White Male Cats With Blue Eyes Deaf
Are most white cats with blue eyes deaf.
White male cats with blue eyes deaf. Cataracts are not the only cause of cats with blue eyes. 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. Some of these cats are deaf in only one ear.
In those cats with eyes of another colour only 10-20 are likely to be deaf. Non-dominant white gene will not mask other colors and give full white coat on cats. 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.
However in white cats with two blue eyes roughly 60-80 are likely to be deaf. Since it usually covers the eyes if it covers the ears the deaf cats caused by white spotting frequently have blue eyes but not always. The deafness is caused by degeneration of the auditory apparatus of the inner ear and may affect one ear unilateral or both ears bilateral.
The fact is that hereditary deafness does tend to be a serious concern in white cats. Breeding studies have defined the relationship between deafness in white cats and blue eye colour. The deafness is linked to the so-called W gene.
The gene responsible is an autosomal dominant gene termed W for White. When the white spot gene affects both eyes the cat will have blue eyes. Can a cat with blue eyes be deaf.
The white spotting factor is associated with deafness if the white areas reach the ears. 40 percent of white cats with one blue eye were deaf. Cats with white Spots.