Comparing Senses Between Cats and Rabbits

Cats and rabbits both make wonderful companion animals, but as mammals that evolved for two highly different ways of life, they have significant differences when it comes to their senses. A cat's sharp senses are highly suited to a carnivorous life as a predator, while the gentler rabbit has learned to keep a watchful eye out, lest he end up as another animal's prey.

  1. Sight

    • A cat's eyes are similar to a human's in basic structure, but have several distinct adaptations to their advantage, including a third eyelid, which helps keeps their eyes moist and provides protection during scuffles with other predators and prey. Their eyes also have a tapetum lucidum, which is a layer of tissue beneath the retina that reflects light and gives them a sensitivity to light that is about six times greater than a human's. A rabbit's eyes evolved to watch efficiently for predators, so the eye placement on the skull is high and positioned towards the sides, which gives the rabbit a wide range of sight in the distance, but a blind spot directly in front of his face. Rabbits also have limited depth perception, and both animals have limited color perception.

    Hearing

    • Cat ear structure, like human ear structure, includes an outer ear, a middle ear and an inner ear, with an earflap, eardrum and cochlea, all of which work together to process sound vibrations and pass information on to the cat's brain. Cats have a greater hearing range than rabbits, with the ability to hear frequencies from 45 to 64,000 Hertz, or cycles per second. A rabbit's ears are similar in inner structure to a cat's, and can make up a significant percentage of the animals' total body surface -- for example, the British giant's ears account for 12 percent of his entire body. Rabbits are able to hear from 360 to 42,000 Hz, giving them a more limited hearing range than cats.

    Smell

    • In addition to the receptor cells in their noses, both cats and rabbits have an additional vomeronasal organ that assists with their olfactory sense. A cat's nose contains approximately 67 million cells, while a rabbit may have 100 million. Both animals use their senses of smell to communicate with other members of their species and to learn more information about their surroundings. Rabbits also use smell to locate food, but cats do not use smell to locate prey.

    Taste

    • Rabbits outshine cats significantly in the area of taste: a domestic European rabbit has about 17,000 taste buds, while a cat has only 500. Rabbits can taste bitter, sweet, salty and sour, just like humans, and prefer sweet tastes to any other. Cats are the only mammal not able to taste sweets, most likely because they evolved as predators who eat only meat.

    Touch

    • Both cats and rabbits have whiskers, or vibrissae, which are hairs with nerves at the base that extend an animal's sense of touch and orientation beyond its outer skin. Rabbits have between 20 and 25 whiskers on each side of the upper lip, which they use for navigation and feeding, especially since they have a blind spot directly in front of their faces. Cats have a similar number of whiskers, which they use for stalking prey by determining air movements from close objects or animals, as well as evaluating their current location.