Is it true that cats can see in the dark ?

Question

And also, is it true that they only see in black and white and the only colour they can see is purple?

Answer 1

If you honestly have to as this question, I'm going to assume you're five years old and haven't been taught a few things you should know. YES they can see in the dark, six time better than us in fact. Nothing can see in complete darkness of course, but any light there is will be picked up. I think for the most part they see in b/w, but I know that most of the ones we have can see in color. Purple? Where did you get your info?

Answer 2

Dunno, but they can hear through windows...I made a noise at one as it passed my kitchen window and it looked around to see what it was lol (couldn't see me XD)

Answer 3

Thats not completlt true, they can see well in low light but not in comlete darkness, the wiskers are used to guide them in the dark

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Answer 4

yes to the dark and no to the purple.....glad to help

Answer 5

They can't see in complete darkness, but they see much better in low light than we do.

The can distinguish some colors, but not all.  They basically have red-green colorblindness.  The same thing (cones) are used for seeing detail as well as color, so they don't see as clearly as we do either.  

quoted from the article listed as my source: "They can see blue versus other color fine, but tend to confuse colors on the red through brown through green continuum."

So they can distinguish a variety of colors, just not all of them.  

Answer 6

Cats can see in very low light, but not complete darkness.

I'm not sure about the colors thing, but my cats seem to notice certain colors.  

Answer 7

Cats' nocturnal vision is far superior to that of humans, however they can't see in total darkness. They can see clearly with only one-sixth of the illumination we need to see, so when you're trying to read that newspaper at twilight, ask your cat for help! In the feline, the muscles of the iris surrounding the pupils are constructed in a fashion that allows the eye to narrow to a vertical slit in bright light and to open fully in very dim light, to allow a maximum of illumination.

It was once believed that cats are colorblind, but now it is known that they can actually tell the difference between certain colors.  Basically, they see the world in shades of blue and green.  Though they see color, cats don't pay much attention to it.  In nature, color isn't particularly necessary for a cat's survival success.

Answer 8

Cats cannot see in total blackness.  However, a cats eyes are designed to make the most of minimal light, so a room that is *almost* pitch black is a lot safer for your cat than it is for you.

Cats eyes are also very attuned to movement.  So, when it looks like kitty is swatting at nothing in the dark, it very well could be a small insect that kitty can see but you can't.  

Answer 9

cats can see pretty well in the dark. The colors they see are green red black and white  

Answer 10

Cats see with virtually no light,  but they do need a tiny bit to be reflected in their eyes to see.

I don't believe cats see only in black & white....all of my cats had a thing for red cat toys.  As red is the colour of blood, I'm pretty sure they can at least pick that up.

Answer 11

Cats cannot see in total darkness, but they can see much better in semidarkness than we, or many other animals, can. This ability is due to the structure of the cat's eye.

For the size of his head, a cat has extremely large eyes. The eyeball is formed by several layers of tissue. The white part, called the 'sclera,' is made of tough fibrous tissue rich in blood vessels, which transport oxygen and nutrients to the contents of the eye. The clear outer portion that covers the eye is the 'cornea.' This is made up of extremely thin layers of cells arranged in a unique fashion so the cornea is transparent. The cornea allows light to enter unaffected into the eye.

The cat can open his iris (the colored portion of his eye) very wide to let in as much light as possible.

An animal's retina (the back of the eye) is composed of two major types of light-sensitive cells called 'rods' and 'cones.' Rods are responsible for magnifying light impulses. The cat has an increased number of rods. In humans, 4 out of 5 light-sensitive cells in our retinas are rods, in cats, 25 out of 26 cells are rods.

Cats also have a highly developed reflective area in the back of their eyes called the 'tapetum lucidum.' A number of animals, such as deer and raccoons also have this tapetum lucidum. That is what makes their eyes 'glow' at night when our car headlights shine in their faces.

Answer 12

They can see BETTER in the dark than we can.  There eyes have reflective things in them that makes the best of little light.  Therefor, they probably are as helpless as we are in pitch dark.

I'm pretty sure that cats seeing in black and white is a myth.  However, they see less colors than we do.  

Answer 13

Cats can see in the dark, but only up to a certain extent. They cannot see in complete darkness.

Answer 14

I think so, I'm sure I read somewhere that they only need really low levels of light to be able to see quite clearly. Not sure about the colours thingy though