Quote:
Originally Posted by gailuvscats  Are blue eyed cats deaf?
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Some are, but most aren't.
The kind of deafness you are probably thinking of has to do with a missing cell layer in the ear of cats that is formed from the same precursor cells as the pigment in skin and eyes.
You have two main causes for blue eyes;
1 the colorpoint pattern, pointed cats do have pigment in their coats but only if the coat is not too warm. The hottest part of their body stays a light colour, sometimes almost white, the coldest parts of the body, the "points" (eg legs, tail, ears and face) are darker. Colorpoint cats always have blue eyes but no special risk of deafness.
2 white cats can also have blue eyes and/or an increased risk of deafness. Not all white cats have blue eyes and not all blue eyed white cats are deaf. There is an element of unpredictability that has to do with the development of a kitten embryo in the womb.
At a certain stage in the development of the embryo pigment precursor cells spread over it, they start at the top and spread down to the bottom. This way a cat ends up with color in its coat.
With some kittens that have the "spotted white" gene the spread of precursor cells stops before the whole embryo is covered, this leaves white (uncolored) spots.
In kittens that have the "dominant white" gene the spread stops
almost immediately, which leads to a completely white kitten. Almost, because often the precursor cells will have reached the ears and the eyes. In that case you will have a hearing white cat with colored eyes. Sometimes the spread only reaches one eye, then you have an odd-eyed cat with one blue and one colored eye. Or sometimes the precursor cells do not reach the eyes at all and the cat will have two blue eyes. Sometimes the precursor cells do not reach the ears and the cat will be deaf, because the ears and the eyes are very close to each other no pigment in the eyes (= blue eyes) often means no pigment in the ears, so blue eyed cats seem a little more prone to deafness, but the spread of precursor cells is unpredictable so this is not a rule that is set in stone.
White kittens are sometimes born with a "kitten cap" a patch of color between the ears/on the forehead that will fade to white later on. This means there is some pigment in that region so chances are the precursor cells have reached the ears too and the kitten will not be deaf.
Some good links:
http://home.earthlink.net/~featherland/off/white.htmlhttp://www.messybeast.com/whitecat.htm
edit; I see that Kluchetta was faster than me, but i'll post it anyway
I hope that one day we will have those in pointed Brits aswell (newish color, still lot to work on as the eyes tend to be pale blue).
She always has her nose sooty like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. She is such a character fit for a story.
