Did you hear that? Explaining your cat’s sense of hearing

Dogs are famous for their keen sense of hearing. But do you know who can hear at a higher frequency than them? Cats. Our ears are so powerful they even move in different directions like a satellite to locate the prey (or the can opener depending on your hunting grounds). When you see us staring into nothing, we are really trying to pinpoint the exact location of whatever it is we are searching for – a bug crawling on the wall, a fellow feline meowing in the distance, the leftover bag being thrown in the trash…

Ears pointed upright: cat on alert. Pic: Glorimar Anibarro

The ears give you a lot of information too – we are all about sharing – about our present mood. If you pay attention to the shape they take you will know how we are feeling at the moment, like:

Standing upright: cat is relaxed and alert

One pointing to the front, the other one to the back: we are thinking about our next move but haven’t decided yet

Squashed and way low: ready to pounce, you should remove yourself from the premises

Moving both side to side: we are looking for a way out

Of course they also carry a superpower; the vestibular apparatus inside our inner ear helps felines achieve balance at great speed. In the event of a fall, our bodies can quickly twist back to the upright position so we land on our legs instead of the back. How fast you ask? 2 seconds. This doesn’t mean that we land safely and unhurt… but that’s a story for another day.

Our biggest threats come in the shape of pesky ear mites. These minuscule insects (think of them like fleas for the ears) crawl right into our ear canal making them very difficult to capture and destroy. The itching gets so intense that we scratch our ears to the point of drawing blood… blood! Horrible.

How to tell if your feline is suffering from such pest? You will notice her constantly shaking her head from side to side. When the situation gets impossible to handle, the scratching will start. They are also kind of smelly, so that will substitute our beautiful scent too. Any of these sound familiar? Please take your kitty to the vet, drops are necessary.

So what happens when we go deaf? Well, Vision and Smell get a bigger part in the story. They now carry a bigger responsibility, helping us adapt and continue our lives without ever losing our cool. Sounds awesome right? Right? Hello?