Some animals are known for their hearing. Dogs, cats, and other animals can hear more acutely and farther than most humans can hear. People often wonder how a cat’s hearing works. They wonder if cats can hear further than humans, or if there is a sound range a cat can hear. People also wonder if cats use hearing for hunting, and if hearing is the cat’s strongest sense. Here we will talk about these questions, and answer them for you, so you can better understand how hearing works with cats.
Can Cats Hear Further Than Humans?
It is well known by now that animals have a very good sense of hearing. This also include animals like cats. Cats can hear farther than humans and can hear more than humans. A cat with excellent hearing will hear sounds from as far as half a mile away, sounds that a human would be totally unaware of.
Cats can also hear around 10.5 octaves, which is the broadest range of hearing for any animal out there, which is higher than a typical human can hear. A human can hear around 9.3 octaves. A cat’s hearing is especially sensitive when the sound is at the middle frequencies. If you whisper, for example, the cat can hear it pretty easily. You actually don’t need to shout at all for your cat to hear you. This is especially true if you see your cat staring at a wall. This means that your cat likely hears something inside the wall and is trying to discern what that noise is.
This also means cats can be easily startled or excited by sudden sounds. And, consequently, means since they can hear at a higher level, they can hear mechanical sounds more clearly, and might not be able to tune them out, like a regular human could tune a sound out. These sounds could be appliances like dishwashers, or vacuum cleaners, for example.
What Sound Range Can Cats Hear?
The sound range animals can hear differ from each other, especially when compared to humans and cats. Humans and cats both share a lower hearing limit, which would be at around 20 Hz.
Humans have an upper hearing limit of about 20,000 Hz. This can fall to around 12,000 – 15,000 Hz as we get older and have hearing loss. This is why it is important to protect your hearing as much as possible. The louder sounds you hear, and the more frequently, the more likely it is to suffer hearing loss. This is especially true for cats, too, they have a hearing range higher than ours, which is at about 64,000 Hz, so this is around three times higher than humans.
Of course, like humans, as cats age, they will have hearing loss. They can either be born with hearing problems (like humans), or lose it over a period of time (also like humans). An interesting fact here is that, white cats with blue eyes, are actually more likely to have hearing problems. Cats can also get an outer ear infection, which is very common in cats, and can also lead to certain hearing problems as well. Of course, this is easily preventable and treatable.
Does A Cat Use Hearing for Hunting?
As we established earlier, animals can have a good sense of hearing. This is also very good for hunting with certain animals. This includes cats, which also use hearing as a technique for hunting.
Cats have a very advanced sense of hearing. They use their large ears to pick up on sounds when they are out on a hunt. As we talked about previously, cats can hear as low as humans can, but can hear three times higher than most humans can! They use this as a way of hunting to pick up on noises we humans might miss, in order for the cat to home in, and catch its prey.
Consequently, cats can also discriminate between different tones, and pitches of noise, that humans may not be able to do. Because they can discriminate between noises, they can easily use this to their advantage when catching prey. Cats’ ears will perk up and swivel when they are trying to discern and pinpoint a sound. The interesting part with cats is, that they can discern between noises that are very close together, even if they are only a few feet apart.
See Also: Why Does My Well Fed Cat Hunt?
And: Can Domestic Cats Eat Raw Meat?
Is Hearing a Cat’s Strongest Sense?
Hearing is a very strong sense in most animals. A great deal, if not all animals, depend on hearing somewhat when they are hunting, or trying to defend themselves from predators. Of course, as we have discussed, a cat’s hearing can pick up noises that many humans cannot pick up on, or even discern. So yes, a cat’s sense of hearing is one of its strongest senses, but it is not the strongest sense it has. The strongest sense a cat has would be smell.
A Cat’s sense of smell is what they depend on for identifying certain things, such as humans, objects, fellow felines, and other animals. While humans have just 5 million odor senses in their nose, cats have over 200 million odor senses in their nose. That also means their sense of smell is around 14 times better than that of a human’s sense of smell.
This also means that certain smells might bother your cat as well. This can include certain litters used in a litter box, or other animals.
Conclusion
We talked about a cat’s sense of hearing and how cats use it to discern types of noises. Then we also talked about how a cat’s hearing is three times better than that of human hearing. We then talked about how cats use hearing for hunting and how they can easily discern between noises that are very close together. Then we mentioned how a cat’s sense of smell is actually better than its sense of hearing, but both are better than a human’s sense of smell and hearing.
We hope this answered your questions about a cat’s sense of hearing and cleared up any confusion!
Featured image: A cat hunting, ears up, listening, eyes open, watching.
