Masters of darkness
Cats are crepuscular, meaning they are active at dawn and dusk, and their eyesight reflects that. They have six to eight times as many cells for viewing objects in low light as humans. That allows them to see much more in settings where humans would be almost completely in the dark. Here, human vision (top) is compared with cat vision (bottom).
Night Creatures
Their superior night vision also allows them to better capture motion in the dark. Cats also have better peripheral vision.
Limited Colors
But while cats may have the edge at night, humans have superior eyesight in the daytime. Humans have many more cones, the cells responsible for processing bright light. That provides us with a much more vibrant palette of color, with reds, yellows, oranges and browns looking very similar to them.
Blues and Yellows?
Scientists aren't sure exactly what color range cats see. Some believe cats see mostly blues or grays, whereas others say they see mostly blues and yellows with a touch of green. Either way, their color vision is no match for human vision.
Daytime limitations
Felines also have slightly less ability to focus up close, seeing things at 10 inches away that humans can see clearly at about 5.5 inches.
Near-sighted
Cats are also more near-sighted than humans: An object that we may see clearly at 100 feet would need to be 20 feet away for a cat to see it sharply.
Blurry Views
Objects that are far away can be much blurrier for a cat than a human. Panoramic city views probably don't look too impressive to a cat's eyes.
