White Cats Deaf Or Blind
As you may expect hereditary deafness in white cats is a real issue and presents a major concern in white cats and even more is if one or both irises are blue in color.
White cats deaf or blind. It is inherited deafness. Some cats are at a higher risk of genetic defects which can cause deafness from birth. A number of breeds now insist on white cats being checked for deafness eg.
Unless both ears are affected cats may never show any signs of hearing loss. Some of the breeds that are at higher risk are white Persians Ragdolls Cornish and Devon Rex Oriental Shorthairs Manx and Turkish Angora. Dogs that carry the piebald gene are often affected by deafness.
Cats who are born deaf might have had a congenital defect says Dr. Albino cats are not linked to deafness. Clicker training works very well for blind pets and many deaf pets can be trained using hand signals.
In most cases of congenital deafness the cats affected will have an all-white or mostly white coat In this case deafness is most often inherited. This is due to a gene which is common in these types of cats which is also responsible for white fur and blue eyes. All white cats are most certainly not deaf.
White cats with blue eyes are by far the most likely to develop hearing loss. In terms of adult cats in a lot of cases hearing loss or deafness occurs due to age-related issues. Make sure to offer plenty of appropriate verbal or tactile praise and of course treats.
In particular this applies to white-coated cats this means cats that are entirely white whose eyes are either both blue both orange or one of each color. This is a simple non-invasive test that can be performed at specialist centres to determine accurately whether deafness is present. All-white cats are prone to being deaf but not blind.