Four eared cats have two ears and four ear flaps

This is a quick note and a cross-post. I am a little irritated by the news media who have recently written about a Tennessee kitten with "four ears". There's lots of excitement within the news media about this. They like anatomical curiosities. It's a bit like the Victorian voyeurism of freaks at freak shows. 

Four eared cats have two ears and four ear flaps. Image: MikeB

But they get it wrong. When a cat has "four ears" they actually have four ear flaps - the bit that we see and which captures sound - but internally they have two middle ears and two inner ears. In other words they have two ears but they have for ear flaps, one extra which is normally much smaller than the original one due to a genetic mutation about which the scientists don't know anything almost because this is quite a rare condition.

That's the picture. I wanted to correct what the newspapers are saying. Because they almost blindly shout from the rooftops that this cat has four ears when he does not. He has two ears because the word "ear" describes the entire anatomy including the ear flap, the middle ear, and the inner ear.

In another act of misrepresentation I would argue, they have called this ginger tabby and white cat with a long face and large ear flaps (possible Oriental Shorter genes somewhere in the) "Audio". That's the opposite to what he should be called because 'audio' means producing sound whereas ear flaps capture sound. Another anomaly!

------------------

P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Domestic cats can tell where you are from your voice and distinguish between voices

I'm not sure that this study furthers the sum knowledge of cat behaviour but at least it is quite nice to have a study confirm what most of us already know.

The study found that the cats "can mentally picture where others are through cues like sound". What that means to me is that domestic cats can visualise the location of a person by hearing the sound of their voice only. This is called 'socio-spatial cognition'. CNN have phrased the skill thus: Cats can track your 'invisible presence' using only their ears. As I say below - no surprise. How do they think cats catch mice in long grass? Through sound that's how. 😇

The large ears of a male Devon Rex in Russia. Photo: Олеся Бондарева (Russia).

Cats can also distinguish between different people and therefore different voices and sounds produced by them. Finally they can also recognise emotional sounds. This is why cats respond to the sound of their owner calling them.

The ability to create mental images is present in other animals such as meerkats and vervet monkeys.

The study took place at Kyoto University. The lead researcher is Saho Takagi. She said that she has always been interested in cats' hearing.

The researchers placed speakers apart from each other and out of sight. It seems that they used the voices of the cats' owners. The voice of a person was emitted from these speakers at different location. The participating cats recognised the sounds at these different locations.

I think I can provide a practical example. Many years ago I had placed by now deceased female cat in a boarding cattery for 2 weeks. On my return to collect her as I walked into the large room where there were pens, I called out. I couldn't see her and vice versa. A worker there told me that she turned towards my voice. She recognised my voice which to be honest was entirely expected and of course she knew where it was coming from.

ASSOCIATED: Is my cat losing her hearing?

The reason why I think the study is rather pointless is because we know that cats have incredibly mobile ear flaps driven by around 30 separate muscles. They hear behind them and think nothing of not turning their head to towards the source of the sound. They know where the sound is coming from, locate it and don't even bother to turn their head.

ASSOCIATED: What is the hearing range of a cat?

The incredible mobility of their ear flaps supports the notion that cats pinpoint sounds very accurately. In fact they can detect the position of small prey animals by sound alone. This skill is also present in the serval which has enormous ear flaps. They detect small mammals in long grass by sound alone and pounce on them without seeing the prey animal first.

How do I clean my cat's ears?

I guess the first point to make is that cats don't need their ears cleaning routinely. In fact, you might never need to do it and probably won't need to do it throughout your cat's entire life. I would argue that it is only under exceptional circumstances when there is an excessive amount of wax, dirt or debris visible in the ear that you should consider cleaning them. It would be unlikely, in my view, for ears to be this dirty under normal circumstances. Seeing some wax in the ear is not a reason to clean them because the wax is there for a purpose i.e. to maintain ear health and to capture bits of debris which head towards the eardrum.

Cleaning a cat's ears. Screenshot.

My reference manual for this article is Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook by four American veterinarians. They say that for small amounts of waxy debris a damp cotton ball or a cotton tipped swab works well. A cat should tolerate it. The vets stress that you should not put any cleaning solution in the ear but use a special cleaning solution from your veterinarian. In America this might be Epi-Optic but just check with a veterinarian first; I would. This is applied to the external ear canal and after application you massage the base of the ear to loosen the dirt, debris and ear wax. You then gently wipe out the ear with a cotton ball.

In the ear flap that there are ear folds and creases and these areas can be cleaned with a cotton tipped swab moistened with oil or a cleaning solution. You don't push the cotton-tip swab into the ear canal under any circumstances as this will make matters worse by jamming the debris towards the eardrum where it will be impossible to get out. You'd have to go to a veterinarian to have that removed professionally.

They also say that you should not use ether, alcohol or other irritating solvents to help you clean your cat's ears. They can cause pain and inflame the tissues inside the ear. Cats will probably object in this sort of ear cleaning so you may have to restrain them. You should try and keep calm and quiet while doing it and provide them with a treat afterwards.

Restraining a cat is quite difficult, I think. Cats can generally struggle against restraint. I also think that you have to work quickly because there will be a time limit based upon how long your cat accepts it. Some will be more pliable than others. 

I think if you hold a cat by the scruff of their neck it will restrain and subdue them but only for a certain period of time perhaps around 15 seconds which sounds very short but this is the kind of time-limit one has, I think, for doing these sorts of procedures. Perhaps two phases of 15 seconds might be the way forward.

The alternative is a towel wrapped around them. This is probably better provided the cat accepts it. It will provide more time.

Here is a video on the topic. I have not seen it except for the first 20 seconds or so. The advice may differ to that provided here.

Doja Cat likes clothing that makes her feel like a 'bad bitch'

She likes tight-fitting pants (trousers). She says that her backside is too big relative to the rest of her body and it is as if another person is tacked on to her lower body! 

“When my pants fit right. I struggle a lot because I have a really fat ass and nothing else on my body matches it. It’s like I’ve stolen someone else’s lower half. If I find pants that hug everything and act as Spanx, nobody can fuck with me, I’m on top of the world.”

She is very body and clothes conscious as I guess she would be. She said that she adopted her stage name "Doja Cat", from one of her cats and her favored strain of marijuana. She said: "I was heavily addicted to weed and weed culture, so when I began rapping, I thought of the word 'doja' and how it sounds like a girl's name."

Doja Cat likes clothing that makes her feel like a 'bad bitch'. Photo: Twitter.

DOES DOJA CAT HAVE A CAT - CLICK TO FIND OUT.

She knew she was different from an early age. It's obvious but what I like about her is that the word "cat" is incorporated within her name. She obviously likes cats and lives with cats or a cat (please click the link above). You can almost forget that the word "cat" is a central part of her persona. That's why on this page you see a photograph of her in a dramatic suit of clothes and wearing cat ears.

The sun of Northern Ireland gave this cat ear cancer

Northern Ireland is notorious for dull, damp, grey days or that is how I visualise the country. Rain constantly sweeps up from the south-west. One thing is certain, there is not a lot of sun in Northern Ireland and yet it was enough to damage this cat's ears to the point where skin cancer developed perhaps about a year or so later. When this white cat was found and fostered by a volunteer working for Cats Protection she had to be taken to a veterinarian to have her ear flaps amputated. As it happened, she had also been involved in a car accident and lost an eye as well.

 The sun of Northern Ireland gave this cat ear cancer. Photo: Cats Protection.

As you can see she is all-white and as you probably know all-white cats are particularly susceptible to sunburn of their ear flaps. This is because there is less protection of the skin because white fur is hair without pigmentation and in any case the fur on a cat's ear flaps, as you also know, is very thin indeed. There is almost no protection from the sun's ultraviolet light.

It is a precautionary tale with the summer coming up. She has been named Smurf and the moral of the story is that even in quite wet, overcast climates such as that of Northern Ireland the sun can cause sunburn on cat ear flaps. The Cat Protection central veterinary officer, Sarah Elliott, said that: "Even on a cold day, when the sun is bright there is still the potential for damage to occur. Pale-coloured cats like Smurf are particularly at risk, or indeed any cats that have unpigmented white noses or ears."

You can apply sunscreen to a cat's ears and you might ask your veterinarian for his or her advice on the best product. And of course on those particularly hot days you can keep your cat inside if that is practical. I know that outside cats find it very difficult to remain inside. This may encourage the owner to let them out in the interests of peace and quiet. Under those circumstances I would have thought that sunscreen on the ears would be essential particularly if your cat is light-coloured as mentioned.

Cat Ear Anatomy – Henry’s Pocket – Why it Exists

Cat Ear Anatomy – Henry’s Pocket – Why it Exists

Have you noticed that rather strange secondary ear flap attached to the main ear flap (the bit you see) in your cat? If you look carefully you see what is described as a "pouch" or "pocket" at the lower part of the ear flap (scientific name: pinna). The photo shows it:

Everyone says that this pouch or pocket serves no purpose. I disagree - but cautiously - because I am not sure. However, it is a part of the anatomy of a cat's ear and nature wouldn't have allowed it to evolve without a reason, I believe.

All evolution is about survival. I therefore concluded that Henry's Pocket or the "feline cutaneous marginal pouch" (as it is scientifically referred to) exists to enhance hearing of high frequency sound produced by its primary prey: the mouse.

The only reason for enhancing hearing is to improve the chances of survival which can be translated into improving the chances of catching prey. Domestic cats are wild at heart.

Therefore having researched "pinna notch" I concluded its presence was a modification of that. What is pinna notch?

It is the inference and consequential reduction in strength of sound waves of a certain frequency as they hit the ear drum because some sound bounces around the ear before entering the ear canal and impinging upon the ear drum, while some sound enters the ear drum direct. The later is a direct path and the former is the longer path. The sound that has the longer path interferes with sound of a different frequency which takes the shorter path causing it to be attenuated (reduced in volume). Henry's pocket creates an area where sound bounces around before exiting to the ear drum at the end of the ear canal.

This allows high frequency sound to stand out more and become more noticeable, which aids the cat in detecting the sounds that rodents make which are high pitched (ultrasound).

That is the theory and it is only a theory. The link at the top of the page takes you to a similar article which explains it differently! It is a rather complicated theory. No one else has proposed this.

Cats have better hearing than dogs and much better than ours. There range of hearable frequencies is much wider. Cats are superb at detecting and locating rodents through sounds.

Note 1: please see the comment: Anonymous 16 January 2016 at 07:15 which provides a very credible reason for the existence of this anatomical ear feature.

Note 2: this is a cross-post because I think the idea deserves to be posted on more than one website.