Are Cats Color Blind?

Cats are indeed poor at seeing color and are much like human color-blind people, perceiving only a limited palette. At night, though, their world is far richer than ours; they see clearly in dim light almost as well as by day. They cannot focus on anything within 30 cm, a gap their whiskers help fill, yet they track fast-moving prey with ease. A cat's vision is a mix of clear strengths and weaknesses tuned for a hunter.

Why Do Cats’ Eyes Glow in the Dark?

The ancient Egyptians believed cats trapped the setting sun's light in their eyes until morning; the Greeks thought a flame flickered inside. The real reason is a layer called the tapetum lucidum behind the retina. It reflects light back through the retina, giving the light-sensitive cells a second chance to catch it, which is why cats see far better than us in dim light. The glow is usually green or yellow, and many other animals share this trick.