White kitten w/blue eyes = deaf?

I'm not sure if this belongs here. If not, please move it?

Anyway, I have a kitten I picked up today. His Mom is pure white with blue eyes, Dad is a black/white Tux. His brother is a black/white tux with "muddy" green eyes, his sister is a chocolate/white Tux with "muddy" green eyes, and he's white with blue eyes. What are the chances he may be deaf and how do I find out if he is or not?

Thanks,
Chrissy

Chances are pretty good he's deaf. My abmassadors:
Ophelia Rose

Twitch


IMO, the best way to find out is to wait until he's alseep. Take two pans & beat them together as loud as you can on the other side of the house from him. Try not to jump/stomp/etc. as he'll feel the vibrations. If he wakes, he heard you(likely), if not, he's probably deaf.

Albiet, deaf cats are often sensitive to floor vibrations, so you've got to be careful about not stomping or dropping anything.

Your Ophelia Rose and Twitch are gorgeous. I did what you said. I went into the kitchen and he's asleep on my bed. I banged 2 pans together about 3 times. My other cats either ran away or looked at me like I just went nuts but he's still dead asleep on the bed. Since you have experience, what can I do to teach him and what, if anything, do I have to do special for him? Also, he meows a lot. Is that normal for a deaf kitty?

Thanks a ton!
Chrissy

I had a gold eye white deaf rex kitten. Didn't find out till the person I sold her to told me and she returned the kitten cause she couldn't deal with it and her other rex didn't like this girl.

I never thought to check a gold eye white. My white rexes could hear (had a blue eye white and an odd eye white - both out of pointed rexes). My deaf kitten was out of the OEW and a bicolor male. Found out thru genetics breeder that the bicolor gene can produce deaf kittens.

Anyway to answer your questions; the deaf kitten will meow louder and sometimes off-key because they cannot hear. My kitten would scream at the top of the steps if you were not in her sight.

I taught her a little sign language. Come here was to wave your hand/fingers toward you and reward her with a treat or normal meal time. If you have other cats around she will follow a lot of their actions when it comes to dinner time

To get her attention if she was not in sight of me, I'd stomp a few times on the floor and she would come and see what was going on.

The hardest thing to avoid is to accidently startle them when asleep as they can't hear you coming. So lots of times I would gently shake the bed or blanket a little to wake her up so she would not be so frightened.

The funniest thing was that you still will use her name and talk to her even tho she can't hear a word you are saying Communication is more through touch then anything else with a deaf cat.

Oh and be 100% sure she NEVER goes outside by herself!

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Found out thru genetics breeder that the bicolor gene can produce deaf kittens.

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That is interesting, I had never heard that. I haven't known any one to have a deaf bi-color ragdoll. I thought that the gene in blue eyed whites were different then that of a blue eyed pointed/bi-color? and any time they are deaf, it is just chance, nothing to do with the gene that commonly makes blue eyed whites be deaf? That is interesting though!

Yes, deaf cats have wonderfull pleasant meows. First thing explained to guests in my house is that I have a deaf cat in the basement screaming, I am not tortuing a 5 year old.

I didn't exactly "teach" my cats sign language. I stomp once for get down, twice for come here. I sorta worked out through trial & error a series of ways to communicate without sound. And both my deaf girls have different "commands" as they both learned differently.

Is this your only cat? My experience (but I've only had one) with deaf cats is that they like to have another cat around to watch to gauge their reactions to situations. Another trick I use if it's night & Clyde is upstairs is flicking the lights on and off. My neighbors probably think I'm nuts, stomping around and flicking lights on and off!

Thank you all for the wonderful help and advice. I've had him less then 24 hours and do talk to him like he can hear. LOL He looks at me like I'm a fruit. He's not an only child but I got him so Bug would have someone to grow up with and to help teach him. (All my other cats are, basically, adults.)

I did a little reading last night and read about how easy they are to startle and to either stomp, tap on the furniture or lightly shake what they are laying on to create vibrations to wake them up.

He loves to snuggle but will wake up out of a sound sleep just to scream. He'll play, then stop and scream. I told my hubby that it sounds like someone is trying to kill him. LOL

And just as a warning, I'll probably have more questions as he grows. LOL (Also never plan to let him out)

Chrissy

One thing I've noticed with Clyde is that he looks me in the eye a lot more than other cats. Trying to get a clue, I guess. He doesn't really like being picked up, but sometimes I do and put my throat on him and either sing, talk, or purr.

I can do a good imitation of a cat purr and would sometimes put my mouth to the kitten's throat or belly and purr so she would feel the vibrations. She liked that

Yes when they are awake they seem to do a lot more eye contact with people or other cats when they are around. The biggest problem socially with other animals is they can't hear a hiss or growl - they have to rely on physical body language. Sometimes that frustrates other cats cause they might only hiss to mean stay away and a deaf cat would not hear it or pay attention to it which can cause fights.

Originally Posted by celestialrags

That is interesting, I had never heard that. I haven't known any one to have a deaf bi-color ragdoll. I thought that the gene in blue eyed whites were different then that of a blue eyed pointed/bi-color? and any time they are deaf, it is just chance, nothing to do with the gene that commonly makes blue eyed whites be deaf? That is interesting though!

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The colorpoint gene is different from both the white gene and the white spotting gene. White spotting and white are also different genes but it's the white that can cause deafness. When it comes to white cats, they can be deaf no matter the eye color. White spotted cats are rarely deaf and the once that are are mostly high grade white but I guess low grade white spotting can cause deafness id the white spotting runs over the ear region. You can read more about it in the article The pigment parade.

There is a very good book, Living with a Deaf Dog, that may offer some good ideas that will work with cats.

Thank you for taking her in.

Don't worry. I've been talking to a deaf cat for 5 years now.

New day, new question. LOL Is it normal for his eyes to look red in certain lights? He tilted his head to the side today and I swear his eyes went red!

We named him Peace. When he yells, he's anything but peaceful. LOL But we thought the name fit. Also, he hates being picked up. Is that normal?

Thanks again!
Chrissy

Yes, any blue eye cat will reflect the light in a different way then other color eyes, so all blue eyed cats will show the "red" eye in the right light.

Also they may be more sensitive to light then normal cats.

Oh good. So he's not an evil red eyed kitten. LOL

What about disapline (sp)? I read that a squirt bottle works? Today he was chewing on a cord and I tossed a toy in his direction. It landed in front of him which startled him but then he pounced on the toy and has left the cord alone, for now. I plan to buy that Bitter Apple stuff so he won't chew on cords but what about getting on things he shouldn't?

Thanks,
Chrissy

I do not reccomend water bottles. If you spray in their ears, it can cause an ear infection & affect balance. There was a kitty in the shelter her forever that had balance problems because of a squirt bottle.

I suggest cord covers, bitter apple spray, I usually just stomp really hard on the floor or toss something in their general direction.

My best friend adopted her second deaf cat from me (I pulled him from a kill shelter) after her first deaf cat crossed a few years previously. She absolutely loves them, and we talk about him all the time.

She does have a few challenges with him. The other cats in the house took quite a while to figure out exactly what his handicap was. They would engage him like other cats and he wouldn't respond as they expected (such as a hiss warning when he was doing something wrong). It created a bit of tension until they all figured it out. Their black cat sometimes stalks him in the dark (cause he knows he can't hear him approach). When he was young and fell into those deep kitten sleeps, she often lost him in the house.

On the other hand, she finds a lot of fun in teaching him sign language (you just figure out what works for you). She used a lot of foot stomping to get her first deaf boy's attention, but this one doesn't seem to respond the same way. He does respond to lights and she's thinking about incorporating some light signing into her routine with him. She's just starting to experiment with this concept.

He does meowl a lot, as did her first one. Her first would let out HUGE meowls but her current has this soft little kitten mewl.

When I adopted him they told me he was deaf but there were times when my friend wasn't sure about it. Jingle keys behind his head, clap your hands, etc. It took my friend a few months to be absolutely certain that he had absolutely no hearing.

Peace does seem to respond to light. I walked into the bathroom where he was and turned on the light while he was asleep. He instantly woke up and came to me. I picked him up for cuddles and love. (Even though he yells bloody murder when picked up. He'll settle, though and purr)

How do you do the light signing? I know when he comes to me, I give him love and treats. The foot stomping only has him coming to see my foot then he walks off like it's nothing important.

I know this is going to take time. All the help everyone is giving me is invaluable. If anyone can think of anything more that'll help, just throw it my way. I'll be sitting down tomorrow to do a full search online for any suggestions. I find anything, I'll run it past everyone here first.

Thanks a ton!!!

Originally Posted by ChrissyR

How do you do the light signing? I know when he comes to me, I give him love and treats. The foot stomping only has him coming to see my foot then he walks off like it's nothing important.

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My friend is just starting to figure out how to use lights with Mojo. We were talking thru this the other night and I suggested getting a flashlight and keeping it handy. Flash it once to get his attention and have treats or toys ready for him when he comes to her. A single flash would be "come to me". She's practicing this right now. If that works, she'll attempt other commands with the light.