They also are useful tools for climbing and for clinging to precarious perches. Each toe is equipped with a claw, which grows from the last bone of the toe. The claws are hidden most of the time under skin that protects them from injury and keeps them from becoming blunt as the animal walks. A cat sharpens them by clawing rough surfaces or by chewing at the tips. The moment a cat strikes, a muscle in the leg pulls on a tendon, which in turn pulls on the joint to which the claw is attached, and each claw comes out of its sheath.
All claws can be unsheathed in a split second.
The cheetah is the only kind of cat that cannot pull its claws completely back. Its claws, like those of the dog, are always exposed.