SkullThe bones of the head. A cat has a short face, and each eye sits in a large socket.
MandibleThe lower jaw, made of two halves. It holds the lower teeth and hinges on the skull.
Canine teethOne large, sharply pointed, slightly curved tooth on each side of each jaw, set apart from the small front teeth.
Cervical vertebraeThe seven vertebrae of the neck. They carry no ribs.
Thoracic vertebraeThe thirteen vertebrae of the chest. Each one carries a pair of ribs.
RibsThirteen pairs. The first nine pairs are joined to the breastbone by cartilage.
SternumThe breastbone: a chain of eight small bones along the underside of the chest.
ScapulaThe shoulder blade: a flat, three-cornered bone with a ridge, the spine, down its outer side.
ClavicleThe collarbone. In a cat it is a small, slender, curved rod held in the muscles in front of the shoulder.
HumerusThe bone of the upper foreleg, from the shoulder blade to the elbow.
RadiusThe front bone of the forearm, from the elbow to the wrist.
UlnaThe rear bone of the forearm. Its top end sticks up behind the elbow.
CarpalsThe small bones of the wrist, in two rows. A cat stands with its wrist off the ground.
MetacarpalsFive bones between the wrist and the toes: four long ones and a short one for the first toe.
PhalangesThe toe bones. A cat walks on its toes.
Distal phalangesThe last bone of each toe, shaped to carry the claw. A springy ligament keeps it rolled back over the bone behind it, so the claw stays off the ground.
Rear half 11
Lumbar vertebraeThe seven vertebrae of the loins. They are larger and longer than the chest vertebrae.
SacrumThree vertebrae that join into one bone as the cat grows up. It holds the two hip bones.
Caudal vertebraeThe vertebrae of the tail: twenty or so, and fewer in short-tailed cats. They carry no ribs.
PelvisEach hip bone is three bones joined into one: the ilium, the ischium and the pubis.
FemurThe thigh bone, from the hip joint to the knee.
PatellaThe kneecap: a small, flat bone that covers the front of the knee joint.
TibiaThe larger of the two bones of the lower leg.
FibulaThe much more slender bone of the lower leg, on the outer side of the tibia.
TarsalsThe seven bones of the ankle, which a cat carries off the ground.
CalcaneusThe heel bone, the longest of the tarsals.
MetatarsalsFour long bones between the ankle and the toes, with only a stub for the first toe.
How this list was compiled: Every bone name, count and detail line was checked on 2026-09-30, for facts only and with nothing copied: (1) J. Reighard and H. S. Jennings, Anatomy of the Cat, 1901, The Skeleton of the Cat, read in the Internet Archive scan at https://archive.org/details/anatomyofcat00reig; (2) St. George Mivart, The Cat, 1881, https://archive.org/details/catintroductiont00miva; (3) Wikipedia, Cat anatomy; (4) A. Chauveau, The Comparative Anatomy of the Domesticated Animals, 1873, https://archive.org/details/comparativeanato00chaurich. A name or count that only one source gives is left out of the parts. Licence: own work
The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain shapes. Own original schematic drawing; nothing traced or copied. Licence: own work
How it works
Here is a cat skeleton labeled from the left side, drawn inside the outline of a standing cat with its tail up. The front half and the rear half are shown one at a time.
Read the full guide
Two halves of one cat
First comes the front half, names showing: the skull and teeth, the neck, the chest, the collarbone and the front leg down to the claws. The rear half has the loins, the hip bone, the hind leg and the tail. Tap any name for a line about that bone. Quiz me hides the names for the cat skeleton anatomy quiz.
What to look for on a cat
The skull is short and round. A small collarbone floats in the shoulder muscles. The last bone of every toe is rolled back, which keeps the claw clear of the ground. The loin vertebrae are long, and the tail is a chain of small vertebrae.
A cat stands on its toes: the first joint above the front paw is the wrist, not the elbow.
Chest vertebrae carry ribs; the longer loin vertebrae behind them carry none.
Questions and answers
How many bones does a cat have?
One anatomy text counts 230 to 247, leaving out the small bones that form inside tendons. The number is lower in an old cat than in a kitten, because some bones that start out separate join together.
Do cats have collarbones?
Yes, small ones. A cat's clavicle is a slender, curved rod of bone held in the muscles in front of the shoulder. It is not joined bone to bone with the rest of the skeleton.
How many vertebrae does a cat have?
Seven in the neck, thirteen in the chest and seven in the loins, then three that join into the sacrum. The tail adds twenty or so more, and fewer in short-tailed cats.
How do a cat's claws pull back?
Each claw grows on the last bone of a toe. A springy ligament keeps that bone rolled back over the one behind it, so the claw rests off the ground. A tendon under the toe pulls it down and out.