White Cats Deafness Blue Eyes

Do white cats with blue eyes deaf.

White cats deafness blue eyes. In odd-eyed white cats the ear on the blue-eyed side may be deaf but the one. Deafness is caused by an absence of a cell layer in the inner ear that originates from the same stem cells as well. Some of these cats are deaf in only one ear.

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. Deafness in blue-eyed white cats.

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. Many people wonder if deafness in cats with blue eyes or in white cats is an old wives tale or a fact. Their eye color is mainly due to a cellular issue.

Overall deaf cats with white coat colour and one or both blue eyes make up around about 1-15 of the total cat population. An estimated 40 percent of white cats with blue eyes are deaf which is high. As we have mentioned previously not all white cats with blue eyes are prone to deafness.

In the cat world white cats with blue eyes are very special kitties. The uphill road to solving polygenic disorders The pure white cat with luminous blue eyes is an attrac-tive image familiar to many. When the gene affects only one eye the cat will have odd eyes.

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. Researchers found that only 17 to 22 percent of white cats with non-blue eyes are born deaf.