There is a link between white fur, blue eyes and deafness. The eye color is made from the same stem cells as melanocytes (he skin/fur color cells).
The blue eyes in a white cat suggests the absence of this cell. Deafness is caused by the same missing cell layer in the inner ear.
In odd-eyed white cats, the ear on the blue-eyed side may be deaf, but the one on the other side usually has normal hearing. So when the kitten is being formed genetically, the white masking gene can sometime penetrate deep enough to effect the eye color and sometimes go even deeper, affecting the hearing. So depending on how far the gene breaks through, will determine the eye color first, then deafness. And itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s individual on both sides. Hence the odd-eyes. That said it is still possible to get an deaf cat without blue-eyes – which suggests that sometimes the gene doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t always work in that order.
At any rate, I have found studies that suggest 60-80% of white cats with blue eyes are deaf. But on the other spectrum, only 10-20% of white cats with other eye color are deaf. The incidence of white cats with blue or odd eyes is 15-40% (broad statistical range huh?
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There are members on here (Kluchetta for one) that have deaf cats. They do best in multiple cat households, but what they lack in hearing they make up for in other areas!
I so look forward to watching your kitties grow! I have been waiting for a foster to cross my door step that produces a white kitten, but since only about 5% of the cat population is white, I might be waiting awhile
Oh well, it's probably best this way.... Anymore cats and I will have to move to my own zip code!
The blue eyes in a white cat suggests the absence of this cell. Deafness is caused by the same missing cell layer in the inner ear.
In odd-eyed white cats, the ear on the blue-eyed side may be deaf, but the one on the other side usually has normal hearing. So when the kitten is being formed genetically, the white masking gene can sometime penetrate deep enough to effect the eye color and sometimes go even deeper, affecting the hearing. So depending on how far the gene breaks through, will determine the eye color first, then deafness. And itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s individual on both sides. Hence the odd-eyes. That said it is still possible to get an deaf cat without blue-eyes – which suggests that sometimes the gene doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t always work in that order.
At any rate, I have found studies that suggest 60-80% of white cats with blue eyes are deaf. But on the other spectrum, only 10-20% of white cats with other eye color are deaf. The incidence of white cats with blue or odd eyes is 15-40% (broad statistical range huh?
There are members on here (Kluchetta for one) that have deaf cats. They do best in multiple cat households, but what they lack in hearing they make up for in other areas!
I so look forward to watching your kitties grow! I have been waiting for a foster to cross my door step that produces a white kitten, but since only about 5% of the cat population is white, I might be waiting awhile
