White Male Cats With Blue Eyes Deaf

And 65 to 85 percent of white cats with two blue eyes were deaf.

White male cats with blue eyes deaf. The fact is that hereditary deafness does tend to be a serious concern in white cats. In odd-eyed white cats the ear on the blue-eyed side may be deaf but the one on the orange-eyed side usually has normal hearing. The deafness is linked to the so-called W gene.

However that is not guaranteed. The keyword is the dominant gene. The deafness is caused by degeneration of the auditory apparatus of the inner ear and may affect one ear unilateral or both ears bilateral.

Unless both ears are affected cats may never show any signs of hearing loss. Statistically white cats with blue eyes with congenital deafness make up around 1 to 15 of the total cat population. Around 40 of cats with white fur and blue eyes are deaf.

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 she tended to be deaf in the. Deafness in blue-eyed white cats. The white spotting factor can create blue-eyed or odd-eyed cats if it reaches one or both eyes.

In those with only one blue eye 30-40 will be deaf so the majority will have normal hearing. Some of these cats are deaf in only one ear. These animals are well-known to be commonly affected by a congenital hereditary deaf-ness that may affect one or both ears.

Strain Louisiana State University. The white spotting factor is associated with deafness if the white areas reach the ears. 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.