Why 'My' Cats Watch TV (Maybe)
Examining what they see and possibly think
Phoenix the cat is regularly intrigued by the show Serengeti.
We currently have two cats in our household, both of whom seem to love watching television. Like most anyone, I always assumed that animals do not see images on a screen the same way we do. From that, I concluded that those who do exhibit curiosity are probably captivated simply by motion, similarly to the way that many cats will tear a house apart chasing a laser pointer dot. But the cats sharing my home do not adopt this pattern. While they will follow moving objects on the screen, they do not do so universally.
One cat, for instance, only cares about the movement of animals, animal-shaped objects, or images that look similar to her toys. She could not care less about a hockey puck or tennis ball whisking back and forth and, more interestingly, she will not bother with anything if there is no sound.
The other cat, Phoenix, is wholly disinterested except when he hunkers down for a rest. Like a laborer crashing on the couch after a hard day at work, Phoenix will only glance at the screen once he has settled in for the evening. But, what keeps his attention varies widely.
He watches hockey, NFL football, animal shows, and action movies. Like the other, this cat will not pay any heed if there is no sound. If he does not care for what’s on—even sometimes when it fits into the above categories—he will sprawl out and go to sleep. When he is awake and active, he acts as if there is no TV in the room no matter what is on.
In light of all this, it is hard to hold the view that the cats like watching TV predicated only on some basic instinct to react to movement alone. Clearly sound, content, and the cats’ mood all play a part. I wondered, then, how far along our understanding on this has come.
What they see
Cats’ eyes function in much the same way as human eyes. There are certain differences that affect specific aspects of sight, but the broader view appears similar to us both. You can see this in the image below, courtesy of the Animal Eye Associates.
The primary elements that have an impact on feline television-watching are that they see fewer colors and are nearsighted. Dog and cat vision both favor yellow and blue and neither can distinguish between green or red very well, likely causing some distortion of electronic images.
Almost all TVs produce color from only three foundational colors: red, green, and blue. LCD (liquid-crystal display) screens are made up of millions of pixels of these three colors that light up on command to create the illusion of other colors. The lower the resolution, the easier it is for a viewer to distinguish between pixels (or pixel blocks, at least). As cats have abilities superior to humans in making this distinction when the image is up close, those that rely heavily on red and green probably appear very strange and unappealing to them.
Plasma, LED, OLED (or LEP), and QLED TVs likewise operate from the same basic color scheme, but the different methodologies they use to alight obfuscate the artifact caused by pixelation in LCD TVs, which is why 4k or UHD are possible. ‘4k’ simply means four times the number of pixels of ‘standard’ high definition (HD), making it ultra high (UHD). LEDs and OLEDs (or LED TVs that allegedly use Organic materials) currently dominate the market with QLED on the rise. Plasma have gone essentially extinct.
The various LED (light-emitting diode) TVs have a key advantage that make them more enjoyable to cats. While they use backlighting to generate images just as older types did, they do so with far more, and much tinier sources—the LEDs that give them their name. This allows the light to be aimed more accurately thereby reducing haloing, improving contrast, and increasing the number of colors the TV can project. QLEDs (the ‘Q’ annoyingly stands for quantum) have added billions of microscopic lenses that direct light even more precisely.
Between cats and dogs, the latter see slightly more ranges of color, but most dogs are also farsighted while cats are the opposite. This may be why cats generally tend to express greater interest in videos (though no one has scientifically quantified this that I can find). What’s on the TV is just clearer to them. It also explains why they sit so darn close to the screen, tempting me to repeat my mother’s admonitions from my childhood.
Cats process information quicker than both people and dogs. So, in addition to the color issue, they may not find any interest in low quality imagery because it appears acutely unrealistic and boring to them. High definition, on the other hand, provides them an abundance of stimuli. Indeed, both of my cats gravitate toward productions in UHD above all else. At higher resolutions, they can identify at least some imagery they see on the screen.
This could be why big cats or animals they routinely hunt pique their interest. Including the sound probably adds to the realism for them. Because cats rely heavily on scent and other senses for both predation and defense, televised versions are usually not perceived as a threat. Instead, they only provoke curiosity.
Overall, the improvements in the quality of what televisions can produce likely makes them more amenable to cats. The size and clarity of the images, along with sharp contrasts and broader spectrums of color, have probably changed the entertainment value for them such that as new and better TVs hit the market, our lazy feline friends just might become even lazier—and demanding.
Do they enjoy it?
Whether cats (or dogs) actually enjoy watching the television remains unclear. Many speculate that our pets tend to mimic our own behaviors for various reasons. The act of watching TV, and even their seeming preference for certain content, may simply be a version of imitation. Or, having spent so much time evolving alongside of us, they similarly just want to kick back and veg out to some videos sometimes.
Is this not the image of the archetypical couch surfer? (This is the former outdoor cat, back when she still was one, who now enjoys her own TV schedule in our spare room even though she remains free to wander outside).
Anecdotal evidence suggests that cats watch TV both for their own edification and to trick us into doing their bidding. On the former, just like dogs, cats express individualized interest in certain programming. This appears to be shaped, in part at least, from their own experiences.
At my home, the black cat joined our clowder after we learned she had become permanently stuck outside in the cold. We provided her access to her own room, that still allows her to go outside, though her tendency to do so declines by the day. Instead, she would rather lounge in front of the tube where it’s always warm. She prefers content that mirrors the wildlife indigenous to our neighborhood above all else. Phoenix, who has lived inside since he was a kitten, has broader predilections that curiously match what is routinely watched by the humans in the house.
As for bowing us to their will, cats are known for their cunning manipulation of people. The very sound we associate with them, the ‘meow,’ is something they developed specifically for persuading humans to do their bidding. They almost never meow at each other. Likewise, they employ various types of purrs to get what they want from us. These sounds are measurably different from the ones they emit out of general contentment.
When they choose to watch TV in our company, it may simply be a way for them to secure the most comfortable or warmest spot in the room. It is also possible they learned that we are more inclined to pet them when we are going to be occupied, but stationary and quiet, for a long period of time. If mine are any indication, cats are wholly indifferent to whatever we have to say. Watching TV keeps us blissfully silent, but physically engaged.
Lords of the land
While I am not disillusioned into thinking that the cats in my house are pets, many still succumb to that bit of feline propaganda. Through centuries of clever molding, they have effectively pulled the wool over the eyes of humans. Meanwhile they:
have convinced us to let them defecate in a box in the house that we—not them—clean;
interact with us solely on their terms;
make us coddle them regardless of their level of interest in interaction;
persist in their penchant for killing things despite our protests; and now,
drive what we watch on the television.
If anything, they are the landlords and we are just paying the rent. But that’s okay with me. I like watching Serengeti.
See you Wednesday.
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I am the executive director of the EALS Global Foundation. You can find me at the Evidence Files Medium page for essays on law, politics, and history; follow the Evidence Files Facebook for regular updates, or Buy me A Coffee if you wish to support my work.