The world as cats see it

When people say that a person “sees like a cat,” this is a big stretch, since a cat’s vision is very different from ours.

Cat vision remained a mystery for a long time, locked away behind seven seals. The mystery was accompanied by assumptions, hypotheses, and myths. But relatively recently, scientists were able to settle this controversial question. It turned out that cats can see well in lighting that is ten times lower than the level at which we can see. At the same time, in good lighting, cats see details worse than we do.

This is the first feature of cat vision. It seems to be specialized in perceiving dimly lit spaces. That is why cats prefer shaded rooms, where they like to rest and perform their grooming.

Naturally, those of them who like to hunt mice must do so in low light conditions, since their prey leads a twilight and nocturnal lifestyle. But cats, besides hunting, also engage in mating at night, which we can guess from the heart-wrenching cries of March cats heard at night.

Until recently, it was believed that cats have no color vision at all, and all surrounding objects appear black-and-white to them, much like we see them on a television screen. However, it is now established that cats can still distinguish a few colors, although not as well as we can. What they distinguish significantly better than us are shades of gray — up to 25 different shades.

This feature of their vision can be explained by the coloring of their prey — mice and voles, whose fur varies from light gray to dark gray and brownish-gray. Primates, including humans, never needed such differentiation of gray shades, so evolution did not grant them this ability.

But scientific findings are just dry words and numbers. What does it actually look like? Amateur cat enthusiast and refined appreciator of beauty, artist Nikolai Lamm, helped cat lovers with this. He showed us the world as cats see it. Before taking these photos, he consulted with specialists from the Animal Eye Clinic, Dr. Hausler from the Animal Eye Institute, and leading ophthalmologists. Now we have a unique opportunity to see the world through a cat’s eyes.