Cat’s Eyes
By Gordon Hopkins
Whenever I write about my cats (which I do a lot because every other potential topic seems to depress me to no end), I usually distinguish them in these missives by the color of their coats. Archie is the orange cat and Groucho is the black cat. Simple.
Well, now I have another cat. His name is Harper and he is also a black cat. They don’t look exactly alike. I can certainly tell the difference between them. Well, I admit I have some trouble at a distance but, by and large, they each have enough distinguishing features that they are rarely mistaken for each other.
You, oh gentle reader, are in a different boat. You don’t have the luxury of a visual inspection. You only have my eloquent words. So how shall I help my readers tell my cats apart?
How about the eyes?
Let’s face it. Cat’s have weird eyes. They are different than just about any other creature I know.
While cats have been domesticated for an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 year, dogs have been domesticated for more than 30,000 years, at least according to some scientists. There is a reason so many human beings are more comfortable with dogs than cats. It’s all in the eyes.
Put simply, dogs have people eyes.
In reality, the eyes of a dog are also different than that of a human. They have some components that are different from a human’s eye, including a third eyelid, which is freaky. Dogs don’t see the same as humans.
But they LOOK like people eyes, and that is the point. They have the white part and the iris and the pupil, just like you learned about in school science class. Dog’s eyes come in brown, blue or hazel, just like people.
If you stare deeply into a dogs eyes, you can almost swear that there is some sort of communication. It is almost like staring into the eyes of a child, albeit a somewhat dopey, hairy child that slobbers a lot.
A cat’s eyes, on the other hand, are completely alien. If you stare deeply into a cat’s eyes (assuming they let you, which is doubtful), the only communication you might possibly get is, “If you die in your sleep, I’m going to eat you.”
A big thing is the color. Most cats have yellow eyes. People don’t have yellow eyes. Well, most people don’t. If you do have yellow eyes, I suggest you have your doctor check your liver functions.
The big thing, though, is the pupil. Cats have pupils that compress into vertical slits. Of course it freaks people out. You know what other animal has slit pupils? Dragons. Seriously. Go Google “dragon’s eye” right now. You get dozens and dozens of pictures of eyes with narrow slits. And every one of those eyes is saying the same thing, “I’m going to eat you.”
Like any pupil, a cat’s will get larger in dimmer light. To me, at least, cat’s look a little less alien at those times. That explains why so many cat owners keep the house dark. That, and to hide all the furniture and curtains their cats have destroyed.
It is all down to evolution, of course. Cats are nocturnal hunters and the design of their eyes gives cats superior night vision. Cats can open their pupils super-wide, letting even tiny amounts of light into their eyes so they can see even on really dark nights. According to the University Of California-Berkeley, “Species with pupils that are vertical slits are more likely to be ambush predators that are active both day and night.”
Ambush predators. I can think of no better description of the creatures currently inhabiting my house when they attack my feet while I’m trying to take a nap.
While a cat’s eyes may be haunting and even disturbing to some, other animals’ eyes are, to me, anyway, far more upsetting.
I speak, of course, of goats. No, I do not mean, “Greatest of All Time,” an acronym I rarely see applied to the actual greatest of all time. No, I am talking about those things that scream and faint in countless YouTube videos.
Some people actually like goats. I find them absolutely terrifying, and not just because of the screaming and the fainting or the fact that people keep insisting that cheese made from goat’s milk is actual food (It’s not and I don’t care what you say).
No, it’s the eyes. They have slits for pupils but, unlike cats, the slits are horizontal. The U of C-Berkeley tells us the reason, “In contrast, those with horizontally elongated pupils are extremely likely to be plant-eating prey species with eyes on the sides of their heads.”
As of the round pupil of humans and dogs, if you are curious, the U of C-Berkeley says, “Circular pupils were linked to ‘active foragers,’ or animals that chase down their prey.”
So humans and dogs are both active foragers. That probably explains why our relationship with dogs has existed so much longer that with cats. We simply have more in common with beasts that forage than beasts that pounce.
Still, it is their very alien nature that makes cats so interesting to a certain breed of human.
As for my own critters, while they all have yellow cat’s eyes, they are each distinctive in their own ways.
Archie has rather sad-looking eyes. (Though he is not sad, so don’t call the ASPCA on me.) Groucho, on the other hand, usually has very sleepy eyes. Then there is the new guy. Harper’s eyes are bigger that those of his roommates and, when he stares intently at me, look rather soulful. Is it possible I have the only cat in he world that can do “puppy dog eyes?”
