Most of Us Do Not Know What Colors Can Cats See and Why
While watching your cat peacefully slumber or playfully fiddle with a vibrant toy, you might wonder, “What colors can cats see?” Is their world as vivid as ours, or do they see more beautifully unique shades and combinations of colors? Can cats see red or do they see something else instead?
To better understand your cat and enhance their environment for better care and love, it is crucial that you view the world through cat eyes. By understanding their perspective, you can ensure that you provide your cat with the best of the best and tailor their environment to suit their needs and preferences.
By the end of this blog post, you will fully understand cat vision and the colors they perceive. With this knowledge, you will no longer find yourself confused when your cat shows little interest in certain toys or furniture, and you will notice a positive change in your cat’s mood and health.
How is Cat Vision Different from Ours?
Let us start our discussion on what colors can cats see by learning how their vision differs from ours.
Cats have dichromatic vision, meaning they have two types of receptors (cones) in their cat eyes, enabling them to perceive the primary colors, blue and yellow and with a few shades of green. In contrast, humans have trichromatic vision, with three types of receptors (cones) allowing us to see the full spectrum of primary colors (red, yellow and blue) in various shades and combinations.
Although cats can distinguish between some colors, they have difficulty differentiating certain shades within the red and green spectrums. Their cat vision is similar to a human with red-green colorblindness, where red and a few shades of green appear as shades of grey.
To compensate for their limited cat colors, cats have superior night vision. This advantage is due to their large corneas and pupils, the high number of rod cells in their retina and a reflective tissue layer known as the tapetum lucidum.
- Cats’ large corneas and pupils allow large amounts of light to enter their eyes, helping them see in dark and low-light conditions.
- The tapetum lucidum reflects light back through the retina, enhancing their vision at night and in dim-light surroundings.
Knowing that the colors cats see are so different from ours, you probably wonder how the world appears to them and what they see. Specifically, what do cats see when they look at humans?
How are We Perceived through Cat Eyes?
Due to their limited color vision, cats rely more on motion detection, depth perception, and low-light vision than on cat colors. Therefore, they perceive human appearances and behaviors differently than us.
As humans, we rely on color to a certain extent. Color affects our mood, mind and feelings towards specific objects and areas. Cats do not have the luxury, yet they deeply empathize with us.
Since cats lack color range, they focus mainly on picking up cues from our tone of voice, facial expressions, and body posture. They interpret human behavior and form relationships regardless of their limits in color range, demonstrating that their connection with us goes beyond color vision.
A cat would focus more on the contrasts in brightness and shades than the specific colors of our clothing and surroundings. Despite this difference, their interaction and connection with us are not affected.
Our cats work to strengthen their bond with us. With knowledge of the cat color palette, we should also work to enhance our bond with our cats.
What Should We Provide Our Cats with Considering Cat Colors?
Connecting with our cats requires love and care by giving them their scrumptious food on time and providing them with toys and an environment as required for their needs and likings. Bringing cat colors into these day-to-day activities and surroundings is a great way to connect with our cats.
The colors that cats see most are blue, yellow, and several shades of green, so providing them with objects of these colors will capture their attention, stimulate their interest, and give them a sense of security and comfort.
Giving your cat toys, furniture, and hiding spots in shades of blue and yellow is a purrfect way of showing love and connecting with your feline friend.
Selecting the correct colors for your cat is important since the wrong colors can badly affect your cat’s mood and health.
How Does Cat Color Choice Influence Our Feline Friends?
Providing your cat with the wrong color can negatively affect their mood and health. Hence, it is crucial to consider the colors present in their environment.
Cat Vision Influence on Stress and Anxiety
Bright or highly contrasting colors like bright yellow or deep blue may induce stress or anxiety in your cat, particularly in their living environment. So, it is best to avoid bringing such colors into their surroundings.
On the other hand, colors that are soothing to cat eyes are much softer shades of blue or green. These soft shades help create a more relaxed atmosphere for your whiskered companion, positively affecting their mood and health.
Food Bowls and Cat Eyes
Research shows that the color of food bowls significantly influences cats’ feeding behavior, as their cat vision may influence preferences on which bowls to eat from.
Cats often favor food bowls in easily perceived colors, blue and yellow, since these colors are more visually appealing or engaging to them during mealtimes. The color of the food bowl also affects your cat’s perception of the food. Choosing a color that contrasts with the food will potentially increase interest and appetite as it is more visible.
Therefore, choosing the correct cat colors for your feline friend will drastically improve their health and mood.
Although every cat has the same color palette, their preferences will not be 100% the same. Therefore, it is necessary to understand your cat’s unique preferences through observation or guidance from a professional.
Now that you know the importance of food bowl color contrast with food, you might be curious about how cats manage to track down unseen rodents without relying on color.
Prey Detection through Cat Eyes
Even though cats do not perceive colors as we do, they are talented at spotting movements, subtle contrasts, and patterns, enabling them to detect prey against various backgrounds.
Cat’s exhibit preferences for certain types of prey based on visuals. They are naturally more drawn to prey that stand out against their surroundings or have distinctive patterns like birds and rodents, making easier detection and capture.
Their cat color vision, crafted for low light conditions, enhances their ability to detect contrasts between light and dark areas, allowing them to notice camouflaged prey more effectively. Furthermore, cat’s sensitivity to the slightest movement aids significantly in their hunting for prey.
Conclusion
Understanding cat vision and the colors they perceive is crucial for providing our feline friends with the best care and environment. Although cats may not see colors the same as us, their remarkable ability to detect motion and contrast enables them to navigate their surroundings effortlessly.
Providing our cats with visually appealing and soothing colors, such as shades of blue, yellow, and green, enhances their well-being and strengthens their bond with us.
Ultimately, viewing the world through cat eyes ensures that our cats thrive in environments tailored to their unique vision and preferences. It also helps build a happier and healthier relationship between you and your cat.
By understanding cat colors, you will no longer wonder “What colors can cats see?”, instead you will strive to improve your cat’s environment accordingly.
For more tips on cat care, read our post Top Cat Care Tips That Can Help Your Feline Lead a Happy and Healthy Lifestyle.
FAQs
Q. What color calms cats?
Cats feel calmer around colors visible to their cat eyes, like blue, yellow, and several shades of green. These soothing colors help them relax and should be present in their belongings and environment, such as toys, furniture, hiding spots, and food bowls.
On the other hand, the colors that irritate cats are bright and dramatic, like red and orange, so it is crucial to avoid utilizing them in the surroundings of your cat.
Q. What are cats’ favorite colors?
When purchasing toys, furniture, and food bowls for your cats, it is important to keep in mind the cat colors.
A cat’s favorite color includes blue and yellow, since these are the two primary colors visible to them. They are also the colors that soothe and calm our cats.
Q. What color cannot be seen by cats?
Rather than asking what color cats cannot see, it is better to ask what color is viewed differently through the cat vision.
The colors red, brown, and orange appear to cats as shades of grey, painting their world differently than ours but equally beautiful.
After knowing the colors cats cannot see, you are probably asking what colors can cats see.
The answer is that the cat colors palette consists of shades of blue, yellow, and green.
