further to this, the bowls are made of ceramic which avoids the common issue we saw with wide bowls made of bamboo composite or plastic. With the bamboo composite or plastic no matter how hard we cleaned them they lead to the problem eater cat developing feline acne due to the bacteria living in the material of the bowls we used prior to the ceramic bowls.

And lastly, the raised design just makes it easier for cats to eat as well as reduce the risk of vomiting in cats that are prone to the latter!

“The use of an elevated bowl allows gravity to assist in moving food from the mouth to the stomach. Cats with other eating or swallowing problems may also benefit from an elevated food bowl.” Quote By Catherine Barnette DVM

The extra-wide raised bowls now come in 7 fabulous designs from Necoichi and we are very lucky to have been able to source these for our online shop alongside the rest of the impressive Necoichi range. And until the end of August you can get 12% off with the code Sakura (Discount can be applied in your basket / cart on the right hand bottom side or as a clickable link on the top of the checkout page) in our online shop.

The designs currently available for this bowl are Classic, Sakura , Modern Sakura, Fuji, Colourful Dots and Nala cat which features an image of the brands’ mascot Nala!

Of course, the brand also has more affordable standard sized and large bowls as well as water bowls for those that don’t necessarily require the extra-wide bowl to avoid whisker fatigue! This really does depend on the size of your cat and all of their bowls are whisker friendly designed. Our three-legged cat Nubia is especially pleased about this as it makes it easier for her to drink and eat at all times.