Insights into your cat's eyesight

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1

This is cool…

The next time you catch your cat staring at you with its big, luminous eyes, try this: Blink at kitty very slowly. There’s a good chance your cat will blink right back.

Many feline fanciers suspect that cats communicate with their eyes. And animal shelter workers will swear that if you blink slowly at even a feral cat, the animal often calms down. Cats also use their eyes to intimidate prey and even each other, as a way of establishing dominance.

And for their size, this animal has a lot of eye to work with. If our eyes were as big as those of any cat, in terms of their largeness per head size, our eyes would be eight inches long, each. Even more, a cat’s eyes also bulge slightly, giving them excellent peripheral vision.

You may have noticed that, while you stumble around in the dark looking for the light switch, your cat is calmly navigating its way around the furniture. You may have also noticed that sometimes in a dim room, your cat’s eyes will glow eerily. As nocturnal predators, cats have developed excellent night vision. Cats have vertical irises, which can narrow to the tiniest sliver in bright light or open to cover 90 percent of their eye area, enabling the pupil to capture even the smallest amount of light. In addition, a cat has a shiny membrane in the back of the eyes called the “tapetum lucidum,” which helps to reflect light back through the retina, enabling the animal to see better in low light situations. That said, there is a limit: cats still can’t see in total darkness.

MEOW!!!

2

I have a special cat, meaning he is developmentally delayed and is stupid beyond words.  :cry:

blinking slowly at him, does nothing.

3

Here’s another cool thing to do: put your face right next to kitty’s and let out a long, even, high-pitched whistle.

4

I have heard or read somewhere that when you blink at a cat, and it blinks back, it is the equivalent of smiling.    :smile:

5

Perhaps our cats are related…mine are dumb as stumps!

6

I have two cats, they won’t even look at one another let alone have blinking contests with me…They even close their eyes when they have a spat, blind leading the blind and batting the air until one gets bored.  They usually don’t connect but very entertaining… :smiley:    Here’s one for ya…!!