Cat Eyes

The Secret World Behind Those Mesmerizing Cat Eyes!

Hey there, fellow cat lovers!

So, you know how sometimes you start working on a design, and you just get completely sucked into a rabbit hole of research? Well, that's exactly what happened to me recently while I was sketching out some ideas for a new "Cat-in-a-Box" tee. I started focusing on those incredible cat eyes, and before I knew it, hours had passed, and I'd done a deep dive into the fascinating world behind those mesmerizing peepers.

Seriously, cat eyes are just so dynamic. We all know they're beautiful, but the more you learn about them, the more amazing they become. They can go from a tiny slit in bright sunlight to a huge, luminous orb in the dark, and everything in between. It's like they're constantly adjusting to capture every single bit of light around them.

Speaking of light, here is a fun fact that I thought was pretty cool. Have you ever wondered why a cat’s eyes seem to "glow" in the dark when a flashlight hits them? That's thanks to a special reflective layer behind the retina called the tapetum lucidum.

This layer acts like a mirror, reflecting light back through the retina to give the cat a second chance to see what's there. It is the reason they can see so well in the dark!

This natural engineering actually changed the world for humans, too. The inventor of the road reflector, Percy Shaw, got his inspiration directly from cat eyes and their tapetum lucidum.

Back in 1933, Shaw was driving on a foggy night in England and saw his headlights reflecting off a cat’s eyes on a fence. He realized that if he could recreate that reflection, he could make roads much safer at night. He went on to invent "Cat's Eyes" road studs, which we still use globally today.

It goes to show that cats are not only adorable companions; they are also little marvels of nature. The more I learn about them, the more inspired I am to keep creating designs that celebrate everything we love about our feline friends.

Keep an eye out for the new design inspired by these amazing optic organs of sight—it is going to be purr-fect!

Stay cozy, The "Cat-in-a-Box" Team