A cat watching TV
Cats enjoy visual stimulation because they are visual creatures. As mentioned earlier, cats respond to visual and sound stimuli that sharpen their cognitive functions and improve their senses.
But despite this, not all cats enjoy watching TV. Some cats are afraid of noise and moving images and will avoid any room where the TV is turned on. While others find the TV soothing and they sleep in front of the screen, behaving indifferently to what is around them when it is turned on. Some cats enjoy watching TV for the following reasons :
Mixing the TV and the window
Many cats spend hours at the window, watching the world from it. Cats enjoy watching TV, due to their extreme responsiveness to visual stimuli, especially if there is something on the screen that interests them, such as birds and other animals. TVs have a lot in common with windows, that’s why cats love them, especially when playing Animal Programs. Cats can watch TVs from afar and lie down in front of them, providing a sense of relaxation and tranquility before bedtime.
Curiosity
Cats are curious creatures by nature. And fascinated by TVS where she enjoys watching Motion Pictures. Curious cats explore the TV with their paws and inspect the back of the device to find out the source of the sounds. Many cats lose interest when they grow up, but some of them retain their curiosity about televisions even when they grow up.
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Predilections for hunting
Cats with hunting inclinations are more likely to enjoy watching TV. Their attention is attracted by color changes and movements on the screen because they think that what they see is already in the room with them.
Some cats scratch with their paws at the screen due to their strong hunting impulses, believing that they are able to chase and catch animals and objects that they see. This can be a source of frustration for cats who want to catch their prey. Some other cats enjoy the TV as a fun toy, but they can become more interested in what is displayed on the screen over time.
Spending time with the owners
Some cats watch TV because they see their owners doing it. Many families sit down to watch TV and this encourages cats to join in the fun with them. Cats who love their owners enjoy spending time with them, and watching TV provides an ideal opportunity to do this. They don’t necessarily watch the screen, but they enjoy relaxing and sitting next to their favorite people.
Relieve boredom
If your cat is bored, TV is a fun way to pass the time and give an atmosphere of excitement. Cats enjoy thinking about what’s going on around them, and watching fast-moving pictures on TV can help entertain them. Also, older cats or those with health problems cannot indulge in play and motor activity, so televisions are an alternative source of entertainment.
If you are wondering what to show cats when you watch TV, the answer depends on the cat’s intelligence, age, ability to perceive color and depth. Cats often see the following things:
Colors
Scientists believe that cats perceive the world as an unsaturated photographic image (source). As Animal Behavior researchers say, cats need good vision in order to:
Fishing
Avoid dangerous situations
Interaction with other cats
However, cats do not see colors very clearly because the number of cones they have is not the same as humans. This means that they do not see rich or clearly defined colors. But although they do not see saturated colors like us, the images they see are very similar to what we see.
Cats also do not see fine details. Instead, they have a reflective layer in the retina, this layer reflects and reflects light back from the depth and is responsible for the good vision of cats in the Dark, which means that cats are unlikely to distinguish bright colors on the TV screen because their eyes are not designed for this.
Perception of depth
Currently, scientists do not know how cats see pictures on TV, there are only theories. Instead of the full-fledged images that we see, cats see edges and detailed outlines of people and animals that they see on the screen.
Cats also see flickering light because their brains move faster than the images being shown. According to American Studies, cats process images more quickly than humans at 70-80 Hz, so the faster the images, the more interested cats are in what is displayed on the screen.
In the same vein, humans need about 20 frames per second or more to see smooth and clean movement on the TV screen. While cats need about 100 frames per second for the same experience.
Old or new television
Since cats process images faster, old TVs with a frame rate of 50 Hz manifest as an irrational flicker that cats cannot perceive. Modern TVs with an image frame rate of 100 Hz show less blurry and more interesting images for cats to watch.
To explain how this works, televisions do not show an animated video, but a series of continuous images, which gives the video dynamism. Human minds cannot process these images fast enough, which makes the sequential images look smooth and appear as video as we see. Modern TVs have a higher image succession rate than the old ones, which means that the images change faster, resulting in more movement.
To the cat’s eyes, the pictures look dim and static that do not move well on an old TV. While on the new TV, cats sense movement more and are more convinced,which arouses their interest even more.
However, cats rely more on their hearing to understand the world around them. It is possible that they simply see fast-moving images but are more attracted to the sound of the TV.
Bright screen
Bright TV screens slightly blind cats. This is because their eyes are built on seeing in the dark. Even if we set up the screen according to our standards, it will probably look too bright for cats.
But despite this, cats can shrink their pupils for lack of light and reduce its effects. When your cat is in the room with you while watching TV, try not to light the screen too much.
Do cats understand television
Cats do not have the mental abilities to understand what television is. Of course, they see colors and movements, but most cats cannot distinguish what appears on the screen from reality. Cats who have never tried TVs before will find it confusing the first time.
Because of this confusion, some cats may not like the TV screen. And they may also see their reflection in the glass, mistakenly believing that there is another cat with them in the room.
Cats may also be confused by the sound of the TV. Their hearing is designed to locate their prey, so sounds are likely to cause them some stress if they cannot determine their source.
Do cats like to leave the TV on for them
The feline’s enjoyment of television when it is left on for her comes down to her personality. Some cat breeders believe that leaving the TV on while they are out of the house is an effective way to calm and entertain the cats they left behind, and loneliness pushes them away.
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