Are All White Cats With Blue Eyes Deaf

Albino cats are not linked to deafness.

Are all white cats with blue eyes deaf. Not all white Cats are Deaf. However a lot of white cats with blue eyes are. It seems the combination of a white coat and dazzling blue eyes occurs due to a genetic abnormality in the.

Unilateral and bilateral combined of 85 and 649 in cats with two blue eyes 40 and 391 in cats with one blue eye and 167 and 22 in cats with no blue eyes. In the cat world white cats with blue eyes are very special kitties. Many people wonder if deafness in cats with blue eyes or in white cats is an old wives tale or a fact.

White coat on cats can occur as a result of the dominant white gene W. We cannot rely solely on coat and eye color to affirm it. However not all white cats with blue eyes are deaf.

The name Lynx comes from the Greek word to shine and may be in reference to the reflective ability of the cats eyes. 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. Some of these cats are deaf in only one ear.

Hereditary deafness is a major concern in white cats and even more so if one or both irises are blue in color. In cats congenital deafness is seen almost exclusively in white coated individuals. No not all white cats carry the W D gene and associated deafness.

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 right ear and vice versa. White cats with blue eyes are more likely to be deaf however than white cats with gold or green eyes. Thus deafness is strongly linked to the white coat colour and blue eye colour but not all white cats or white cats with blue eyes are necessarily deaf.