Are Most White Cat With Blue Eyes Deaf

What is the risk of deafness in a white cat.

Are most white cat with blue eyes deaf. First of all it can be said that not all white cats are deaf but they are more likely to be deaf since they carry the so-called gene W White of white in English especially those that have one eye of each color or blue eyes. The percentage of deafness in white cats with one blue eye rises to 40. Having bi-colored eyes cuts the odds but i am not sure how much.

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. The mech-anism of inheritance of deafness in white cats has not been determined to date and advanced statistical genetic analy-. In some cases a completely white cat will have a gene with white spots resulting in odd eyes one blue and the other gold or green.

While there is a clear correlation between the blue eye color and deafness in white cats why is this so. Furthermore if a cat has one blue eye and one green the ear on the side of the blue eye is more likely to be deaf than the other. 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.

Statistically 85 of F white blue-eyed cats are entirely deaf. The key determiner in deafness in all-white cats lies more in the color of their eyes than that of their coats. 25 of white cats with yellow eyes have normal hearing.

The reason is the aforementioned W genotype. Interestingly deaf cats who are white and have blue eyes make up around just 1-15 of the total cat population. The stats show that the blue-eyed white cat is prone to deafness incidence more than the normal cat.

However not all white coat cats have blue eyes. In the cat world white cats with blue eyes are very special kitties. According to the Feline Health Center at Cornell University research has found that only 17 to 22 percent of all-white cats without blue eyes are born deaf.