Here is a picture of a part of the domestic cat anatomy that is semi-abstract because the ears are so strange. The image immediately appealed to me as suitable to make a puzzling picture. They are the ears of an Elf cat – a dwarf hairless cat with curled back ears because they are a Munchkin dwarf cat and American Curl hybrid. A weird, extreme hybrid I’d suggest. Hairless cat breeders like to create this cat but to be honest I am not sure that they have a place in the pantheon of cat breeds.
The ears of this cat have been doubly altered from their normal state. They are hairless and therefore unprotected by fur and they curl back which makes them less effective as collectors of sound waves. From a purely functional point of view the Elf cat is a failure. It is weirdness for weirdness sake. I am going on too much. There are people who like the appearance and if they are kept indoors and loved they’ll have a decent life.
The cat fancy do like ears. It is a part of the domestic cat’s anatomy that lends itself to genetic manipulation. There are folded ears (Scottish Fold) and curled back ears (American Curl), tall, triangular ears (Maine Coon) with fur on top, and rounded, tiny ears (Persian). The breed standards always mention what the ears should look like.
The cat with the biggest ears is the wild serval. It is because they hunt by hearing the sound of their prey in tall grass. They do it all by sound and leap high and plunge down to the exact spot where the sound comes from to kill the poor creature, a rodent normally.
Click this for a page on ear types.
SOME MORE ON THE HAIRLESS CATS:
