White Male Cats With Blue Eyes Deaf
In those with only one blue eye 30-40 will be deaf so the majority will have normal hearing.
White male cats with blue eyes deaf. Non-dominant white gene will not mask other colors and give full white coat on cats. Interestingly if a white cat with one blue eye is deaf in only one ear that ear will invariably be on the same side of the head as the blue eye. Their whiteness Ive learnt is a matter of having no pigment at all which in many cases leads to ear-cancer when they are in the sun too long without protection.
In those cats with eyes of another colour only 10-20 are likely to be deaf. Cornell University cites a study that found that 17 to 22 percent of white cats with non-blue eyes were born deaf. The deafness is linked to the so-called W gene.
Breeding studies have defined the relationship between deafness in white cats and blue eye colour. The white spotting factor is associated with deafness if the white areas reach the ears. Researchers found that only 17 to 22 percent of white cats with non-blue eyes are born deaf.
25 of white cats with yellow eyes have normal hearing. The white spotting factor can create blue-eyed or odd-eyed cats if it reaches one or both eyes. Apart from dominant white gene W white coat on the cat can occur from albino gene c or spotted gene S.
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. Are white cats with blue eyes blind or deaf. Unless both ears are affected cats may never show any signs of hearing loss.
People ask why white cats with blue eyes are deaf. 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. Some of these cats are deaf in only one ear.