Cats whiskers (zoological term "vibrissae") identify the cat as a predominantly nocturnal animal. Cats have vibrissae especially on the snout, but also around the eyes and on the lower front legs. The vibrissae detect vibrations in air currents which is passed to the sensory cells providing a spatial picture of the environment around the cat. Cats "see" at least rough spatial structures of their immediate surroundings even in total darkness. The vibrissae are already fully trained in newborns, the importance of which makes sense.
Brown gunge. Yes, I know this is a ferret! It does show the build up of dark brown to black ear wax caused by the presence of the cat ear mites in the outer ear canal. This parasite is not restricted to the domestic cat, which makes this photo valid and a useful illustration (I was unable to find a suitable photo of a cat with the condition). Photo Stacy Lynn Baum under a creative commons license. Ear mites (minute crab like creatures) are one of the causes of inflammation of the outer ear canal (scientific term for this inflammation is Otitis externa ). The outer ear canal is the tube that runs from outside to the ear drum (the pathway for the reception of sound), which can be seen when looking at the ear. Otitis externa affects humans and often swimmers as it is called "swimmer's ear" in humans. This YouTube video show ear mites under a microscope. They are not actually in the ear in this video. There are many possible causes of Otitis externa in c
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