White Kittens With Blue Eyes Deaf

White cats with one or two blue eyes do however have a higher incidence of genetic deafness with the white gene occasionally causing the degeneration of the cochlea beginning a few days after birth.

White kittens with blue eyes deaf. If deafness occurs it may be either unilateral or bilateral. Cats who are white with a dominant white gene marked as w are commonly deaf because that gene is associated with deafness. In white cats with mixed coloured eyes odd eyed cats it has been found that deafness is more likely to affect the ear on the blue eyed side. Albino cats are not linked to deafness.

Overall deaf cats with white coat colour and one or both blue eyes make up around about 1 1 5 of the total cat population. White kitten with blue eyes are often be associated with blindness and deafness. About 10 20 of normal eyed cats are born deaf or become deaf as part of the feline aging process. An estimated 40 percent of white cats with blue eyes are deaf which is high.

For this reason a cat with odd eyes can be deaf from the ear that is on the side of the blue eye. Eye color in white cats also relates to the potential for deafness. If 40 percent of these cats are deaf it means the majority 60 percent can hear. Why are blue eyed white cats usually deaf.

In one 1997 study of white cats 72 of the animals were found to be. However there is no need to be feared to bring a cat with blue eyes home because more than 50 percents of cats who are not pure white their blue eyes are not always related to deafness and blindness. Deafness can occur in white cats with yellow green or blue irises although it is mostly likely in white cats with blue irises. Most kittens will be born with blue eyes which change color as they mature.

The deaf ear is usually on the same side as the blue eye. Cats with the dominant white or white spots gene may suffer from genetic deafness. Of white cats with one blue eye about 40 percent are deaf in at least one ear. Domesticated cats with blue eyes and white coats are often completely deaf.

Still look at it this way. Some of these cats can actually have other colors in their fur often in spots on their head which fade with age. White cats can have blue gold green or copper coloured odd eyes. Solid white cats with blue eyes are often deaf but their eyesight is completely normal.

Full white kittens will either have blue or amber eyes or possibly one of each called odd eyes or heterochromia. In a cat with the white spot gene the deafness usually occurs in the ear affected by the spot.