Color Your Pets World – Learn What They See!

Color is just one of those things most humans take for granted. The world around us is a vibrant mix of primary colors with all their differing shades and hues. When we talk about how our pets see the world many people seem to assume they either a.) see it like us, or b.) are color blind. In fact, the truth is somewhere in the middle.

How Your Pet Sees Color

Cats – Since cats are not just excellent predators, but also super stealthy, we tend to assume they have exceptional vision – and that good color is a part of that. In fact, cats see color very differently from us. Eyes are made up of what are called rod and cone cells. Humans have more cone cells that cats do allowing us to see a wider color spectrum. We can also see clearer at much greater distances. Cats can only see clearly for about twenty feet in front of them, while humans can see 100-200 feet. Cat’s see much duller versions of color than we do. They do not see reds or greens well and this leaves their worlds with what we would call a “washed out” look.

Your cat sees better at night!

How your cat sees color.

Dogs – Dogs aren’t color blind! …though they are blind to certain colors… Dogs only have yellow and blue cone cells. This means, to a dog, green, yellow, and red are all the same color. They can note levels of vibrancy though so a vibrant yellow will appear different than a dark red. See the examples below from Dogvision.com to better understand your dog’s color spectrum.

How humans see color

How your dog sees color

Rabbits – If you’ve ever seen a rabbit you know their eyes are positioned differently than those of the cat or dog. This side placement allows them to see almost a full 360 degrees around them. Though they do have two blind spots – directly behind them and directly in front of them! Like the other two, rabbits see color mostly in two tones. They can see greens (good for veggies!), yellows, and blues. Like cats, they can see much better than us during dusk or dawn when the light is dim. Though their vision diminishes in full dark.

Keep this new information in mind when buying toys and accessories for your pet! Brighten up their world by catering to their primary colors!