How well do cats see? In Colour or Black and White? And how much? Or How Little?
Written by Dr.Laxmi Iyer

Cats see in colour. There's no two questions about that. How are we certain about this fact? Well, the answer to this one is simple. Research has proven this fact. Cats like humans have three different types of cone cells. The intensity of colour that cats see is slightly different from what humans see. Some colours are seen more clearly while others less distinctly.

The rod cells are the ones that are specialized in helping one to see in the dark and also in detecting movement. The cone cells are the ones that help animals and humans to see the world in colour. This is because of the presence of three main groups of photosynthetic pigments, which respond to blue, green or red wavelengths of light

Dogs have two types of cone cells. Therefore, they see the world more like a red-green colour blind human being would.

If you show your cats pictures that are all shades of bright reds and greens, then don't worry! Your cat probably screens out all the garish brightness in the photos. The reds probably look darker while the greens look a little lighter. There it is! That's your cat's eye view.

Way back in the 60's Hubel and Weisel observed that there's a critical period of learning in young animals and visual signals play a crucial role during that period. Some of their ground breaking experiments were done in kittens.

They observed that if kittens were not exposed to interesting visual stimuli like geometrical patterns, vertical and horizontal lines during this critical period, then they grew up to be permanently disadvantaged.

As adult cats such kittens showed a life-long deficiency in being unable to recognize such patterns. The neurons for recognizing such patterns never developed in the brains of these deprived kittens.

Hubel and Weisel along with Sir Roger Sperry were later awarded the Nobel Prize for their path-breaking work.

The evening sky for your cats probably looks breathtaking beautiful. The dark blue that you see may be dramatically altered in your cat's world to be a more bewitching shade of a brighter blue. That's because your cat's eyes are beautifully adapted for night vision.

According to Prof Paul E. Miller, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison some modifications that help cats see better include a large cornea which allows more light to enter their eyes, a vertical slit like pupil and a lens located way behind.

Besides all that, cats also have a tapetum that reflects up to 130 times more light than the human fundus and a form of rhodopsin ( light sensitive pigment) that continues to increase in sensitivity to light for up to 1 hour.

Things to remember while showing films for your cats to watch
1. Buy videos with a lot of clear colour contrasts and lots of distinct movements.

2. Nature sounds are especially preferable.

3. Films with a lot of bugs, butterflies and small birds are especially preferable.

4. Avoid the close-up shots. Landscape shots with lots of clear movements are what your cats are going to feel comfortable looking at.

5. Good websites to check out for games and video films especially made for cats are: http://videoforcats.com/catpics.htm / CyberPounce

6. Use lots of blue and yellow. Repeating geometrical patterns, horizontal and vertical lines all probably look wonderful in your cat's world.

7. Cats are a little short sighted. Therefore don't bring things too close to them and expect them to react quickly.

8. When you want your cats to respond to pictures, use movement to attract their attention.

9.Always make sure that you use dim lighting for the rooms in your house. You will not only conserve electricity but also create a more colourful and clearer world for your cat. In very bright light, cats can have a tough time distinguishing the different shades of very bright colours.

10. Follow the 25 cm rule. That's the minimum distance that you need to maintain for your cats to see you and the world rather clearly. Bring things a little closer than this and the poor critters would have a lot of strain on their poor eyes