Content
- Cats have bigger eyes than us
- Cats see 8 times better in dim light
- Cats see more blurred in daylight
- Cats don't see in black and white
- Cats have a wider field of vision
- Cats don't focus too closely
The eyes of cats are similar to those of people but evolution has made their eyesight focus on improving the hunting activity of these animals, predators by nature. Like good hunters, cats need to understand the movements of things around them when there is little light and it is not essential that they distinguish a wide range of colors to survive, but it is still not true that they only see in black and white. In reality, they see worse than us when it comes to focusing on objects up close, however, they have a larger field of view at great distances and are able to see in the dark.
if you want to know how cats see, continue reading this PeritoAnimal article where we will show you some important points to take into account when knowing how cats see.
Cats have bigger eyes than us
To fully understand how cats see, we must refer to the cat expert and scientist at the University of Bristol, John Bradshaw, who claims that the eyes of cats are larger than those of humans. due to its predatory nature.
The fact that the predecessors of felines (wild cats) had the need to hunt so that they could feed and prolong this activity for the maximum number of hours a day, made their eyes change and increase in size, making them bigger. than those of humans, in addition to being located in front of the head (binocular vision) to encompass a larger field of vision as the good predators they are. cats eyes are too big compared to their heads if we compare them with our proportions.
Cats see 8 times better in dim light
Due to the need to prolong the hunting time of wild cats at night, the predecessors of domestic cats developed a night vision between 6 to 8 times better than humans. They are able to see well even in the smallest light and this is due to the fact that they have a greater amount of photoreceptors in the retina.
In addition, cats have the so-called tapetum lucidum, with complex eye tissue that reflects light after having absorbed a large amount and before reaching the retina, which causes them to have sharper vision in the dark and their eyes to glow in the dim light. So when we take a picture of them at night, cats' eyes sparkle. Therefore, the less light there is, the better cats see compared to humans, but on the other hand, felines see worse in daylight due to the tapetum lucidum and the photoreceptor cells, which cause your vision to be limited by absorbing too much light during the day.
Cats see more blurred in daylight
As mentioned earlier, the light receptor cells responsible for cats' vision are different from ours. Although both cats and humans share the same type of photoreceptors, cones for distinguishing colors in bright light and rods for seeing black and white in dim light, these are not evenly distributed: while in our eyes the cones dominate, in the eyes of cats dominate the rods. And not only that, these rods do not connect directly with the ocular nerve and as a result, directly with the brain as in humans, they connect first to each other and form small groups of photoreceptor cells. In such a way that the night vision of cats is excellent compared to ours, but during the day the opposite happens and it is the cats that have a blurred and less sharp vision, because their eyes do not send to the brain, through the nerve. ocular, detailed information about which cells have to stimulate more.
Cats don't see in black and white
In the past, it was believed that cats could only see in black and white, but this myth is now history, as several studies have shown that cats can only distinguish some colors in a limited way and depending on the ambient light.
As already mentioned, the photoreceptor cells in charge of perceiving colors are the cones. Humans have 3 different types of cones that capture red, green and blue light; on the other hand, cats only have cones that capture green and blue light. Therefore, are able to see cool colors and distinguish some warm colors like yellow but do not see the red color which in this case see it as a dark gray. They are also not able to see colors as vivid and saturated as humans, but they do see some colors like dogs.
An element that also influences the vision of cats is light, something that means that the less light there is, the less the cat's eyes can distinguish the colors, which is why felines only see in black and white in the dark.
Cats have a wider field of vision
According to artist and researcher Nickolay Lamn of the University of Pennsylvania, who conducted a study on feline vision along with the help of several feline ophthalmologists and veterinarians, the cats have a larger field of vision than people.
Cats have a 200-degree field of view, while humans have a 180-degree field of view, and although it seems small, it's a significant number when comparing visual range, for example, in these photographs by Nickolay Lamn where the the top shows what a person sees and the bottom shows what a cat sees.
Cats don't focus too closely
Finally, to better understand how cats see, we have to notice the sharpness of what they see. People have greater visual acuity when focusing on objects at close range because our peripheral vision range on each side is smaller than that of cats (20° compared to their 30°). That's why we humans can focus sharply up to a distance of 30 meters and the cats reach 6 meters away to see the objects well. This fact is also due to their having bigger eyes and having less facial muscles than us. However, the lack of peripheral vision gives them greater depth of field, something that is very important for a good predator.
In these photographs we show you another comparison by researcher Nickolay Lamn about how we see up close (top photo) and how cats see (bottom photo).
If you are curious about cats, read our article on their memory!
