White Cats Deafness Blue Eyes

Eye color in white cats also relates to the potential for deafness.

White cats deafness blue 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. In odd-eyed white cats the ear on the blue-eyed side may be deaf but the one.

Strangely blue eye white cats tend to be deaf even more than others. If a white cat has 2 blue eyes it is 3-5 times more likely to be deaf than a cat with 2 non-blue eyes and a cat with 1 blue eye is about twice as likely to be deaf as a cat with 2 non-blue eyes. Interestingly most white cats regardless of eye color exhibit a special kind of deafness.

Do white cats with blue eyes deaf. Deafness in white cats with blue eyes is a form of congenital deafness medically known as unilateral or bilateral congenital sensorineural deafness. Some of the cats were deaf in only one ear - interestingly if a cat had a blue eye on the right side of her head.

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. 40 percent of white cats with one blue eye were deaf. Its even more of a concern in white cats when they have one or both irises that are blue.

While there is a clear correlation between the blue eye color and deafness in white cats why is this so. When the white spot gene affects both eyes the cat will have blue eyes. The fact is that hereditary deafness does tend to be a serious concern in white cats.

Not all of these cats are deaf see part 2 of this short article. The percentage rises to 40 percent if the cat has one blue eye while upwards of 65 to 85 percent of all-white cats with both eyes blue are deaf. The primary determining factor of congenital deafness in all-white cats seems to be their eye color with blue eyes being a sign of the condition.