Thirty-two individual muscles in each ear allow for a manner of directional hearing; a cat can move each ear independently of the other. Because of this mobility, a cat can move its body in one direction and point its ears in another direction. Most cats have straight ears pointing upward.

A cat hasin each ear, compared to a human's 6 muscles each. A cat can rotate its ears independently 180 degrees, and turn in the direction of sound 10 times faster than those of the best watchdog.