We can look forward to confusing our cat. This sparks their mind, piques their curiosity, and makes us into enjoyable playthings. But how do we know we’ve actually confused them?

We watch their ears.

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The widely swiveled ears we see in the picture are the classic “what the hey?” reaction from a cat who is puzzled by something, but is not, yet, reacting in any particular way. Because they are not sure what they need to react to.

Lesser confusions are expressed with one ear. The ear which quickly swivels to the side and goes flat on the top is on the opposite side of the brain which is processing the confusion. When we have confused both sides of their brain, we get the Full Confused Ears.

Aside from delighting Monty Python fans, what is the point of confusing the cat, and why do we need to know when we have confused them?

Part of good cat care is keeping their minds, as well as their bodies, in shape. If we aren’t offering puzzles for the cat to solve, we are not doing all we can to keep their brains active.

Cats like puzzles and suspense, hiding games and intrigue, because their natural predation strategies are so dependent on outwitting their prey. This is why Mr. Bond hides his furry mice under a throw rug. This is why RJ cannot resist the end of the wand toy taunting him from behind a chair leg. This is why Olwyn has learned to burrow under our covers to see what is making the comforter move on top.

We need to know what the cat is thinking when we approach them, whether we have caused the confusion, or not. A confused cat is eager to play, and glad to accept our help in understanding what has puzzled them. A frightened cat is apprehensive, and needs our help and hands-off reassurance.

As we can see in this aggressive wildcat, the ears are saying “confusion,” while the rest of the face is signaling fear and a willingness to attack.

The bared fangs, widened eyes, and bunched muzzle will soon push the ears all the way over, folding them back into a clear “fighting posture.”

These “angry ears” are not something we can mistake for “confused ears,” once we know what to look for. This is a vital clue to our cat’s state of mind, and how we can know when to engage the cat, and when to back off.

Not recognizing the cat’s ear signals are probably the biggest way people misunderstand the way they are playing with a cat. They think the cat is having fun; until someone gets hurt. Cats are acutely aware of how outmatched they are with us, size-wise. Until a cat is confident of our good intentions, and trusts us, they can easily feel overwhelmed, and this can tip over into defense.

“Confused ears” let us know the cat has not yet committed to an attitude about what they are encountering. The rest of their face should be calm, even if they drop their jaw to draw in more of the scent around them in an attempt to gather more information. This “Flehmen response” tends to make our domestic cats look dopey and astonished, not hostile.

As always, the totality of the cat’s response must be evaluated; the “lashing tail” is agitation, while a quieter tail indicates a thinking process is going on. It also helps if we know our cat, and how they tend to react in known circumstances.

With a better understanding of what our cats are communicating with their expressive bodies, we won’t mistake I’m fascinated, tell me more, with I’m overwhelmed, leave me alone.

Cats communicate their mental state all the time; they are truly Method Actors, and can’t help it. We simply need to know what we are seeing.

Find out more about Konfuse-A-Kat, my set of interactive dice games for cats.

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There’s more ways to understand our cat with The Way of Cats than the article you are reading now. See all of my posts on WHY CATS DO THAT.