MentalEdge , 10 months ago (edited 10 months ago)

Feline vision has drawbacks, and some adaptations we don’t.

For one, cats have reflective eyes, rather than absorb light, that misses any cones/rods, cats reflect it back out, passing the light that comes into their eyes through their retinas twice. This improves how much of the light actually hits the light sensitive cones and rods in their eyes.

Second, cats have slitted pupils, this means they have a MASSIVELY larger range of light they can adjust to let into their eyes. Slitted pupils are able to close much tighter, and open much wider, than circular ones. If you’ve ever seen a cats eye in the dark, you know their pupils get HUGE. Several times that of humans.

As for a drawback, cat eyes suck at focusing. All cats are far-sighted. At less than about 20 cm, cats cannot see. All they get is a blurry mess. Ever wondered why your cat seems completely clueless when you set down a treat right in front of it? That’s why.

This is why cats have whiskers. Close up, they go 100% by smell, hearing and feel!