Do White Cats With Blue Eyes Deaf

Some of these cats are deaf in only one ear.

Do white cats with blue eyes deaf. For those cats with other colored eyes only 10-20 are deaf. About half of all white cats are deaf and those numbers increase in cats with blue eyes with deafness often found on the same side as the blue eye left blue eye deaf in left ear. 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.

Some people claim that 99 of blue-eyed white cats are deaf. Generally it has been observed that a white cat with blue eyes is deaf. As for odd-eyed white cats when a white cat has one orange or green and one blue eye the ear on the blue-eyed side is likely to be deaf whereas the one on the orange- or green-eyed side is usually fine.

Thus deafness is strongly linked to the white coat colour and blue eye colour but not all white cats or white cats with blue eyes are necessarily deaf. As for white cats with only one blue eye about 30-40 will be deaf. These animals are well-known to be commonly affected by a congenital hereditary deaf-ness that may affect one or both ears.

According to scientists a gene called W is responsible for a cats appearance white skin and white hair color. The variable penetrance of deafness and eye colour may be caused by interplay with other genes andor environmental factors. Not all blue-eyed whites will be deaf since there are several different genes causing the same physical attributes whiteness blue-eyedness so it all depends on the cats genotype its genetic make-up not its phenotype its physical appearance.

If youre wondering what exactly is the reason behind this youre not alone. When one or both eyes are blue anywhere from 60 to 80 of white cats will be deaf. Is It True That White Cats With Blue Eyes Are Deaf.

Hereditary deafness is a major concern in white cats and even more so if one or both irises are blue in color. And obviously some cats of other colors are deaf for completely different reasons. Eye color in white cats also relates to the potential for deafness.