Not Really A Paper

ts have excellent night vision and can see at only one sixth the light level required for human vision.[54]:43 This is partly the result of cat eyes having a tapetum lucidum, which reflects any light that passes through the retina back into the eye, thereby increasing the eye's sensitivity to dim light.[73] Another adaptation to dim light is the large pupils of cats' eyes. Unlike some big cats, such as tigers, domestic cats have slit pupils.[74] These slit pupils can focus bright light without chromatic aberration, and are needed since the domestic cat's pupils are much larger, relative to their eyes, than the pupils of the big cats.[74] Indeed, at low light levels a cat's pupils will expand to cover most of the exposed surface of its eyes.[75] However, domestic cats have rather poor color vision and (like most non-primate mammals) have only two types of cones, optimized for sensitivity to blue and yellowish green; they have limited ability to distinguish between red and green.[76] A 1993 paper found a response to mid-wavelengths from a system other than the rods which might be due to a third type of cone. However, this appears to be an adaptation to low light levels rather than representing true trichromatic vision.[77]
Cats have excellent hearing and can detect an extremely broad range of frequencies. They can hear higher-pitched sounds than either dogs or humans, detecting frequencies from 55 Hz up to 79 kHz, a range of 10.5 octaves; while humans can only hear from 31 Hz up to 18 kHz, and dogs hear from 67 Hz to 44 kHz, which are both ranges of about 9 octaves.[78][79] Cats do not use this ability to hear ultrasound for communication but it is probably important in hunting,[80] since many species of rodents make ultrasonic calls.[81] Cat hearing is also extremely sensitive and is among the best of any mammal,[78] being most acute in the range of 500 Hz to 32 kHz.[82] This sensitivity is further enhanced by the cat's large movable outer ears (their pinnae),