Research overview: the genetics of feline vision and night sight

Cats are crepuscular and nocturnal hunters with eyes adapted for low-light performance, including a reflective tapetum lucidum and a rod-rich retina. This overview surveys the genetic and developmental basis of feline vision, the molecular components of the tapetum, the opsin genes underlying their dichromatic color sense, and inherited retinal diseases such as progressive retinal atrophy that have been mapped in cat breeds and serve as models for human blindness. It discusses how comparative genomics situates cat vision within carnivore evolution, and how studying feline eye genetics advances both veterinary ophthalmology and the understanding of visual adaptation to nocturnal predation.