Can cats see color?

[Mosey]

I've heard that dogs are color blind and I'm assuming it's true, but don't know for sure.

Are cats color blind also?

Does "color blind" mean they see everything in black and white, or do they just get the colors mixed up?

By the way, how do "they" (the experts) determine if an animal is color blind or not?

[Stoneheartfarm]

My cat used to play with the plastic rings from milk jug lids. She would always chase the red ones, but just watch the green ones roll away. From this, I deduced she could at least tell the color red from everything else, and appearently preferred it in toys.

Steve.

[fivestring]

From what I've heard, fish, deer, dogs and cats can see some of the colors.
Contrasting colors show up the best for them.

<font color="red">"By the way, how do "they" (the experts) determine if an animal is color blind or not?" </font color>
My wife and I and another couple were discussing that this past weekend. It seems "experts" determine it from examining the rods and cones in the eyes.

[JazzDad]

Hey Stoneheartfarm, our cats always chase the yellow rings, but not the blue. I thought it was that they prefer the 2% milk residue to the 1%. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

[JazzDad]

But now Danny, I've heard the intelligence test for cats is to pour a saucer of milk and add a few drops of red food color. The smart cat will still drink the pink milk.

I've never tried it, as I would hate to discover my cats are dummies.

[Al_Wa]

Animal Vision

Hmmmm... what brought up this question Danny???

[Stoneheartfarm]

Actually, mine used to walk right past saucers of milk. Never walked past a piece of ham, though. That cat would do anything for a little taste of it. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

Steve

[Mosey]

"Hmmmm... what brought up this question"

Nothing really, just curious. It seems like it would make it harder for them to catch mice if all they could see was shades of black and white.

[chrisjbell]

The link above has a pretty good explaination. They don't really see colors like we do but have excellent vision and can differentiate between colors quite well, especially at night. They also rely heavily on sound for catching critters, and the whiskers are also used to sense changes in air density. Pretty sophisticated hunting machines - if they feel like it [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img].

[Mosey]

"if they feel like it "

Yeah. Tiger, the male, is a fat lazy cat. We had a mouse in the bin I build to hold their food and Tiger didn't care about the mouse one bit. I fixed the hole, so now the mice can't get in. Tiger is usually around though and very sociable. The kids can pick him up and handle him all they want and he loves it. Tiny, the female, is a great hunter. She also wanders off for days. She does not like to be picked up and handled at all, even by my daughter who has always been very nice to her. If she would have been around the day the mouse was getting into the food bin, the mouse would dead, but she was on one of her "walkabouts".