Are Cats Color Blind? Feline Vision Explained (Vet Approved)
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We’ve all pondered what the world looks like through a cat’s perspective, but have you ever thought about which colors your cat experiences the world in? And if they can see color, do we see the same colors? It’s a complex subject to study, and thankfully now we have some answers. Cats experience a colorful world, but they don’t get to appreciate all the colors we do, which means that in relation to humans, we might consider them color blind. But let’s take a look at this assertion a little more closer.
Can Cats See Color?
Yes, cats can see a range of colors that are believed to be less vibrant than what humans see. And to understand this difference, we first need to look into the mechanics behind how color is perceived. There are two types of photoreceptor cells in the retina (which is the back of the eye and is light-sensitive) called rods and cones.
Rods are responsible for night and motion perception, while cones control color perception and day vision. Cats have more rods than humans, allowing them to see in the dark better than us. On the other hand, cats and humans have three types of cones to identify red, green, and blue combinations. However, in the area of maximum cone concentration, humans have nearly 8 times more cones than cats, so we can discern more color variations.
What Can Cats See?
Cats are considered trichromats, which means they have three-cone vision. However, their sight is sometimes compared to varieties of dichromatism, also known as color blindness, because their color vision is not as rich as ours. Researchers think that cats are limited to seeing shades of blue, yellow, green, and gray, with pinks and reds appearing as green and purple looking like a different shade of blue. Cats don’t see a true representation of the color, and since they have far fewer cone photoreceptors, they don’t see color in the same vibrant tones we do.
What Else Do We Know About What Cats Can See?
We always think of cats as having better eyesight than humans, but in some respects, it isn’t as acute as our vision. Cats are nearsighted, so objects that are far away aren’t as crisp as they might appear to us. It’s estimated that a cat must be 7 times closer to an object to see it as sharply as we do.
Cat’s eyes make up for these deficiencies by the large size of their corneas and their elliptical pupils. This enables them to take in as much light as possible, requiring only a sixth of the light humans require. Cat’s eyes are located at the front of their heads, but they have a slightly wider field of view compared to us, which allows for a broader periphery range. The extra rods also help them detect motion more accurately than we do—even very subtle movements can be detected. Cats also have a structure called the tapetum lucidum behind their retina that works as a mirror reflecting the light back to the photoreceptors and stimulating them twice, making the most of very dim light conditions.
Why Do Cats See Like This?
A cat’s eyes are designed to help them thrive and survive in the wild. Seeing slight movements in dim lighting improves their ability to hunt. It also helps them detect predators so they can scurry away to safety.
Understanding how your cat sees may convince you to pick the blue and yellow toys over the pink. And if you’re trying to tempt them to play, you might stand closer before you shake the toy at them because you’ll look like a yellow-blue blob from far away.
Final Thoughts
Cats have three types of cones, just like us, but are sometimes considered color blind because they don’t necessarily see an object’s color as we do. However, the world is a much more colorful place for them than we once thought. At first, we believed cats saw the world in black and white, but it turns out they see variations of color.
Cats might be unable to see something clearly unless they are approximately 7 times closer to it than we are, but their eyes make up for it by allowing them to see subtle movement in dim lighting. This ability keeps them safe in the wild and on evening strolls in the neighborhood!
- See also: Are Cats Ticklish? Signs, Facts, & FAQ
Featured Image Credit: SnacksInTheBackpack, Pexels
