Picture of a Cat Listening #1163

Information About the Ears and Hearing of a Feline Cat
The cat's ear is a marvel to feline engineering. Like a sophisticated satellite dish turning to pick up a signal, the cat's external ear, or pinna, rotates up to 180 degrees to locate and identify the faintest of squeaks, peeps, and rustling noises. Cats hear much higher frequencies than canines. They also can detect the tiniest variances in sound, distinguishing differences of as little as one-tenth (1/10th) of a tone, which helps them identify the type and size of the prey emitting the noise or noises. This heightened sense of hearing is especially important in wildcats, which depend on hunting for survival. It also enables wild and domestic feline mothers to hear faint squeals of distress from their kittens or cubs when they stray too far away. A cat up to 3 feet away from the origin of a sound can pinpoint its location to within a few inches in a mere six one-hundredths of a second. Cats also can hear sounds at great distances — four or five times farther away than humans.

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