What is the usage of pisiform pad in cats' front feet?

I wonder why cats have pisifrom pads at the back of front wrists? And why not at the back feet also?

  • Vetinfo

    By: Kara McCarty El Segundo, CA

    Replied on 04/19/2011

    It's believed that the pisiform pad is a vestigial (left over, no longer needed) piece of anatomy. It covers a carpal (wrist) bone called the pisiform and is located roughly where the base of the human palm would be on the "pinkie" part of the hand. It probably remains as cats use their front feet like hands in manipulating things and it is a softer more flexible covering of a bone that does protrude a bit. The rear foot anatomy is a bit different in that there isn't a bone like the pisiform on the rear foot and they aren't used for manipulating things.

More Questions on Anatomy

  • The left side of my cats face tilts to the left.

    The left side of my cats face tilts to the left. She has become clumsy and has fallen in down the steps and even in her litter box. Her eyes move left and right. She did not eat for a couple of days. The doctor did test but do not have a clue. Do you have any idea what is wrong

  • Is there cat surgery for a kitten without a rectum?

    My 7 month old kitten that was born with abnormalities-always loose stool, no testicles found during neuter procedure, just informed kitten has no rectum and no anal sphincter.

  • My 19 year old cat has suddenly got a swollen abomen. Why?

    What could be causing his swollen abdomen?

  • Cat anal incontinence. Can I fix this?

    Hello. Recently our cat Tigger was hit by a car. He had terrible swelling and bruising in and around his bottom and a fractured vertebrae just above his tail. He had no obvious damage internally but the vet said there was more than likely nerve damage as his tail is lifeless now. He has not been able to regain full control over his continence and is dripping urine fairly constantly and the feces comes out randomly and he doesn't seem to have any control over it at all, or even know when it is coming. What can I do to help?

  • See all questions in Anatomy

Please do not use our site to attempt to diagnose or treat your pet. Your veterinarian is the best source of health advice for an individual pet.

Please do use our site to become better informed about the medical problems your pet may have. We will do our best to ensure that information presented is accurate and up-to-date. The most current information will be at the top of each page. Remember that veterinarians often disagree about the best treatments for pets. There are often several perfectly acceptable ways to treat the same condition. Just ask a lot of questions!

For all emergency situations, please contact your local Emergency Pet Clinic or on-call Veterinarian. Answers are not provided in real time. We can not guarantee an answer to every question, nor can we provide timely responses to urgent questions in many instances.