They share with dogs the status of our best friends. The cats with whom we share our daily lives have an experience of life that is very different from ours, with senses totally distant from ours. So what is it like to be a cat?
Vision
To get to the heart of the matter of differences with humans, cats see at night. They are then said to be nyctalopes. This is due to the high number of rods present in the back of their eye, which are the light-receiving cells. Another difference is that their vision is much broader than ours. Indeed, they see at 260° (200° plus 30° of very blurred peripheral vision at each end), when humans only see at 230° (180° plus twice 20°). On the other hand, they are less efficient in detecting objects, which they only see clearly when they are about ten centimeters away. It is their mustache that allows them to detect them, hence the danger of cutting them.
In addition, if they capture more light thanks to a greater number of rods, they see colors less, since they have only a few cones, these photoreceptor cells that allow them to see colors. If they manage to perceive blue and yellow, they cannot see red and green.
Hearing
When it comes to hearing, cats have large ears that can move independently and 180°, allowing them to accurately detect where a sound is coming from. They also have more neurons dedicated to hearing and therefore analyze sounds better, they perceive 11 octaves when humans only perceive nine.
Smell
A cat’s sense of smell is powerful, very powerful since they are 100 times more sensitive to smells than we are, thanks to hundreds of millions of olfactory sensors that line the inside of their nasal cavity. In addition, cats enjoy a second olfactory organ located in the mouth, which explains why they sometimes open their mouths in the presence of a suspicious odor.
Taste
Regarding taste, this sense is much less developed in cats than in humans. Indeed, the cat has 473 receptors in its taste buds, « taste buds », when the man has 9,000. Also, they hardly smell sweet, but are very sensitive to bitter, qu ‘they hate.
On the other hand, if the taste does not interest them more than that, the nutritional values of a dish are very important to them. We talked about it in a previous article, to consult here.
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