Can cats see in the dark?
Psalm 145:15 The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. Some creatures can see forms of light that are invisible to us; others have built-in binoculars. The rattlesnake has two sets of eyes, one set for light that is visible to us, and another set for infrared radiation. But one thing that creatures with vision all have in common is that sight requires some form of light. While some creatures, like cats, are supposed to be able to see in the dark, they cannot, in fact, see any better than we can in a room that is too dark. However, cats, and many other animals, are able to see more clearly than we can at light levels where our eyes become useless. One of the main reasons for this is that their eyes have a reflective layer of cells below the light receptors. So, if a particle of light – called a photon – misses a light receptor on its way into the eye, it is reflected back through the light receptor cells and gets a second chance to register. It is th
Cats cannot see in total darkness, but they can see much better in semidarkness than we, or many other animals, can. This ability is due to the structure of the cat’s eye. For the size of his head, a cat has extremely large eyes. The eyeball is formed by several layers of tissue. The white part, called the ‘sclera,’ is made of tough fibrous tissue rich in blood vessels, which transport oxygen and nutrients to the contents of the eye. The clear outer portion that covers the eye is the ‘cornea.’ This is made up of extremely thin layers of cells arranged in a unique fashion so the cornea is transparent. The cornea allows light to enter unaffected into the eye. The cat can open his iris (the colored portion of his eye) very wide to let in as much light as possible. An animal’s retina (the back of the eye) is composed of two major types of light-sensitive cells called ‘rods’ and ‘cones.’ Rods are responsible for magnifying light impulses. The cat has an increased number of rods. In humans,
They can t. No animal possesses the ability to give light. Stick a cat in a dark cave and it will not be able to tell the difference between a stalactite and a stalagmite. Cats are not more able to see in total darkness than humans. What cats are able to do is to reflect very faint light rays. When they appear to glow in the dark, cats eyes are reflecting what little natural or artificial light is available in a seemingly dark environment. The structure that allows cats to reflect light is called the tapetum lacidum, iridescent layer of cells around the optic nerve. The tapetum ludidum, is part of the membrane between the cat s retina and the outer covering of the pupils. When light is cast upon the tapetum lucidum, it is reflected back as if the cat s eyes were mirrors. All cats, including jungle varieties like lions, jaguars, and tigers, have the capability of reflecting light rays even through they cannot see in complete darkness. Cats are fundamentally nocturnal animals. Even thoug
They can’t see in total darkness, but their sight is highly effective in low light, due to the unique structure of their eyes. They can see movement and objects in semi-dark that are pretty much invisible to us. Only 33% of their optic nerves cross (compared to our 50%) which allows their brains to receive 2 sets of signals- this allows them to be much more sensitive to movement. Their retinas have 25 out of 26 light sensitive cells are rods (rods magnify light impulses), as opposed to a human’s 4 out of 5. The drawback to this is that in dim light, their sight is actually quite fuzzy, which means they cannot see as much fine detail. A cat’s ability to open their irises very wide (and very quickly) allows them to adjust to darkness quickly, and allow as much light as possible. The tapetum lucidum (located in the back of their eyes) is highly reflective (like a mirror), which is what gives a cat that eery glow in the dark look, and reflects the light back onto the rods in the retina. Th
