Are cats supposed to have reflective eyes?

Long time no post!

I was just feeding the cats while they were waiting for me in the kitchen. It was somewhat dark in there and I noticed that Scratch's eyes were reflecting the light and Squee's looked normal. Then I realized (yes, for the first time in the five years we've had her ) that I've never seen Squee's eyes reflect light like Scratch's does.

Is it normal for cats' eyes to do that in the dark? I can't believe I don't know that already...

Yes it is. The make up of their eyes is the reason they can see with little light. The key is "little light". If it's completely dark, they are as blind as we are.

Oh yeah, It creeps me out all the time!

LOL yeah! Nothing like seeing a pair of floating silver eyes when you get up to the bathroom in the night!

It's due to something called the tapetum lucidum.

Most animal eyes reflect light. My barn would certainly make people wonder when there are a few pairs of glowing eyes close to ground level and one glowing orb 6' off the ground - horses eyes glow just as much as cats eyes but you only see one at a time.

If they didn't do that, then they would be blind so glowing is good!! Even funnier or scarier when they glow in photos. I can always see my feral's at night in the woods, as their eyes glow as they watch me when I let my dogs out for the last time of the night. Creepy

That's the only way I can find Noodles sometimes. She's a great shade of gray to blend in with stuff! I'll be looking all over and then I see the eyes looking back at me! LOL

I think we once had a threat in the Fur Pics section on this. They can be so funny!

ETA: I found this one of my RB girl Tasha. She was hiding her paws because my mother was clipping the other dog's nails at the time.

Yes it's normal and really cool

I'm so happy they do, as there are so many animals I've seen just chillaxing in the middle of the road that I wouldn't have seen without their glowy eyes!

Originally Posted by jcat

It's due to something called the tapetum lucidum.

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But Riddick told me it was called "eye shine".