These hairs have a crimped appearance, and help protect the cat from heat and cold. The most important purpose of cat's hair is camouflage. The stripes on a tiger, the spots on a leopard, and the tabby markings and coloration on a European wild cat all serve to help the cat blend into its surroundings. Cats that inhabit woods tend to be darker than those on the plains, and are also more brilliantly marked. Cats are digitigrade, meaning they walk on their toes rather than on their entire foot, like a human or bear.
Cats can also climb down a tree forwards and backwards, due to a very flexible ankle joint.
Cats vertebrae are very flexible, and they are capable of contorting themselves into almost any position. This also minimizes damage caused from a fall to their limbs and internal organs. Cats have a bony structure in their penis called a baculum. They also have sharp backwards facing barbs on their penis as well. These are used to stimulate ovulation, as female cats are induced ovulators, meaning they will not ovulate before mating.