My kitten discovered fire in the form of a candle on my coffee table and melted her eye-whiskers...

Let it sort itself out. She has nerves in them and won’t thank you for the trim. They will grow out on their own.

http://www.catster.com/lifestyle/cat-whiskers-7-facts

No more candles where the cat can access them…..

I would have to disagree. I say that you should trim them. The whiskers themselves are only sensitive because of the nerves and blood supply where they connect to the flesh. Trim as far away from the flesh as possible and be very gentle.
My reasoning for this is that her whiskers will be weighed down and clumped together because they’ve been fused. This will probably cause your pet extreme annoyance, hinder its ability to use it’s whiskers adequately, and possibly even cause pain. Have you ever laid your hair under a hat in an unnatural direction? If so, you’d notice that when the hair snaps back to its original position, it causes your scalp pain. If her whiskers are held in an unnatural position because they’ve fused then this will probably occur. In order for God or nature rather to sort this out, each whisker would have to be released from the flesh. As you found out by tugging on them, they are not removed easily. I would trim them if I were you.

Vibrissae shed naturally, and it’s not hurting anything. Just let it be.

^^. Listen to our expert.

True enough, I’m not an expert. So if the ends of your hair ever fuse, wait for however long it takes each follicle to fall out of socket naturally. It’s like waiting for a dreadlock to fall out, takes no time or outside force at all. Plus, I’m sure God will take care of it.

Cat whiskers are different from human hairs. They are sensitive because they are used in the cat’s navigation. They can detect touch, heat and cold and pain.

@johnpowell hold your little kitty softly in your arms and sing her this song.

@keobooks Do you actually mean to imply that cat whiskers contain pain receptors?

Done.

yes and yes

Aw, one of my kittens discovered fire in the same way! We let them grow out; he wasn’t the worse for wear. I agree that cutting the whiskers is probably a bad idea.

My instinct would be to trim them using nail clippers.
However, since you asked the question and you got an answer from a professional – @syz – it appears you’d be misguided trimming them.

Shades of Fluther past.

@ibstubro It won’t hurt anything to trim them, just not necessary.

As long as we can agree on that much.

Oh man….lucky little pussy cat. Yes, trim the fused ends so they are separated again and nature will take it’s course. My cat almost set himself on fire a few summers ago when his giant fluffyy tail brushed against a lit candle on my patio table on the deck one night. He jumped up and singed his tail but luckily I was sitting right there.

Whew…I cringe to think what might have happened.

Cripes. If it doesn’t hurt anything, I’d get a pair of nail trimmers and trim the fused ends. If there are that many nerves involved at the base and the whiskers are at an unnatural angle, the kitten is probably in some discomfort – akin to an itch, if nothing else. At that age is is going to be doing a lot of growing and adapting before all the whiskers fall out. If one whisker falls out at the root and is still fused to one attached, how annoying is that going to be.

Trim. I have a pair of toenail clippers that are <) rather than <( that would be ideal. One snip.

No candles. I have learned to adjust. Also be careful of certain plants that can be deadly if ingested by the fur balls.

It wasn’t her feeler whiskers that were burned. It was basically her eye brows. It’ll take care of itself.

@jca I had a cat who sniffed a candle flame. Once.

Stupid plant-eating obligate carnivores!

Also, they aren’t “melted.” When hair burns it tends to curl up really quickly so it’s just tangled. I’m surprised you can’t just rub the burned hair off with your finger.

@johnpowell

Here ya go:

www.flamelesscandles.com

It’s a real website :)