If you are living with a kitty, you will know how much cats love chasing, pouncing, and catching all sorts of things.Bright fluffy toys, laser pointers, and shiny balls, are all things that a cat loves, but what do they all have in common? The intense colors of course! However, these toys might not be taking full advantage of a cat’s vision.So, can cats actually see in color? The answer is yes. Cats do see color, but there’s a catch. While it is true that they can see most colors, they cannot see them in the same way as humans do. Cats can detect colors from violet to blue and green to yellow wavelengths of light but not red to orange. They cannot tell the difference between reds, greens, and yellows, but they can see all the muted colors like blue and gray. You might think a cat’s eyesight is worse than ours, but that is not true. The only thing they lack is color distinction, and they make up for this in other areas. A cat’s depth perception is much higher than ours as the retina of a cat’s eye has two types of cells: rods, and cones. A cat’s night vision is much better than a human’s.After reading about cats’ eyes, do check out other fun facts such as is tea tree oil safe for cats and how often do cats go into heat.What is color blindness?Color blindness is a reduced ability to see and differentiate between colors in our surroundings. When a person is color blind, they have difficulty distinguishing between colors like red, orange, and green. So, it can be said that cats are not completely colorblind.Color blindness is usually a genetic condition that you are born with. The retina of an eye has two types of light-sensitive cells, which are known as rods and cones. Both of these are found in the retina, which is a layer at the back of an eye that is responsible for processing an image. Rods help in dim light conditions by giving you night vision, but cones mainly work in the daylight and help us to distinguish between colors. Three types of cones exist, and each one has a different sensitivity to wavelengths of light, aiding the vision of cats. The red, blue, and green cones work with each other, which allows us to see a whole spectrum of colors. Color blindness occurs when one of these cones is faulty. For example, if the blue cone is defective, you will not be able to see colors containing blue. In the case of animals, some of them have fewer or many cones. This results in some animals having better night vision or seeing some colors differently. A pet, like a dog, is color blind as it cannot see specific colors such as red, orange, and green, but they can see blue, yellow, and violet. Rods and cones are also known as light-receptors.Do cats see black and white?A popular theory suggests that cats are completely colorblind and can only see their surroundings in black, white, and gray hues. This theory is entirely wrong.A human eye has three types of color cones: red, green, and blue. A feline also has these cone cells and can distinguish between colors. However, cats don’t see colors in the same way as we do. A cat’s color spectrum is much less when compared to ours, and they find it difficult to distinguish between different color hues. That doesn’t mean they cannot tell the difference between two intense colors like red and green.What colors can and can’t cats see?Cat’s eyes are extremely sensitive compared to human eyes and those of dogs. They don’t need to lubricate their eyes as we do with tears.For cats, the easiest colors to see are blues and violets. They can easily spot these colors and distinguish between them, but the problem for a cat arises with colors such as red, green, and brown. Cats cannot distinguish between these colors easily. The type of colorblindness that cats have is called ‘deuteranopia.’Can cats see in the dark?Cats cannot see in absolute darkness, just like us. However, their night vision is much better when compared to humans.In the retina of a cat, there is an abundance of cones. This means that they can clearly see in the dark. The night vision of a cat is 6-8 times better than that of a human. The elliptical pupils of cats are specialized to let more light in and can become much larger compared to the human retina. Slit pupils are seen in animals which are active at day and night. Cats also have ‘tapetum lucidum.’ This is an extra layer behind the cat’s eye, which reflects the light passing through the retina backward from the eye. This increases the light levels in rod cells. This extra layer is the reason why a cat’s eyes appear to glow in the dark. Rod cells allow us to see light at really low levels.How do we know that cats can see color?Behavioral test conducted on cats shows that cats can see colors. They can distinguish between blue and red but confuse red and green.Scientists have studied the eyes of cats. The fact that these animals have cones in their eyes means that they can see colors, but what shades of color they can see totally depends on the cat’s perception of vibrant colors. In scientific observations, feline eyes do not perceive the full range of colors. Many scientists believe that felines can only see gray and blue.Blue-eyed cats are not more prone to color blindness; blindness in blue-eyed cats is either hereditary or acquired.How accurate is cat eyesight?A cat’s visual activity is anywhere between 20/100 to 40/100, which means they have to stand 20 feet away from something to see what a human being can see at 100 or 200 feet away.In comparison to the human lens, the cat lens is much larger, allowing much more light in. However, due to its smaller size, a human lens can focus light over larger distances, whereas a cat’s lens cannot do that. This is the reason why cats have an issue focusing on anything too close. An average human’s field of view is 180 degrees, whereas a cat’s peripheral vision has a 200-degree range of vision. However, cats see the world with blurry vision. Felines can see everything in different depths of dimension. Felines cannot tell the differences between human faces. Cats are good at visual recognition, but human faces are an issue for them. Cats use other things such as our scent, the sound of our voices, and the way we feel to recognize us and navigate the world.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for are cats color blind then why not take a look at how to deworm a cat, or Asiatic wildcat facts.
If you are living with a kitty, you will know how much cats love chasing, pouncing, and catching all sorts of things.
