Everyone who has a cat at least once in his life has noticed that these animals have a certain ability to sense and notice different things. It seems to some that these things are paranormal and completely do not fit into the understanding of the human brain. And it’s not strange, because the ability of cats to look into the void and freeze like that for no reason seems rather frightening and creepy. Why do cats sometimes look at some seemingly random point in space?
Scientific explanations
According to experienced veterinarians, cats are able to detect subtle movements, because their vision is much sharper than in humans. A study in 2014 showed that cats see some light spectra that we don’t see, such as ultraviolet (UV) light. The lens of our eyes blocks ultraviolet radiation, but in the ultraviolet lenses of our cat friends, ultraviolet radiation reaches the retina, and it is converted into nerve signals that enter the brain, where the visual system perceives them. If you understand that your cat has sharper eyesight than yours, its behavior makes much more sense.
Cats, unlike dogs or other animals, are more curious in nature. This may explain their sometimes strange behavior and desire to listen to every rustle and movement. Compared to human eyes, cat eyes actually have six to eight times more photosensitive rods, which means they can see much better in very low light. Veterinarians are sure that cats have remarkable abilities, their feelings are stronger than human ones, which means that a person will never be able to imagine what a cat sees during the study of “emptiness”.
The illogical behavior of cats
Many owners sometimes watch their cats watch “at first glance” nothing on a blank wall or in a dark corner. But cats are not only able to see and hear what a person cannot, they have a wonderful brain that works so that we people do not fully understand it. When a cat looks at something in the air and begins to meow to the owner about it, a person should understand that the cat only shares its interest in studying the outside world and this situation does not threaten either you or your animal.
Sometimes a person needs time to understand what a cat is watching peering into the void. In fact, it can be a reflection of light from a TV on the opposite wall, or glimmers of light on a window from a truck body, or tiny particles of dust that fall through the rays of the sun and the cat is looking at them with interest. Sometimes your cat can suddenly stare not at the “ghosts”, but at the owner, which can confuse and frighten you a little. If your cat is looking at you, owners are often advised to move slowly or even blink in order to send the animal a message that you are not a threat to him and that you yourself are safe.
Listening to sounds
Your cat’s feelings are very sharp. She can hear what people do not hear. Although we can hear sounds at frequencies from 20 to 20,000 Hz, cats can hear up to 64,000 Hz. Even the smallest kitten definitely hears better than you. Cats can hear sound over long distances — four or five times farther than humans. They can also detect the smallest differences in sound, so it is likely that when your cat looks into the void, it tries to distinguish between the sounds that have arisen and figure out what is happening on its territory.
Myths or reality?
In the old days, there were many theories explaining why cats can look into the void. Since these animals, especially black cats, were considered by the Christian church as messengers of hell, myths had rather eerie explanations. Most often, such at that time incomprehensible feline behavior was explained as:
- cats are crazy;
- ghosts and spirits exist;
- cats see the souls of the dead;
- all of the above together.
In fact, scientists have not found a single proof that ghosts and spirits exist, so trusting such myths is completely unreasonable. In fact, things are much simpler and therefore we can only envy such excellent eyesight and hearing of our furry favorites.