White Cats With Blue Eyes Are Usually Deaf

In those cats with eyes of another colour only 10 20 are likely to be deaf.

White cats with blue eyes are usually deaf. In those with only one blue eye 30 40 will be deaf so the majority will have normal hearing. 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. Deafness can occur in white cats with yellow green or blue irises although it is mostly likely in white cats with blue irises. In a cat with the white spot gene the deafness usually occurs in the ear affected by the spot.

Domesticated cats with blue eyes and white coats are often completely deaf. However in white cats with two blue eyes roughly 60 80 are likely to be deaf. They are deaf they are photophobic intolerant of bright light because of the blue eyes they have reduced vision in low light conditions. White cats can have blue gold green or copper coloured odd eyes.

Many cats are born with congenital deafness which causes deafness in the cat as it ages instead of later on. Cornell university cites a study that found that 17 to 22 percent of white cats with non blue eyes were born deaf. Of white cats with one blue eye about 40 percent are deaf in at least one ear. Up to 85 percent of them may be deaf but solid white cats are relatively few to begin with and blue eyed solid white cats are even rarer.

In white cats with mixed coloured eyes odd eyed cats it has been found that deafness is more likely to affect the ear on the blue eyed side. In a feral situation deaf white cats experience strong negative natural selection pressure as. An estimated 40 percent of white cats with blue eyes. Why are blue eyed white cats usually deaf.

This gives them some vulnerabilities like sensitivity to uv light. White cats have a genetic makeup similar to albino humans who lack pigment. White cats have always aroused curiosity in humans. Due to their genetic make up a white cat with blue eyes is 3 5 times more likely to be deaf than a cat with different coloured eyes.

While there is no treatment for hereditary deafness in cats most cats adapt well to their condition. About 20 percent of non blue eyed white cats also are deaf. 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. In one 1997 study of white cats 72 of the animals were found to be totally deaf.

40 percent of white cats with one blue eye were deaf. For this reason a cat with odd eyes can be deaf from the ear that is on the side of the blue eye. Eye color in white cats also relates to the potential for deafness. Two blue eyes completely deaf.