Understanding Your Cat’s 5 Senses

Are you a cat owner who is curious about your cat and how they function on a daily basis? 

Of course, you cat likely cannot comfortably survive without the food and shelter you provide him or her with, but you may be curious about their senses.  Do you ever find yourself wondering how well your pet can see or what their tastes are like?  If so, please continue reading on.

As for your cat’s hearing, have you ever heard that your cat’s ears are similar to a satellite dish?  There are many pet owner and veterinarians who make this comparison.  What does this mean?  It means that your cat does have a relatively good sense of hearing.  You may notice your cat turn their head and move their ears when you start talking or when they hear a noise outside.  This provides cats with the ability to hunt mice and other small, quite rodents.

As for your cat’s sense of touch, all pets are just like humans.  They have a fine sense of touch.  Whether you touch your cat’s whiskers, her paws, or her tail, it is a movement that she can notice right away.  The most sensitive part of your cat’s body is their whiskers.  As a cat owner, you should already know how important a full set of whiskers are to a cat.  Your cat’s paws are also a sensitive area on their body.

As for your cat’s sight, he or she has good vision.  It has been claimed that cats see at 1/5th the intensity of humans.  Although cats cannot see perfectly in the dark, they are still able to make out distinctive shapes and movements.  Cats are also able to see movement quicker than humans are.  A movement that may appear as nothing to us, is a movement that a cat can notice.  However, during daylight humans do have a better sense of sight.

Depending on your cat and his or her eating habits, you may assume that cats have a sensitive sense of taste.  After all, many cat owners report their pets as being picky eaters.  Although it may appear as if your cat is a picky eater, they logically aren’t, at least for taste reasons.  In fact, cats are more likely to pick and choose their food based on smell, rather than taste.

Speaking of smell, this is the most heightened out of the five senses for your cat.  Cats have a much better sense of smell than humans do.  In fact, did you know that cats have about 200 million cells in and on their noses that are odor sensitive?  They do.  This is much more than us, humans, have.  In addition to using smell as a way to decide which food to eat, cats can also use smell to determine if an environment is safe to enter.  Smelling is also a method of communication for felines.  It has been said that cats can smell odors that humans can’t even detect.

Now that you know how your cat’s five main senses are, you may be able to better understand the behavior that your cat displays and the habits that they develop.  With that said, also be sure to use your best judgment.  If your cat is refusing to eat their food, it may be something more serious than them just not liking the smell of their cat food.  If your cat appears to lose or have problems with the above mentioned senses, you should consider scheduling an appointment with your veterinarian.