What I Do With My Cat's Shed Whiskers

I pick up the whiskers my cat drops, keep the big ones in a jar, and toss the rest without overthinking it.

My cat sheds whiskers all the time. I find them on the sofa, on the rug, sometimes stuck to a blanket. For years I just ignored them. Then one day I stepped on a stiff one and yelped. That was it.

First I tried vacuuming every day. Waste of time. Whiskers are tiny and they hide. I tried keeping them all in a drawer, which turned into a mess of cat hair and old receipts. I tried the wish thing too. Felt silly. I'm not a wish person.

What actually fixed it was simple. I keep a small glass jar on the kitchen shelf. When I find a whisker, I pick it up. If it's a big clean one, it goes in the jar. If it's bent or gross, it goes in the trash. No ceremony. Takes two seconds. The jar is mostly for me. My cat doesn't care. She drops them and walks off like nothing happened.

One thing I learned the hard way: whiskers are stiff. They hurt bare feet. So I don't leave them lying around anymore. A quick sweep of the couch cushions before I sit down saves me a lot of grief.

If you want to keep them, keep them. If you want to toss them, toss them. Your cat won't notice either way. Just don't step on one in the dark.

Sources:

• AVMA — U.S. pet ownership and demographics
• AVMA — Cat owners resource centre