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darskayairene
Joined: 20 Mar 2005
Posts: 148
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| Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 7:17 pm Post subject: Can cats see in the dark? |
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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. |
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dTas
Joined: 17 Jan 2005
Posts: 77
Location: Woodinville, Washington
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| Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 8:23 pm Post subject: |
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i remember seeing an animal show on the abilities of animals and why they are they way they are...
ants picking up huge objects
fleas jumping incredible distances
and cats seeing in the dark.
it was fascinating. we humans are really clumsy creatures, our advantage is our brains. :) |
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darskayairene
Joined: 20 Mar 2005
Posts: 148
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| Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 6:32 pm Post subject: |
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dTas wrote: i remember seeing an animal show on the abilities of animals and why they are they way they are...
ants picking up huge objects
fleas jumping incredible distances
and cats seeing in the dark.
it was fascinating. we humans are really clumsy creatures, our advantage is our brains. :)
Even our brains are not used for 100%. The scientists say we don't even realize the concealed abilities of our brains. |
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dTas
Joined: 17 Jan 2005
Posts: 77
Location: Woodinville, Washington
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| Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 3:34 pm Post subject: |
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yeah... imagine what we'd be like of we used even twice as much of our brains than we do now.
WHOA! |
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darskayairene
Joined: 20 Mar 2005
Posts: 148
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| Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2005 8:39 am Post subject: |
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| I always laugh at my husband, when I give food to our cat, switch off light at the kitchen and my husband says:"do not switch off the light! The cat will not see the food!" |
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Purr
Joined: 25 Jun 2004
Posts: 553
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| Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 5:10 pm Post subject: |
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Hah! Believe me, the cat will find its way to the food.
Cats can see in much dimmer light than us, but even they can not see in total darkness. |
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bmason
Joined: 28 Jul 2005
Posts: 77
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| Posted: Mon Jun 19, 2006 4:59 pm Post subject: |
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Purr wrote: Hah! Believe me, the cat will find its way to the food.
Cats can see in much dimmer light than us, but even they can not see in total darkness.
Oh yeah, they will find it. They use their sniffers. lol |
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