White Cats Deafness Blue Eyes

Furthermore if a cat has one blue eye and one green the ear on the side of the blue eye is more likely to be deaf than the other.

White cats deafness blue eyes. As you may expect hereditary deafness in white cats is a real issue and presents a major concern in white cats and even more is if one or both irises are blue in color. As we have mentioned previously not all white cats with blue eyes are prone to deafness. Interestingly if a white cat with one blue eye is deaf in only one ear that ear will invariably be on the same side of the head as the blue eye.

Not all of these cats are deaf see part 2 of this short article. A cat with a gene with white spots like the tuxedo cat can have blue eyes or in some cases odd eyes. According to the Cornell Feline Health Center only 17 to 22 percent of white cats with non-blue eyes are born with hearing loss.

Their eye color is mainly due to a cellular issue. Overall statistics indicate that. Strangely blue eye white cats tend to be deaf even more than others.

These animals are well-known to be commonly affected by a congenital hereditary deaf-ness that may affect one or both ears. Cats with blue eyes are often confused with kittens. Many people wonder if deafness in cats with blue eyes or in white cats is an old wives tale or a fact.

Overall deaf cats with white coat colour and one or both blue eyes make up around about 1-15 of the total cat population. Deafness is associated only with the dominant white gene not the white spotting gene says feline geneticist Leslie A. Its even more of a concern in white cats when they have one or both irises that are blue.

The deafness is linked to the so-called W gene. Cornell University cites a study that found that 17 to 22 percent of white cats with non-blue eyes were born deaf. White cats with blue eyes are more likely to be deaf than white cats with gold or green eyes.