My cat Belle is mean, but cute. She has a tiny nose with a little streak of orange running up it. She also has orange fur on her feet. All of her brothers and sisters were orange tabby cats. Belle was the oddball of the litter. Unlike her siblings, she just got a splattering of orange here and there. She's fun to photograph because she's cute, but as with any cat, taking pictures of her with a flash is difficult. Her eyes always glow and she looks like she has laser eyes. Why do cats eyes glow, but human eyes turn red? TAPETUM LUCIDUM ...
Cats, dogs and other nocturnal animals have a special reflective layer in their eyes called tapetum lucidum. It works like a mirror to reflect light back out through the eyes so the animal can see better at night. The eyes are more dilated at night, so you see more of this layer when it's reflected off light. People don't have this special layer in their eyes. When the light of a flash camera hits a human eye, the light travels back and reflects off the retina, which is rich in blood, causing the eyes to look red. If your camera has a red-eye reducing feature, it uses two quick flashes instead of one, causing the eyes to constrict and let in less light. It seems simple enough. However, I do find it interesting how cats look like aliens and people look like demons. Shouldn't it be the other way around?
Title for new book...
ReplyDeleteCat With the Glowing Eyes
Yes, it SHOULD be the other way around. Haha.
ReplyDeleteMy eyes usually turn red in photos - even though our cameras have the special "No red eye" double flash.
ReplyDeleteAnd people v. cats: people can be little devils - cats can't, or can they?
LOL, shes cute. I have 2 cats one senior cat and a little one about a year old.Very interesting about the eyes. thanks for sharing that I didnt know that.
ReplyDeleteBish -- LOL @ the book title. That would get me to pick it up.
ReplyDeleteElliah -- Hi there and thanks for stopping by.
Kim -- I'm not sure about cats in general, but we're pretty sure Belle is bipolar. One minute she's hissing and biting and the next she turns around and mews at you. She's either bipolar or has short term memory!
Becky -- Thanks for stopping by. Belle is pretty old too, even though she doesn't look it. She's about 16 years old.
Thanks, Rena. I've started my week learning something new - has to mean it'll be an interesting week!
ReplyDeleteShe does look eveil, LOL.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting medical tip,(not to put a downer here or anything, it just made me think of it) - if your eys have a distinct white spot intead of red eye when photographed - get your eyes checked. Some tumours show up this way, a girls sight over here was recently saved because someone noticed this in a photo.
Anyway, you have also inspired me to start writing, a story about a seagull...
Kate -- Glad you learned something new. :)
ReplyDeleteDee -- I've never heard that about the white spot. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. And hey, if I've inspired you to start writing, then you just MADE MY DAY! Thank you!
I always learn new things on your blog Rena!
ReplyDeleteBelle is cute - I have a cat named Toby who is also cute... but stupid. I always thought cats were so smart and would be a great pet - but we definately got short-changed in the pet 'smarts' department. Toby is the cat who eats ribbon off presents or roses off the table because they look pretty, then gets violently ill and then goes back to eat some more! But he is cute. lol
LOL @ Toby eating the flowers, Tracy. I only have fake plants and flowers because Belle & Kitty would eat real ones. This doesn't stop them from munching on the fake ones though. Belle's the worst when it comes to chewing on our Christmas tree. Doh!
ReplyDeleteCats don't like me much, usually go for the neck. lol They are fun to watch though.
ReplyDeleteNancy
LOL Nancy! I had a really mean cat named Nica who lunged up and grabbed me by the throat. He was mean, even more than Belle! Ironically, he seemed so gentle when we adopted him, so I named him Nicademus after the man in the Bible. Must have had a little bit of Lucifer in him!
ReplyDeleteI love cats. I have a cat too and yep, all her pictures have her with weird eyes. I like how you explained it though.
ReplyDeleteMaybe when cats see our pictures, they think "Man! My human has whacked out eyes!"