For a relaxed cat, the ears will be upright, but slightly rotated to the side. When the ears are more forward facing, your cat is on alert, or maybe even frustrated. Flattened ears can mean different things. If the ears are sideways and down, your cat is fearful, but also still trying to get information. The flatter the ears, the more fearful the cat. Complete backward rotation of the ears is getting them out of harm’s way in anticipation of an attack. When each ear is doing something different, the interpretation is more ambiguous . . . and in that moment, so is your cat’s emotional state.
