Are Most White Cats Deaf

It is a congenital deafness caused by a degeneration of the inner ear.

Are most white cats deaf. It is curious to note that that particular cat could have shown a wide range of colors. 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. No they are not deaf at all. Black and white cats do however have a different physique than most felines.

However the prevalence of white cats does vary in different geographies. Cats with the dominant white or white spots gene may suffer from genetic deafness. The roll of the genetic dice that produces a white. A white cat with one blue eye has a 39 chance of at least partial deafness and a white cat with two blue eyes may have a 65 chance.

40 percent of odd eyed white cats with one blue. In a cat with the white spot gene the deafness usually occurs in the ear affected by the spot. Some of these cats are deaf in only one ear. Interestingly if a white cat with one blue eye is deaf in only one ear that ear will invariably be on the same side of the head as the blue eye.

For this reason a cat with odd eyes can be deaf from the ear that is on the side of the blue eye. When cats with the w gene are bred the resulting litters have the chance to inherit faulty hearing. Deafness is far more common in white cats than in those with other coat colors. The reason as you may have guessed is heredity.

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 left ear. It is this w gene which is the most prone to causing deafness in white cats. Deafness in white cats typically is a genetic condition resulting from the dominant white gene commonly referred to as the w gene. Is that true and why.

The same genetic factors that give white cats their snowy coats and unique eye colors can also cause total or partial deafness in many kitties. Totally or partially white cats due to the s gene all white cats due to the dominant w gene we find in the last group those that are white due to the dominant gene w. Two blue eyes completely deaf. Congenital sensorineural deafness occurs commonly in domestic cats with a white coat.

Overall deaf cats with white coat colour and one or both blue eyes make up around about 1 1 5 of the total cat population. Some people say that deafness in a cat is due to hearing loss but the change in ear canal size does not change how the cats here and there is no evidence of any other loss of hearing that would make a cat deaf. My veterinarian said white cats are often deaf. According to the aspca complete guide to cats 17 to 20 percent of white cats with nonblue eyes are deaf.

Contrary to popular belief white cats are no more likely than any other coat color to be deaf.