Are All White Cats With Blue Eyes Deaf

Many people wonder if deafness in cats with blue eyes or in white cats is an old wives tale or a fact.

Are all white cats with blue eyes deaf. The name Lynx comes from the Greek word to shine and may be in reference to the reflective ability of the cats eyes. The deaf ear is usually on the same side as the blue eye. Why are white cats with blue eyes usually deaf.

Some of the cats were deaf in only one ear - interestingly if a cat had a blue eye on the right side of her head she tended to be deaf in the right ear and vice versa. Some of these cats are deaf in only one ear. For years people believed that white cats are born with blue eyes and deaf.

Not all blue-eyed white cats are deaf but many of them are. Unless both ears are affected cats may never show any signs of hearing loss. The health problem occurs due to the different genes.

However not all white coat cats have blue eyes. And 65 to 85 percent of white cats with two blue eyes were deaf. The good news is a white cat is not prone to blindness.

It seems the combination of a white coat and dazzling blue eyes occurs due to a genetic abnormality in the. The variable penetrance of deafness and eye colour may be caused by interplay with other genes andor environmental factors. About half of all white cats are deaf and those numbers increase in cats with blue eyes with deafness often found on the same side as the blue eye left blue eye deaf in.

The fact is that hereditary deafness does tend to be a serious concern in white cats. White coat on cats can occur as a result of the dominant white gene W. The percentage rises to 40 percent if the cat has one blue eye while upwards of 65 to 85 percent of all-white cats with both eyes blue are deaf.