This is the vision (night and day) of cats

Many people choose to share their lives with a pet, and cats are one of the most common species. These cats are very popular, providing companionship and affection while being generally independent creatures, but curiously, despite how well they fit into the life habits of human beings, they see things in a very different way than us.

In many cases we can come to wonder how these animals perceive the world. In order to satisfy this curiosity, in this article we will review the conclusions reached by various experts about day and night vision of cats.

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the cat's eye

Vision is one of the most developed senses in the human being. Although in other animal species this sense is not as important as for a human due to the great development of hearing and smell, continues to be an important tool that allows fixing and locating stimuli with relative precision.

but the cats They present some peculiarities in the eye if we compare it with that of a human. They have a much larger number of rods, the receptors that perceive light and are also linked to the perception of movement, while their cones are not as efficient as ours and have a pigment less. In addition, these rods establish connections between them, and create small nodes prior to connecting to the optic nerve.

Another particular element of the cat's eye is that behind the retina they have a layer of reflective cells called tapetum lucidum, which makes it easier to capture any available light. It is also interesting that they have a great capacity for pupillary dilation, which on the one hand makes them better capture the light in the dark but on the other that in high light conditions they have to make efforts to focus the image.

They also have a third inner eyelid that keeps their eyes lubricated, which is why it is not so frequent to see them blink.

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Features of a cat's vision

We have been able to see that the eye of a cat, although it is similar in some ways to that of a human being, has certain differences that allow it to have a different visual capacity. Some of the differences that have been found throughout the various investigations carried out are the following.

1. A visual field larger than the human

The investigations carried out by various authors reflect that the visual field of a cat is greater than that which a human can capture. While human beings have 180º vision, cats enjoy the possibility of being able to see in 200º.

2. Night vision

Domestic cats have on average a much higher number of rods or photoreceptors than humans. This means that, together with the aforementioned tapetum lucidum, they are able to see in the penumbra or in the dark, specifically up to 8 times better than us.

3. movement perception

A cat's eyes are very good at distinguishing movement, especially around small or fast objects. However, it has been observed that have difficulty perceiving very slow movements, being for them something almost static.

4. color perception

There is a popular legend that cats and dogs are color blind, being able to only see in black and white. Research reflects otherwise; the cats are able to see in color. However, they are dichromatic, and do not have a pigment that allows them to see the color red. Thus, like us, they are able to see blue and green. Their color vision would therefore be similar to that of a human colorblind with protanopia.

5. Sharpness

In dim or dark situations, the cat's vision is clearly superior, being able to see with great ease. However, during the day the vision of cats is not so good, and it has been seen that in bright circumstances their rods are activated in such a dimension that they cannot fully determine which ones are stimulated. Thus, the sharpness of the cat's vision is less, which makes them see the images in a somewhat blurred way.

6. neither near nor far

In general, the characteristics of the cat's eyes, their size and location on the body mean that these cats have an optimal field of vision between three and six meters. Before three meters they usually have a certain level of farsightedness, while beyond six there may be slight myopia.