Editing Cat (section)

=== Claws ===
[[File:Cat claw closeup.jpg|thumb|Cat's claw]]
Cats have protractible and retractable claws.<ref name="Kitchener2010">{{cite book |last1=Kitchener |first1=A. C. |last2=Van Valkenburgh |first2=B. |last3=Yamaguchi |first3=N. |date=2010 |chapter-url= https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266753114 |chapter=Felid form and function |title=Biology and Conservation of wild felids |editor1-first=D. |editor1-last=Macdonald |editor2-last=Loveridge |editor2-first=A. |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=83–106 |access-date=10 October 2019 |archive-date=16 February 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210216135340/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266753114_Felid_form_and_function |url-status=live}}</ref> In their normal, relaxed position, the claws are sheathed with the skin and fur around the paw's toe pads. This keeps the claws sharp by preventing wear from contact with the ground and allows for the silent stalking of prey. The claws on the forefeet are typically sharper than those on the hindfeet.<ref name="Armes 1900">{{cite journal |title=Outline of cat lessons |last=Armes |first=A.F. |journal=The School Journal |year=1900 |volume=LXI |page=659 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=-_gBAAAAYAAJ |access-date=5 June 2020 |archive-date=6 August 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210806133121/https://books.google.com/books?id=-_gBAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> Cats can voluntarily extend their claws, such as in hunting, fighting, climbing, [[kneading (cats)|kneading]], or for extra traction on soft surfaces. Cats shed the outside layer of their claw sheaths when scratching rough surfaces.<ref name="pmid19422432">{{cite journal |last1=Homberger |first1=D. G. |last2=Ham |first2=K. |last3=Ogunbakin |first3=T. |last4=Bonin |first4=J. A. |last5=Hopkins |first5=B. A. |last6=Osborn |first6=M. L. |display-authors=etal |title=The structure of the cornified claw sheath in the domesticated cat (''Felis catus''): Implications for the claw-shedding mechanism and the evolution of cornified digital end organs |journal=J Anat |year=2009 |volume=214 |issue=4 |pages=620–43 |pmid=19422432 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7580.2009.01068.x |pmc=2736126}}</ref>

Most cats have five claws on their front paws and four on their rear paws. The [[dewclaw]] is [[proximal]] to the other claws. More proximally is a protrusion which appears to be a sixth "finger". This special feature of the front paws on the inside of the wrists has no function in normal walking but is thought to be an antiskidding device used while jumping. Some cat breeds are prone to having extra digits ("[[Polydactyl cat|polydactyly]]").<ref name="Danforth1947">{{cite journal |last=Danforth |first=C. H. |title=Heredity of polydactyly in the cat |journal=The Journal of Heredity |volume=38 |issue=4 |pages=107–112 |year=1947 |pmid=20242531 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a105701}}</ref>