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Are The Senses of Your Cat Really Enhanced?

Modern folklore is much like the past when it comes to our feline friends. They are associated with all types of enhanced sensory abilities, but one has to wonder if these claims are really true. Well, let's take a closer look.

To understand how a cat views the world, it helps to understand the basic nature of your cuddly little kitten. At its core, it is a predator. Yep, a cold blooded killer. If you can accept this fact, understanding how it senses the world makes sense.

As predators, cats are tuned to hunt during particular periods of time. With the average cat, the night is the time to stalk ones prey. To support this fact, cats have superior night vision compared to us, but have worse day vision.

So, how exactly is a cat's vision enhanced during the night? It has a tapetum lucidum that we do not. What is it? A reflective device in the eyes that concentrates what the cat is seeing. This is the red eye you see in pictures.

On the hearing front, you probably expect your kitten to have far superior hearing to you or I. On the lower end of the sound scale, they hear about the same as us. On the upper end, however, they can hear much higher sounds than either we or a dog can.

Once area where there is no disputing our feline friends have superior senses is smell. We might as well not have noses when discussing any comparison. A cat can smell 14 times as well as we can.

Whiskers are the key to the sense of touch for a cat. Everyone knows they have them on their face, but they also have them on the bottom of their chin, the back of their ankles and the elbows of their legs.

Whisker use depends on the breed, but all are used to sense touch and provide input to the brain. Brain activity studies show that the sensation sent by the whiskers are processed much like sight, meaning cats can be said to visualize images with their whiskers.

Turning to taste, we find something very odd about cats. They have problems tasting sugars for genetic reasons. Scientists believe this is why most cat breeds ignore potential plant food and prefer meat that they can taste.

So, there you have it. Yes, your cat definitely has enhanced sense, but in different ways than you might have imagined. Knowing the specifics, however, gives you a better ability to interpret what they are doing day in and day out.