Are Most White Cat With Blue Eyes Deaf

However not all white coat cats have blue eyes.

Are most white cat with blue eyes deaf. 40 percent of white cats with one blue eye were deaf. Interestingly deaf cats who are white and have blue eyes make up around just 1-15 of the total cat population. 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.

A 1997 study showed a 72 incidence rate which further explained the process. Black and white cats with blue eyes have a much more common type of hearing and vision problem that may be related to their eye color. 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.

However that is not guaranteed. The key determiner in deafness in all-white cats lies more in the color of their eyes than that of their coats. The stats show that the blue-eyed white cat is prone to deafness incidence more than the normal cat.

For years people believed that white cats are born with blue eyes and deaf. In some cases a completely white cat will have a gene with white spots resulting in odd eyes one blue and the other gold or green. If we look at the percentage of the white-coat cat with blue eyes they account for 075 to 20 of the total cat population.

Of white cats with one blue eye about 40 percent are deaf in at least one ear. Some of these cats are deaf in only one ear. If a cat with odd eyes is deaf it is always on the same side as the blue eye.

Eye color in white cats also relates to the potential for deafness. According to the Feline Health Center at Cornell University research has found that only 17 to 22 percent of all-white cats without blue eyes are born deaf. Statistically 85 of F white blue-eyed cats are entirely deaf.