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How Well Do Cats See?
Cats can see almost as well as humans can, and at times better. Cat vision is designed for detecting motion, useful for hunting. Like humans, cats have binocular vision, although not as well tuned as in humans. This means a cat most likely sees in 3-D, as do humans, which is very useful for judging distance. Cats appear to be slightly nearsighted, which would suggest their vision is tailored more
for closer objects, such as for hunting, that can capture within running distance. Objects farther than several hundred yards rarely interest a cat.
Cats have the ability to jump from as much as 6 feet onto a narrow window ledge without touching the window. This would require not only excellent balance, but also precise distance judgment. Cats have both rods and cones in the retina. Rods are the receptors that the eye uses for night time viewing and sudden movement. Cones are used during the daytime, and process color information. Cats have more rods than cones, as compared with humans, making cat night and motion vision superior to humans. In low light, like night, color and hue are not perceived, only black, white and shades of gray.
Cats have an elliptical pupil which opens and closes much faster than round types and allows for a much larger pupil size. This allows more light to enter the eye. Cats also have a mirror like membrane on the back of their eyes called a Tapetum. It reflects the light passing through the rods... back through the rods a second time, this time
in the opposite direction. The result is a double exposure of the light, which permit cats to see well in near darkness. Although a cat cannot see in total darkness, a partly cloudy night sky with some stars will provide enough light for cats to hunt and see movement, even in the cover of most brush. At nigh, a cat relies on it's extremely sensi-
tive hearing and directional ear movement to locate the general position of prey, then targets and captures the prey using it's keen eyesight. The yellowish glow you see when you shine a light into cat eyes at night, is really your light reflecting off the Tapetum membrane.
"One of the quickest ways to a cat's brain is through its stomach."
~ Ian Dunbar, Ph.D.
When you bring home a new kitten, you need to supply her with lots of love and a high quality kitten food. A kitten has unique nutritional needs that regular cat food will not fulfill. Look for a diet that contains high quality protein which helps support your growing kitten's immune system and muscle development.
