There is a misconception that cats are color blind. They can only see black and white. But it’s wrong. Cats can see various colors just like us. Though the concentration of cone cells in their retinas are few, they can see light blue, green, and yellow.
Their cone photoreceptors are 10 times lower than us humans. So, they cannot recognize red, pink, purple, and brown colors. They can see yellow instead of red, light green instead of purple, and light blue instead of pink color.
The questions that cat lovers face:
We play along with our cats all day with various toys, balls, and colorful things. But have you ever thought, can your cats even see those colors? Different commercial markets sell shiny, colorful things and toys for our cats. But do you not become curious about what colors your cats like? We have lots of these types of questions that fleet through our minds every day when we play with our cats. But we rarely think about these questions deeply.
To love and care for our pet cats, we have to know the basic things about them. These basic things comprise what they like, their interest, disinterest, their desire for different things. And here I am to teach you and satisfy your curiosity about what colors your cats see and like. I will answer every question step by step so you can understand it easily.
Let’s Analyze – What Colors Do Cats See?
Do cats see black and white?
Many people think cats see black and white. Some also think cats can only see gray color. But no! They are all wrong. While cats have distinct eyes than us humans, they also have photoreceptors in their eyes. These photoreceptors help them see various colors just like us. They can even see ultraviolet rays that humans cannot see. They are superior in this to us.
Can cats see colors?
As I mentioned above, cats have photoreceptors in their eyes. We know these photoreceptors as rods and cones. Cones are special optic nerves that help in distinguishing colors. Although cats have cones in their eyes, they are very few. So, they can see light and blurry colors.
What colors do cats see?
This is the burning question of the day. There is no cat lover who didn’t think of this question even once. It is natural to think of this when you play with your feline friend daily.
Humans have trichromatic vision. They possess three kinds of cone cells. They help in seeing blue, red, and green. Similarly, some specialists think cats also have trichromatic vision. Though their cone cells differ from humans. They are very sensitive to ultraviolet rays and higher wavelengths. So, they can easily see blue, green, and yellow colors. As their cone cells are very few, they cannot recognize red, purple, and pink colors.
Can cats see yellow?
Cats mainly recognize blue and green colors. But their eyes work like color blinded people. They have difficulty in recognizing lower wavelengths. For this reason, they see red color like the yellow, pink color as blue. So yes, we can say that cats can see yellow.
What colors do cats like
Many people ask, “What colors do cats like?”. It’s a tough question to answer. As humans cannot feel what cats feel. But our researchers left no stone unturned to answer these cat loving persons’ queries. From their test projects, we came to learn that cats love the color most, which they see the best. So, in this case, I assume you have already understood what they are! Yes, they are blue and green. If you can manage shiny, ultraviolet objects or toys for your cat, she will love it more.
♦ Are you curious about what cats can see through their eyes? Cats have a broader visual area than humans.
They have a visual area of two hundred degrees while we have one hundred and eighty degrees. So, they can see more of their surroundings than we can see. But their vision power is not as excellent as us. What we can see at 100 or 200 feet, they can see that at 20 feet only. Thus, we can say that they are short-sighted.
♦ Their retina contains over 6 times rod cells than ours. These cells are very perceptive of lights. They have another layer called tapetum behind their retina. It can reflect lights that do not go through the rod cells first-time. So, they can see things even in exceedingly low lights. They can detect any movement quickly at dawn and dusk when the light is not at its peak. That’s the reason we call them natural hunters of the darkness. Their eyes glow in the darkness because of the tapetum layer of their eyes.
♦ Here comes another question — can cats see in absolute darkness? The answer is no. For eyes to work, it needs light, however, dim it is. If no light reflects from any object, cats and us humans cannot see anything. Rod cells and cone cells do not work without light. So, cats cannot see in total darkness even if they have a higher number of rod cells.
What colors do cats not see?
Cat’s rod photoreceptors are in charge of night vision and the surrounding view. They are very sensitive to brightness and work wonders in dim lights. Cone photoreceptors help in color recognition, and it works superbly in daylight. The higher the cones you have, the best the colorful scenery you’ll see. But unfortunately, cats have very few cone cells. It hinders them in detecting rich colors. That does not mean cats cannot see colors at all. It is only that they are weak in detecting lower wavelengths. So, they feel confused about detecting red, purple, and pink. They see them respectively as yellow, green, and blue.
To sum up, cats can see colors, though they differ from human recognition of colors. In fact, cats are superior to us in seeing UV rays as we cannot see them with naked eyes. Researchers also opine that cats might see some colors that humans are not aware of at all. It is still a mystery to us all, and researchers need to continue their experiment to uncover these mysteries that involve our beloved pet.
It’s time to conclude this. As it is a thorough analysis that I wrote step by step using easy English, I hope you guys understood everything that I have said. Comment below if you have any further questions. I will be there anytime you need me to answer your questions.
Related:
What Human Foods Can Cats Eat? And What Human Foods Can Cats Not Eat?
