Are all cats colorblind?

Are all cats colorblind? I have heard that cats and dogs are colorblind, but are ALL cats colorblind??
Also, what other animals are colorblind? I would think that there are some cats out there that can see color, or is it rare? thanks

Asked by Jett on Jan 6th 2010 in Health & Wellness


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They talked about that on a show called Cats 101 on the National Geographic channel recently. I believe they said that cats see everything in shades of green and blue. I can't find that info anywhere else though to verify it. But they also said that this was newer information and that previously cats were believed to be colorblind.

Allie answered on Jan 6th.

Other Answers



As Allie says, it seems that cats are colorblind in the sense that they see green and blue but not red. If you Google "cats colorblind," you will learn about experiments involving cats and their sense of color. Cats can see better than humans in the dark, but they appear to have a limited sense of color, and their vision is not as keen as that of a human. (Don't forget that there are many colorblind humans out there, too.) Cats are said to have keener hearing than dogs, but their sense of smell is not as good, it appears. Still, their senses of hearing and smell are much keener than those of humans, which one assumes makes up for the visual deficiency.

Chibi answered on 1/6/10. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 0 Report this answer

Izadore (Izzie)

I saw that show (it's a good one) and Allie and Chibi are right. Who knows, if they do more research, they may discover that cats can see more colors. My vet says that when she puts different shaped treats down for her cats, they always, always eat the triangle shaped ones first. She says it's happened too many times to be a coincidence. So, can they identify shapes as well?

Izadore (Izzie) answered on 1/7/10. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 0 Report this answer