I’ve always been curious as to what my dogs and cat can see as compared to my sight. Do they see in color or black and white? Can a dog be nearsighted? When our dog, Rosie, barks at an animal she sees on television is she responding to the sight or sound of it?

With the help of petmeds.com, I did a little research on the subject and found it quite fascinating. I’ll spare you the deeply scientific details and summarize some of the high points.

· In twilight, cats can see with about 85% less light than humans need for vision. Dogs also need significantly less light than humans.

· Pets see movement so well that they may see flickering images on television rather than the continuous image that humans see.

· Pets see many more shades of gray than humans can distinguish.

· Pets’ eyes are set wide on their heads so their field of view is 60 – 70 degrees larger than the human field. Humans see 180 degrees and pets closer to 240 degrees.

· Humans are trichromatic and see three colors: red, blue and yellow, which allow humans to see all visible wavelengths and thousands of color variations. Pets are dichromatic and see yellows and blues, but not reds.

· Humans can see objects three inches from their noses. Pets can’t see objects any closer than one or two feet from their noses and use their noses and whiskers to identify objects that are close.

· Humans have great depth perception and pets have very limited depth perception.

As a lifelong pet owner, I know that my pets can see more than meets the eye. For instance, my dog Rebel can sense when I’m feeling blue and stays close by, nuzzling my hand and just leaning against me for support. Rosie knows when a thunderstorm is approaching and comes to tell us even before we hear it. When it arrives, she is frightened and shakes unless held by one of us. Baxter is by far the most happy-go-lucky dog I’ve ever lived with and is quick to return a smile and any mention of play is met with unbridled joy!

I know that when we are together, our pets are always aware of us and usually want to share the same space. They are quick to see and respond to all of our emotions be it fear, joy or sadness. They are there for us no matter what kind of day we’ve had, they’re always happy to see us. Their loyalty is true and in some instances underserved. Our pets can see our hearts and that’s why we love them so much.