Why can cats stretch? The cat's body can stretch freely because of its strange bones.
Like other mammals, the body bones of cats are divided into three parts: skull, trunk bones and limbs bones, with 230-247 pieces.
Trunk bones play a key role in freely controlling the expansion and contraction of the body. Trunk bones include 58-85 bones, with the outline of spine and chest.
The bones of the cat's spine are all irregular bones, and the ribs are long arched bones. These bones are relatively small. The cat's chest is deep and narrow, which is beneficial to the compression of the sternum and makes the body thinner and softer.
Click to play GIF 1.6M The joints of a cat's whole body, especially between the cervical vertebrae and the cartilage and ligaments of the joints, are obviously softer than those of other animals, so the cat will stretch as long as a spring.
Why do cats like to stretch and sleep? When any animal (including human) sleeps, the brain will paralyze the muscles of the animal and let the body enter. Off mode? This can prevent the body from sleepwalking or expressing dreams in dreams.
Cats usually sleep 12~ 16 hours a day, twice as much as humans. Such a long rest usually makes blood pressure drop and autonomic muscle activity disappear, which is not conducive to activity. With proper stimulation, the physiological function of waking can be completely restored.
When the cat just wakes up, the muscles of the whole body will not be activated instantly, and most of the muscles are still in a relatively stiff and relaxed state. At this time, in order to quickly enter the hunting state, you need to stretch your body, wake up your body and mind and be alert quickly.