The Scratch-Reflex in the Cat

Abstract

I HAD lately the opportunity of examining in a young cat eight weeks old the conditions of the scratch-reflex, and the results would seem to be worth noting. The animal had been through an unusually heavy day of play on a hot day, and in the evening was lying asleep on the lap of one of her friends in a profound sleep. I thought this a good occasion for finding out what reactions she would show to gentle mechanical stimuli. A very light touch with a wooden match on the conchal surface of the pinna, or one extending to the meatus, produced immediate response as follows:—First, the facial muscles on the same side twitched irregularly; this ceased, and then the fore foot was moved irregularly towards, but not so far as, the ear; when this had ceased there occurred at once a rhythmical movement of the hind limb, with a rate closely similar to that of the scratch-reflex oi the dog, the hind foot, as in the fore foot, being brought towards, but not up to, the ear.