Just About How Much Can Cats See In The Dark?

[KittyRoyale]

My two kitty sweethearts Gifa and Sonar seems to be studying "How to get on Daddy's Nerves" at night.
When they where younger the slept alot during the day and wont sleep at night as long as they could still see me, so i have to turn off all the lights and shut the window blinds then they'll gently crawl into the blacket beside me and sleep.

They are three months old now and the trick doesn't work anymore even in the dark the can still see me and follow me even if i quitly and gently move from one part of the room to another. They've had there daytime sleeping and the night is mine but all they want to do at night is play HUNT, FETCH and Chase feather attached to a pole with me. They have long sleep during the day and short naps at night waking up over ten times and Sometimes insisting on using the litterbox outside or the one in the garage at night. They cry until i open the back door or garage door for them to go....meanwhile i have two litteroxes inside the house that the use. Is this behavior normal cos outside of that they are healthy, happy, sociable and playful!

 

[tabbytom]

Cats see very well in the dark. Here’s an article on it :-
A Cat's Eyes: Windows To The Soul

 

[LokiNApolloMami]

I think they have very good night vision! My 2 yr old boys are always good& my 12 week old girl, like to play in the dark, but when she sees me lay down, & go to sleep, she pretty much is down for the night!.. maybe try switching litterboxes or putting one right by the door?

 

[EmmiTemmi]

They have fantastic vision in the dark. I have a security camera with night vision that I use to watch (spy on) my cats at night. I have all my blinds down, no lights on, no street lights nearby, and they can chase an itty bitty toy around the apartment in pitch darkness with perfect accuracy. Wish I had their eyesight...

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

.
KittyRoyale - "How much," is a subjective question. As a preamble, cats' eyes were designed with an inordinately high concentration of rod receptors, and with an extremely small concentration of cone receptors, and this is the reason why Humans can't see well in darkness, but cats can. The trade-off is that we're far better at colour detection because of our high cone receptor concentration. Additionally, cats were also designed with their own built-in light magnifier, in the form of an organ called the tapetum lucidum, which acts like a prismatic mirror, reflecting and magnifying the light which passes between the rods and the cones back onto the photoreceptors, multiplying the amount of incident light by two, and then redoubling it in the reflexion, effectively endowing cats with approximately eight to nine times the "night vision" of Humans.

For mathematical purposes, you might refer to this thread:

What's the lowest lumen rating that the eye can detect? Less than .003 lumens?

but again, the math is somewhat subjective, other than as a if/then formula. If you perceive a white sphere clearly at one foot, but see the sphere as being in absolute darkness at fifteen inches, then your cat will see the same white sphere clearly at nine to twelve feet in that lighting circumstance.

Their hearing is even better, however. They can hear a mouse in dry brush at thirty feet, and can hear you whispering at quite nearly 100 feet distant. They might not come when you ask them to, but they can hear you just fine.


.

 

[Neo_23]

As others said, cats see very well in the dark. They are also meant to hunt more at night. I would play with them more during the day and especially before you go to bed. If you let them sleep all day they will certainly be up at night.

 

[epona]

Cats can see well in very dim light, but it's different to how you might consider seeing well - they can see stuff in various shades of grey in that sort of light.

In terms of settling them for bed, try playing with them for a bit before you go to bed then feeding them right beforehand - cats tend to adhere to a "hunt>eat>groom>sleep" cycle, so hopefully by simulating hunting and wearing them out a bit before you go to bed, then feeding, they will then happily groom and sleep while you are dropping off!

I should say that kittens do go through a phase (for my lot it was about 6-9 months old) where they have to pounce on EVERYTHING in the bed if they sleep with you, including pouncing on your head, often at inconvenient times. The best way to deal with this is to pull the covers over your head and IGNORE it - do not engage in any way with this behaviour - even if you sit up and tell them off, or pull them into a cuddle, it is a reward to a playful young cat. Instead, reward with cuddles (if they are affectionate and like to be cuddled) when they are curled up and sleeping on your bed, not playing on it.

 

[KittyRoyale]

I think they have very good night vision! My 2 yr old boys are always good& my 12 week old girl, like to play in the dark, but when she sees me lay down, & go to sleep, she pretty much is down for the night!.. maybe try switching litterboxes or putting one right by the door?

I'll try it this night and see how that works.
I called a Vet a she adviced me to use the Litterbox in the garage if i am to follow your advice. Can desiring to use a particular litter box when in the dark have anything to do with Insecurity and favoritism in cats?

 

[KittyRoyale]

Cats can see well in very dim light, but it's different to how you might consider seeing well - they can see stuff in various shades of grey in that sort of light.

In terms of settling them for bed, try playing with them for a bit before you go to bed then feeding them right beforehand - cats tend to adhere to a "hunt>eat>groom>sleep" cycle, so hopefully by simulating hunting and wearing them out a bit before you go to bed, then feeding, they will then happily groom and sleep while you are dropping off!

I should say that kittens do go through a phase (for my lot it was about 6-9 months old) where they have to pounce on EVERYTHING in the bed if they sleep with you, including pouncing on your head, often at inconvenient times. The best way to deal with this is to pull the covers over your head and IGNORE it - do not engage in any way with this behaviour - even if you sit up and tell them off, or pull them into a cuddle, it is a reward to a playful young cat. Instead, reward with cuddles (if they are affectionate and like to be cuddled) when they are curled up and sleeping on your bed, not playing on it.

It worked!, I just tried that now and the are NAPPY NAP in SLEEPY DREAMLAND , I just hope the react in same manner when i do it again later tonight. Thanks a bunch!

 

[KittyRoyale]

.
KittyRoyale - "How much," is a subjective question. As a preamble, cats' eyes were designed with an inordinately high concentration of rod receptors, and with an extremely small concentration of cone receptors, and this is the reason why Humans can't see well in darkness, but cats can. The trade-off is that we're far better at colour detection because of our high cone receptor concentration. Additionally, cats were also designed with their own built-in light magnifier, in the form of an organ called the tapetum lucidum, which acts like a prismatic mirror, reflecting and magnifying the light which passes between the rods and the cones back onto the photoreceptors, multiplying the amount of incident light by two, and then redoubling it in the reflexion, effectively endowing cats with approximately eight to nine times the "night vision" of Humans.

For mathematical purposes, you might refer to this thread:

What's the lowest lumen rating that the eye can detect? Less than .003 lumens?

but again, the math is somewhat subjective, other than as a if/then formula. If you perceive a white sphere clearly at one foot, but see the sphere as being in absolute darkness at fifteen inches, then your cat will see the same white sphere clearly at nine to twelve feet in that lighting circumstance.

Their hearing is even better, however. They can hear a mouse in dry brush at thirty feet, and can hear you whispering at quite nearly 100 feet distant. They might not come when you ask them to, but they can hear you just fine.


.

Oh! Now i see! thanks for the info atleast i can rest from trying to be quite, knowing that i can never be quite enough to be UNDETECTABLE!

 

[KittyRoyale]

.
KittyRoyale - "How much," is a subjective question. As a preamble, cats' eyes were designed with an inordinately high concentration of rod receptors, and with an extremely small concentration of cone receptors, and this is the reason why Humans can't see well in darkness, but cats can. The trade-off is that we're far better at colour detection because of our high cone receptor concentration. Additionally, cats were also designed with their own built-in light magnifier, in the form of an organ called the tapetum lucidum, which acts like a prismatic mirror, reflecting and magnifying the light which passes between the rods and the cones back onto the photoreceptors, multiplying the amount of incident light by two, and then redoubling it in the reflexion, effectively endowing cats with approximately eight to nine times the "night vision" of Humans.

For mathematical purposes, you might refer to this thread:

What's the lowest lumen rating that the eye can detect? Less than .003 lumens?

but again, the math is somewhat subjective, other than as a if/then formula. If you perceive a white sphere clearly at one foot, but see the sphere as being in absolute darkness at fifteen inches, then your cat will see the same white sphere clearly at nine to twelve feet in that lighting circumstance.

Their hearing is even better, however. They can hear a mouse in dry brush at thirty feet, and can hear you whispering at quite nearly 100 feet distant. They might not come when you ask them to, but they can hear you just fine.


.

Oh! Now i see! thanks for the info atleast i can rest from trying to be quite, knowing that i can never be quite enough to be UNDETECTABLE!

 

[LokiNApolloMami]

I'll try it this night and see how that works.
I called a Vet a she adviced me to use the Litterbox in the garage if i am to follow your advice. Can desiring to use a particular litter box when in the dark have anything to do with Insecurity and favoritism in cats?

I have two letterboxes in my house, and all I know is my 3 cats will all go from one side of the house just to use the one litterbox, I'm not exactly sure, I just know mine have their favorite!