cats w/white fur around eyes, sensitive??

my grandkitty, a boy named sheldon, has mostly white fur around his eyes and the rim of his eyes is pink

it often looks irritated, and darker pink to reddish, like he has allergy eyes or something
he also claws at both his ears and his eyes

does anyone know if this is because of his fur color around his eyes? (a vet told me that white fur around the eyes leads to more sensitive eyes, but the way he said it, i almost wonder if he was joking??)

and what does it mean if they have itchy eyes and/or ears?

i have asked my daughter to take him to a vet, and she plans to, but right now she is just getting settled in a new state and starting school, so he is with me until she has finished moving in and all.


any ideas welcome
i did put some regular saline solution in his eyes to wash them out and that seemed to help, but i have not been able to get him to sit still for that treatmant again, now that he sees it coming! LOL they are just too smart!

thanks
althea and the girls
sara and snoopy in spirit

Itchy ears are often a symptom of food allergy, though they could be fleas or ear mites, too. (The cat often also shakes it's head if it is ear mites. I don't know if they usually shake the head with fleas, but I would think so.) I imagine the eyes might be affected by food allergy also.

My Red Cat seems to have all kinds of allergies. I have him on a prescription hypo-allergenic food, as he kept scratching at his ears until they were bald. But he also has other allergies, with frequent sneezing, runny eyes and runny nose. I really don't know what it is he is allergic to, but he is greatly helped by giving him an antihistamine which the vet prescribed for him.

Does he go out around the sun? cats with white on their faces should be kept inside during sunny weather, because they are at high risk of getting burnt