What Do Cats See?

October 18, 2013 6:03 AM

Does your cat act weirdly? Does it bump into and occasionally wreck stuff, like your face? Well, maybe it's not just because Grisou* is a jerk, maybe it's because it has crappy eyesight.

* (1) Apparently Grisou is the second most common cat name in Quebec. (2) Because screw Mittens. (3) The Eigenfactor of The MyDeals Journal of Fun is "MUCH" so you know this is legit science.

posted by Foci for Analysis (53 comments total)

I figured cats could see "motion" better than humans, but this is something I never considered:

Our retinas have many more cones than cats... Interestingly, this also means that humans have the ability to see very slowly moving objects at speeds 10 times slower than cats (that is to say that we can see very slow things move that would not appear to be moving to a cat)
posted by grog at 6:30 AM on October 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

My cat sees all.
posted by Kitteh at 6:35 AM on October 18, 2013 [3 favorites]

But then how come I can never sneak up on them for surprise tummy rubs? Maybe I am not sneaky enough.
posted by elizardbits at 6:35 AM on October 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

Please get back to me when I can buy my cats adorable little glasses to fix this problem.

Now I imagining a cat optometrist. Poor guy. So many scratches.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 6:37 AM on October 18, 2013 [35 favorites]

The low-light photos are interesting, but it would make more sense to focus (!) on complex scenes that were on the order of 10' x 10' rather than landscape vistas...that's not really the environment that cats are built for.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 6:38 AM on October 18, 2013 [3 favorites]

Now I imagining a cat optometrist. Poor guy. So many scratches.

One, or two? One, or ... ouch. Okay, one. Now, one or two. Aagh. Jesus fuck. Okay, one, or ...
posted by uncleozzy at 6:38 AM on October 18, 2013 [34 favorites]

Please get back to me when I can buy my cats adorable little glasses to fix this problem.

Then you'd just end up with an insufferable hipster cat.
posted by Rangeboy at 6:42 AM on October 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

(2) Because screw Mittens.

Damn, you people are cold!
posted by mittens at 6:46 AM on October 18, 2013 [18 favorites]

I am not putting glasses on my cat. Even if they are really cute frames.

I confess I caught myself subconsciously considering a Holloween costume for my little guy before my conscious mind said "he'll no!"
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:50 AM on October 18, 2013

grog: Our retinas have many more cones than cats... Interestingly, this also means that humans have the ability to see very slowly moving objects at speeds 10 times slower than cats (that is to say that we can see very slow things move that would not appear to be moving to a cat)

It all makes sense now! That's why the game of "Slide the toy across the floor very slowly and then whip it around all of a sudden" is so exciting to them! When you are moving the toy slowly they can't see it move, so it's a shock when it "jumps" to a completely new position!
posted by Rock Steady at 6:50 AM on October 18, 2013 [5 favorites]

Great link, slightly disappointed that "What does the cat see?" did not make it as a title.
posted by maudlin at 6:53 AM on October 18, 2013 [10 favorites]

Cats can see ghosts.
posted by Artw at 6:54 AM on October 18, 2013 [9 favorites]

I wish it had a picture of what most cats actually look at all day, the inside of a house. Or possibly a yard. The thought of my cats wandering around Times Square with their blurry little vision is terrifying.

Also, shouldn't the perspective be way lower? I mean I get that it's more about the peripheral vision, overall clarity, etc, but I think it would have been better/more helpful to me if it were a "cat's view" type thing.
posted by sweetkid at 6:57 AM on October 18, 2013

My cats have Looney Tunes desert island vision, where every object and fellow creature are delicious hams and roast turkeys.
posted by Metroid Baby at 6:58 AM on October 18, 2013 [24 favorites]

One of my cats is actually farsighted; when giving her tests she has a hard time actually seeing what I'm giving her.

Our other cat odd course can see the bees in the wall of our bedroom. At least that's what we think she's doing when she stares at a corner crying at 3 AM.
posted by happyroach at 6:59 AM on October 18, 2013

So they don't even notice the scan head in the scanner?
posted by srboisvert at 7:00 AM on October 18, 2013 [4 favorites]

Considering that my parents' cat was all, "I WILL MURDER YOU ALL IN YOUR SLEEP!!!" when they tried to put a jingling rabies tag collar on him, I'd love to watch someone try to fit him for glasses.
posted by indubitable at 7:02 AM on October 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

I suspect that the most common cat name in Quebec is Minou.
posted by Kitteh at 7:10 AM on October 18, 2013 [2 favorites]

But then how come I can never sneak up on them for surprise tummy rubs? Maybe I am not sneaky enough.

I suspect other senses (e.g., hearing, smell) play a much larger roll than sight in whether you can sneak up on something, and cats are probably really good at those.
posted by 3FLryan at 7:16 AM on October 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

Our other cat odd course can see the bees in the wall of our bedroom. At least that's what we think she's doing when she stares at a corner crying at 3 AM.

See Artw's comment above.
posted by Atreides at 7:18 AM on October 18, 2013

If my cat hears me raise a window blind, she might saunter over and look out at the scenery. If she hears me open the window, she runs over, jumps on the sash and sniffs all around as if she smells a school of tuna flopping outside a chicken coop. I don't think she cares much about what she can or can't see.
posted by klarck at 7:23 AM on October 18, 2013 [3 favorites]

It's not "crappy eyesight." It's just different.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 7:24 AM on October 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

I'm not ready to dismiss the "cats are jerks" thesis so quickly.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 7:27 AM on October 18, 2013 [17 favorites]

My little Herbie meows at the ceiling at the same time every day. What he sees up there, I have no clue.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:36 AM on October 18, 2013 [3 favorites]

Dogs and cats have many more rods, which enhances their ability to see in dim light and during the night. They have no fovea, but an “area centralis” that, though has more cones than other areas of the retina, still has more rods than cones. The increase in rods also enhances their “refresh rate”, so that they can pick up movements much faster (very helpful when dealing with small animals that change direction very quickly during a chase). These differences also help them to have great night vision, an excellent ability to pick up and follow quick movements,

I don't think the takeaway here is really "crappy vision." It's "much better vision than yours for certain tasks, less good than yours for others."
posted by yoink at 7:42 AM on October 18, 2013 [3 favorites]

ok fine why dont u go marry a cat and have ur faced eatet. yes i upset when people advance hidden catgenda
posted by Foci for Analysis at 7:51 AM on October 18, 2013 [12 favorites]

(Apollo's eyesight seems pretty good to me.)
posted by uncleozzy at 7:52 AM on October 18, 2013

I don't want to be That Guy.... But a website called MYDEALS?

I saw this earlier in the week at io9, and I was all "Imma email/MeTa the mods" until I saw that MyDeals was the source of the io9 article.

My WTF senses are tingling!

Even though I did do some experiments with my cats and, they are killers. And on-game in ways I cannot imagine when chucking things near them.

So everything I read in the original link (and io9) holds up.
posted by Mezentian at 7:57 AM on October 18, 2013

I suspect that the most common cat name in Quebec is Minou.

Cats may be jerks, but they don't judge my French, so I tend to talk to any cats I encounter outdoors in French. I started off calling them Minou or Minouche, but somewhere along the line, I just started calling all strange cats Mouche. They seem fine with it.

(Irrelevant vaguely relevant joke.)
posted by maudlin at 8:07 AM on October 18, 2013

What Do Cats See?

As this is Metafilter, it presumably sees a flourscent lamp, moving toward it at great speed.

It does not know how it got wedged in there, nor why.

A cat's life is full of surprises.
 
posted by Herodios at 8:09 AM on October 18, 2013 [11 favorites]

Cats' pupils are also not round, at least in bright environments. Given the relationship between aperture and depth-of-field, one might infer that cat vision is more precise left-to-right than up-to-down, and that any blur that they perceive would be anisotropic. I'd expect this gives them greater ability to distinguish unexpected objects moving horizontally. Like that thing! What was that? Where'd it go? There it is! Get it!!
posted by rlk at 8:09 AM on October 18, 2013 [7 favorites]

No matter their attitude, no matter their vision issues, my cats will NEVER grow up to be human sized, learn to speak English, need a College education paid for, or ask for the car keys. And they wash themselves regularly.

Although conversely, vanishingly few children actually seem to be thinking "I would eat Dad's face if he died in his sleep".
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 8:11 AM on October 18, 2013 [4 favorites]

Which goes to show that children are less self reliant than cats.
posted by wotsac at 8:37 AM on October 18, 2013 [5 favorites]

Although conversely, vanishingly few children actually seem to be thinking "I would eat Dad's face if he died in his sleep".

Maybe, unlike cats who can't be bothered to hide their disdain for us, children are just craftier about it. We humans are good at that.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:51 AM on October 18, 2013 [2 favorites]

Although conversely, vanishingly few children actually seem to be thinking "I would eat Dad's face if he died in his sleep".

There's a reason we rush them off to school as quickly as possible.
posted by mittens at 8:52 AM on October 18, 2013 [3 favorites]

But what happened to boarding school, like, say, Enid Blyton promised?
Children infest my streets daily.
It's worse during summer hols.
It seems like there is a shortage of "haunted" lighthouses and "smugglers" coves.

THANKS, OBAMA! CAMERON! ABBOTT! KEYS!

(Also, we need more sassy parrots!)
posted by Mezentian at 8:56 AM on October 18, 2013

Now I imagining a cat optometrist. Poor guy. So many scratches.

Hands, corneas, lenses...
posted by fuse theorem at 9:13 AM on October 18, 2013

Mostly, what my cat sees is the back of his own eyelids.
posted by Jacob Knitig at 9:18 AM on October 18, 2013 [9 favorites]

There's a reason we rush them off to school as quickly as possible.

To be honest, after I die in my sleep (which is a desired ending) or in some other fashion, I do not think I will care very much what happens to my face. I'd certainly rather that a being I care about have some benefit from it.



Note to cats and children: Please note the operative phrase after I die.
Thanks.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 9:30 AM on October 18, 2013 [5 favorites]

Based on how easily my cats lose track of the laser pointer when we're playing, it is in fact crappy vision on their part.
posted by immlass at 9:51 AM on October 18, 2013

I think that because the vision thing is not as acute as humans cats synthesize a lot of information to fix things in space. I suspect my little guy uses smell, hearing and vibration to back up her assumptions as to what things are and where they are.

I also suspect their system is optimized for being low on the ground and thus seeing things as 'backlit', I also wonder if their low light abilities are somehow involved in this rather than in just 'seeing stuff in low light'.

Movement is also key, movement really jumps out at them.
posted by fingerbang at 10:05 AM on October 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

One of my cats has indicated a desire for rhinestone frames. Either that, or a lorgnette.
The other's a neerrrrd.


My little Herbie meows at the ceiling at the same time every day.
He's got religion.
posted by BlueHorse at 10:05 AM on October 18, 2013 [3 favorites]

One of my kitties has crappy eyesight, relative to other kitties. We should have expected it from a blue eyed tonkinese boy, but it took us a while to realize, because he's not blind, he can see and respond to purely visual stimuli. Poor guy just doesn't see very well.

Bright colors work best for him. He was absolutely thrilled when the roommate who moved in with us at the beginning of the year brought along an orange tabby, because he can actually see the new cat clearly, unlike the grey tabbies who he had been sharing the house with up to that point.
posted by radwolf76 at 10:18 AM on October 18, 2013

movement really jumps out at them.

So to speak.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:25 AM on October 18, 2013 [3 favorites]

Note to cats and children: Please note the operative phrase after I die.

Tibetan-style sky burial? That's cool and meaningful and connected to the cycles of living and dying and... efficient.

Canibalism? Eew. No. Wrong with a wrongness that wrongifies. Make other dinner plans.

Suburban Cat burial?

See, the vultures will pick your ass clean. They're like a high school sports team at a buffet line, leaving a little bit of bone and gristle in their wake.

The cat's are gonna be all I'm not eating THAT part, that's nasty. I just want the cheeks and a little lower lip and leave a mess of the rest.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 10:34 AM on October 18, 2013

Please get back to me when I can buy my cats adorable little glasses to fix this problem.

Cat eyeglasses or cat-eye glasses? No, wait! Cat-eye cat eyeglasses!
posted by entropicamericana at 10:48 AM on October 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

Now I imagining a cat optometrist. Poor guy. So many scratches.

I had to take my cat to a cat ophthalmologist a few years back. So close.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 11:27 AM on October 18, 2013

I figured cats could see "motion" better than humans

Part of this is that in humans, only ~10% of incoming visual information goes through this bit of the brain called the superior colliculi, which is a distinct region from the primary visual cortex (where the other ~90% goes). The superior colliculi is what causes us to orient to things.

But cats, in cats like ~45% of visual information goes through the superior colliculi, which means that cats orient way faster and to way more things than we do, hence the reason cats love doing the watch the laser thing.
posted by Lutoslawski at 11:38 AM on October 18, 2013 [6 favorites]

Their sixth and seventh senses (not to speak of the nine lives) more than compensate. C'mon, what's a little more focus supposed to mean in a life of mraaaw.
posted by Namlit at 12:04 PM on October 18, 2013

I am convinced that, when cats stare at or chase after "nothing," they're seeing floaters. So much makes sense when you realize they're looking at stuff that's inside their eyes that moves too slowly for them to see until they move their eyes, at which point it goes whizzing by.
posted by tzikeh at 12:18 PM on October 18, 2013

Pro-tip: the glasses sold at Build-a-Bear fit on a cat perfectly, you just have to have a cat docile enough to tolerate them.

(I know this because I had a really shitty week a few months ago and my boyfriend came to my house with a pair of tortoiseshell glasses for my intelligent, finicky, 12 year old cat. I jumped up and down and screamed like I had won the lottery. The cat was markedly less enthusiastic.)
posted by kate blank at 12:47 PM on October 18, 2013 [3 favorites]

Catneda! What do you see? Catneda! What do you see? Catneada!
posted by Apocryphon at 2:33 PM on October 18, 2013

So, I assumed my cat never looked at the TV but then Nature did that episode on hummingbirds and, man, that was all she wrote. Do I ever have pictures of her sitting up straight right in front of the TV, soaking it all in and making the killing bite sputter meow face. Such concentration.
posted by y2karl at 1:40 AM on October 19, 2013 [2 favorites]