What kind of vision does a cat have - color or black and white? The world through the eyes of a cat

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

The cat has been considered a close friend of man for more than 10 thousand years, but despite this, it remains a mysterious animal that we have yet to get to know better. Today, the feline family is credited with many unique abilities, such as seeing in the dark and feeling otherworldly creatures. Let's see what kind of vision a cat has, for example, can it see in the dark.

Vision in the dark

Many people wonder why cats see in the dark. But is it? Of course, a cat sees better at night than a person, but she cannot see in pitch darkness. This is due to the fact that in this species of animals the pupils are narrowed, and they need much fewer light particles to see objects well. In the process of evolution, this ability has developed for a quality ambush at any time of the day. Despite the fact that a cat's vision in the dark is eight times more effective than that of a human, it is still unable to see in pitch darkness. The world through the eyes of a cat is not the same as a human, because of the perception of colors, let's look at why.

Visioncats

Thanks to the observations of scientists, it was found that the eyes of a cat see the same way as a human, but at the same time they have slightly more capabilities. Experts call a cat's vision binocular. With this type, high myopia, which allows you to perceive the world in a three-dimensional form and select all objects in the visibility zone, but at the same time, the farsightedness of the binocular gaze is much less than the human one.

Due to their myopia, cats can clearly see objects near them, but due to eye pathologies, they see only certain colors. Many people think: do cats have color or black and white vision? Let's get to the bottom of this.

Does a cat see colors

Some animals see the world in black and white. But not cats. They perceive blue and green colors very brightly in the world around them, but at the same time they practically do not see red, brown, orange and purple. Evolution has made such changes in the vision of cats due to their active nocturnal lifestyle, which led to the development of only certain areas of the brain.

Man distinguishes a huge number of colors compared to a cat. She, of course, does not see the world in black and white, but the blue-green world is also not saturated with a lot of shades. Therefore, we can assume that the cat sees worse than her best friend. In addition, she cannot see what is happening at a long distance, unlike other animals. Therefore, the world through the eyes of a cat is completely different than that of other animals. But why does a person distinguish objects and see at long distancesbetter quality?

Grey color

A cat is a nocturnal predatory animal, so it is very important that its eyes at night allow you to distinguish prey among unnecessary objects. In the dark, a cat, just like a person, cannot see colors, this is due to light particles, which are very few at night, but she sees more clearly than other animals. But the world is no longer yellow, green and blue, but tinted grey.

At night, a cat can clearly distinguish a gray tint, which, of course, affected the choice of a favorite prey for a house naughty mouse. But no matter what vision a cat has, in any case, it stands out clearly from other animals.

Differences with human vision

Of course, it's all about the brain. Unlike humans, cats have developed those parts of the brain that are responsible for hearing and smell, so feline vision is worse than these senses. In humans, most of the neurons are taken away by the motor skills of the hands.

Unlike other creatures, a cat's sight is an auxiliary sense, not the main one - hearing and smell are considered the main ones. Evolution has put everything in its place due to the fact that the cat is considered an ambush animal. That is why she does not need a long-sighted view of several kilometers.

Dogs see better than cats, and this is also due to the development of the brain. The structure of the limbs and their work in the cat family is much more complicated, therefore, in conjunction with the development of areas responsible for hearing and smell, vision onThe surface of the cerebral cortex in cats does not leave space, and they see worse.

Cat eye color

Many people think that every cat has green eyes, right? In fact, today cats have a large number of shades of eyes. Here are the main colors:

1. Brown - often found in purebred cats, including wild ones.
2. Blue - found in breeds that have a white tint in their colors.
3. Golden, yellow, orange, copper - depends on the incest of the breed and coat color.
4. Sapphire - found in the Siamese breed.
5. Turquoise - Tonkinese and Siamese breed.

There may also be a cat with green eyes, but this is often not due to the breed, but to the fact that the color gradually fades or is noticeable only in a certain state of the pet.

Vision in cats

Let's sum up what kind of eyesight a cat has. Despite the fact that the structure of the eyeball is similar to that of a human, cones and rods in the cat family are much more sensitive. They do not need a large amount of light, so they react to any movement even in the dark. The peculiarities of cats' vision include the fact that they do not see the object in the smallest details, but only its silhouette. But for any predator hunting from ambush, this is enough to catch prey.

To understand how a cat's daytime vision is, you should know that in bright light, her pupils constrict to regulate the flow of light particles. Because of this, during the daytimecat eyes see a little worse than in the evening. But she is able to see infrared radiation with her own eyes, which is inherent in all living beings.

The features of binocular vision include a wide coverage of the surrounding world, namely this type of vision is developed in cats. They see, unlike other animals, 270 degrees around, this is much wider than that of a person. But in this regard, cats fix vertical movement worse, but they see horizontal movements of prey perfectly. This is probably due to the fact that they are less likely to catch flying animals.

Cats see better at night than during the day because their light sensitivity is too strong. This is also the reason why cats like to sleep during the day and hunt at night.