Are cats colorblind?

[Randi]

I saw this at Ask Jeeves:

Are cats colorblind?

I don't have a clue myself, but I don't think they're totally colorblind.

Sometimes is seems as if Fister is totally blind, if I have some treats for him in my hand, he can't even find them, but is sniffing around like crazy! On the other hand, if things are moving, he'll be there in a flash!!

[Pam]

I don't know the answer to this but that link is very funny. It shows that it's best not to brag too much, especially if your spelling or typing skills leave something to be desired! I think my Trevor relies on his nose more too. He has an uncanny ability to "smell" an opened yogurt. Maybe it's his hearing that is so good, and he can actually hear the lid coming off! At any rate he is there in an instant, long before he sees it!

[Ann]

"Yes, because cats are also known to see ghosts wich are clear."

I personally thing that unless we find a cat that can speak, we won't ever know for sure.

[wayne0214]

It was heard somewhere that a cat cannot detect color as well as a human because of the elipitical opening of their eyes. But what about when their eyes are both "pie-eyed"? Remembering one day I had spray-painted two pieces of wood red, and one of my furkids definitely took notice of it! I suppose that their eyes are not necessarily color sensitive but rather motion perceptive, because the wild nature of a cat only needs to detect motion, and not color to survive.

......wayne

[Former User]

Howcome they see that red laser dot then from a laser pen if they are color blind?

[Ann]

Casper & Kitty; does it really matter if they can't see the color red? Wouldn't they still see the dot, just in a different color?

[Former User]

Originally posted by Ann
Casper & Kitty; does it really matter if they can't see the color red? Wouldn't they still see the dot, just in a different color?

No idea.

[tuxluvr]

http://www.ccmr.cornell.edu/ask/Clancy.htm

Here is a link that discusses this (and I'm thinking this woman can actually spell college, too )

Also, Animal Planet (or one of the cable discovery type channels) had a really good program on this some months back that talked about all of the cat's sensory abilities, eyes, smell - and that in many ways their sense of smell was more keen than a dog's...wish I could remember what it was called, it was really an interesting program.

[Randi]

tuxluvr! I saw that programme too, but of course I can't remember what they said exactly about a cats vision. Did you also see all the others from the series "The secret life of cats? Really interesting and informative!

Anyway, I think what Wayne says, sums it up:

I suppose that their eyes are not necessarily color sensitive but rather motion perceptive, because the wild nature of a cat only needs to detect motion, and not color to survive.

Niina! They can surely see the light moving, but not neccessarily what color it is.

[tuxluvr]

Randi, one thing I do remember them saying in the program about sight was that, while their vision was such that they could see well in dim light, they could not focus as "acutely" as humans - they used the example of us reading a book - the cat could not focus sharply enough to see that much detail, but the extra light reception helps them detect movement far away and in dimly lit environs...also, it talked about how sensitive the pawpads and whiskers were...that if someone were going to build a "perfect predator" that they had only to look at the cat for the ideal design!

Fascinating animals

[Randi]

tuxluvr! Oh yes, I do remember now! This also fits with when I have some crunchies in the palm of my hand - right under his nose I can see he can smell them, but not see them - until I move my hand. It's amazing how far they can see movement!! And even more amazing, how good they are judging a distance quite far up (or across) when they jump!

[toughCookie]

I don't know exactly what colors/shades of colors cats can or can not see, but I know that they do see colors...once I bought a new *red* mouse, and my 2 cats fought over it, even tho there were probably 10 other mice around, and they never fought over them before...

[wolflady]

This kind of stuff fascinates me too. Here are some articles I found about this topic:

Keeping in mind that your cat evolved from hunters, you can understand why his sense of sight is one of his strongest. But cats are generally considered colorblind.

The retina – the nerve center at the back of the eye – contains cells called rods (responsible for converting light into color) and cones (responsible for black and white). In cats, rods greatly outnumber cones.

Theoretically, color perception is possible since the eye contains some cones, but distinguishing color isn’t necessary for cats. Brightness is far more important. He can see in the dimmest of lights; his eyes can open about three times as wide as the human pupil and let in as much light as possible at the normal “hunting” times of dawn and dusk.

Because of the differences between human and cat retinas, the animals can see using one-sixth of the amount of light people need: At night, for example, objects appear six times brighter to a cat than they do to humans, which helps the animals hunt. In addition to better brightness vision, cats can also detect minute movement, which is easily missed by people - another benefit for a hunter.

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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 prey, 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 feat 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 sensitive 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.
Human Night View

Cat Night View

Do Cats See in Color?
We believe cats do see in color, although not exactly the way we do. In our tests, cats appeared to distinguish between the low to mid light wave spectrum (higher frequency), meaning cats
responded to the colors purple, blue, green and yellow range. Red, orange and brown colors
appear to fall outside cats color range and are most likely seen as shades of gray or purple.
Cats appear to see less saturation in colors than do humans,
meaning cats do not see colors as intensely or vibrantly.
Blue and green appear to be the strongest colors perceived by cats.
Our tests suggest cats can distinguish between more shades or levels of gray than can humans.

Human View

Cat View

No Color View

[K & L]

http://www.vetinfo.com/cateye.html#Color Vision in cats

[4 feline house]

Thanks, all, for the great info and links!