Do cats have a type of infra red vision?

[Zeke]

I read that they don't see red, only yellow and blue, hence green. I wonder if this can translate into a vision we don't know so much about. Certainly seems in keeping with night time activity.

[nynor]

i don't think so. they do have a reflective membrane behind their retinas, like many animals.

[Zeke]

What does that do?

[nynor]

Cat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Cats have excellent night vision and can see at only one-sixth the light level required for human vision.[73] This is partly the result of cat eyes having a tapetum lucidum, which reflects any light that passes through the retina back into the eye, thereby increasing the eye's sensitivity to dim light.[74] Another adaptation to dim light is the large pupils of cats' eyes. Unlike some big cats, such as tigers, domestic cats have slit pupils.[75] These slit pupils can focus bright light without chromatic aberration, and are needed since the domestic cat's pupils are much larger, relative to their eyes, than the pupils of the big cats.[75] Indeed, at low light levels a cat's pupils will expand to cover most of the exposed surface of its eyes.[76] However, domestic cats have rather poor color vision and (like most non-primate mammals) have only two types of cones, optimized for sensitivity to blue and yellowish green; they have limited ability to distinguish between red and green,[77] although they can achieve this in some conditions.[78]"

[Mark Henry]

I just pointed my TV remote control at cat and it didn't notice it.

[nynor]

thus, the light gets passed through the retina twice.

[nynor]

Originally Posted by Mark Henry

I just pointed my TV remote control at cat and it didn't notice it.

he's just letting it slide so as not to give the fact of his superpower away.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Mark Henry

I just pointed my TV remote control at cat and it didn't notice it.

Since the remote uses infra red LED's, I can see why the cat can't.

[slodave]

I don't. Infrared is infrared.

[id10t]

But they do like the lasers ... My cat loved it (she died a few years ago) and my dog still goes nutz over it ...

[stealthn]

Yes but the sharks hate when the cats tease them..

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by nynor

i don't think so. they do have a reflective membrane behind their retinas, like many animals.

Tapetum.

No, they cannot see in the IR - only certain snakes (pit vipers) can do that - they "see" with their pits and it is pretty fuzzy, but works for killing mice.

Cats do have a number of visual features that are enhanced for seeing at low light levels (slit pupils, + the tapetum nynor mentioned above).

Realize that doing these things for low light levels, actually HARMS visual acuity at higher light levels -- one reason cats are poor at reading.

[nynor]

look! webby can read!

[dentist90]

Originally Posted by nynor

"Cats have excellent night vision and can see at only one-sixth the light level required for human vision... they have limited ability to distinguish between red and green.[78]"

That is why cats can see so well at night for hunting, but should never operate a motor vehicle - because they can't differentiate a stop light from a go!

[DARISC]

Originally Posted by id10t

...My cat loved it (she died a few years ago) and my dog still goes nutz over it ...

You should maybe...bury it?

[DanielDudley]

Originally Posted by DARISC

You should maybe...bury it?

Just a guess, but dead cat jokes probably aren't as funny if it is your cat.[img]http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads19