Why do Cats’ Eyes Glow in the Dark

by Michael
(London, UK)

This is the answer to the question, “Why do cats’ eyes glow in the dark”?

Cat have excellent night vision and are able to see things that we cannot. This is thanks to an image intensifying device  behind the retina at the rear of the eye. This device  is a light reflecting layer called the “tapetum lucidum”. In a literal sense this Latin or scientific phrase means, “bright carpet”. It acts as a mirror to the light entering the cat’s eye that hits the retina. It reflects the light back onto the retina once it has passed through. This boosts the amount of light that the retina receives. It means that a cat’s eyes use more of the light that is received by absorbing more of it.

Cats cannot, however, see in pitch black conditions as under these conditions there is no light to boost. Under very dark conditions cats can rely on their acute sense of smell and hearing plus those amazing whiskers that can feel currents of air as it passes around and over objects thus telling the cat that something is there.

From Why Do Cats’ Eyes Glow in the Dark to Why Do Cats

See also:

• Cat Eyes
• Cat Whiskers do more than we think
• Cat’s Eyes Helping Whales 
• Odd-Eyes Cats 
• Feline Eye Disease 
• Cross-eyed Cat 

Photo: by guy schmidt