How do Cats see?


How cats see it is something you ask yourself when you see them snap suddenly for no clear reason. For no clear reason for us, but they probably see it very well. That’s why we often ask ourself, we don’t know about them, “How do cats see?”.

The first difference, which catches the eye, concerns the breadth of views these felines have with respect to us. They have a field of view of 200 degrees, we only have 180 degrees. This means that compared to us these animals see 10 degrees more on each side: in a nutshell, in degrees, we 20 degrees per side, they 30. This already makes us better understand How cats see and what they see more than us.

How cats see in the dark

It is not an urban legend that cats see in the dark. These aren’t super powers, but these animals see at least six times better in dim light than humans, sometimes even 8 times better. This feature is related to the shape of their pupil which, for those with cat eyes in mind, is clearly elliptical.

The size of the cornea also influences How cats see. If we then look at the retina, ours and that of cats, we discover that they have more rods than cones, therefore a more developed ability to see in dim light and during the night than we have more cones. On the other hand, rich in cones especially in the fovea area, we can see the bright colors and outlines much better even at high resolution.

How ghosts see cats

If we believe in ghosts, we can also ask ourselves How cats see these beings, in reality, but these animals have a different vision of colors than us, but without having psychic visions. Until recently it seemed that they had a dichromatic vision like dogs, or like those of us humans who have protanopia, a form of color blindness that means that only red and green are caught.

Today, however, studies are being carried out on how cats see and it is not excluded that they also take other colors, those tending to green.

Although generally considered a disability, color blindness can be beneficial in some situations; a color blind hunter, for example, may be able to better distinguish a camouflaged prey against a chaotic background. And precisely for this reason the visual apparatus of our feline hunter friends is designed. This allows them to register very fast movements, very useful when small animals that change direction very quickly escape from their clutches.

How cats and people see

We have already seen some differences between how cats and people see, first of all when it comes to night vision. We must add the different reaction that we and them have in capturing the movements. Once again, they win, seeing objects moving at 10 times faster than us.

How small cats see

When you have a kitten at home, you take care of it and follow it in the phase in which it is discovering every cm that it has around it, you also begin to think about how small cats see compared to adult ones. 


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