Is it true that white cats with blue eyes are deaf? Why are white cats born deaf? White cat with blue eyes deafness

A snow-white coat and aquamarine-colored eyes - this combination is rare in four-legged pets. Among cats there are barely a dozen breeds with such aristocratic characteristics.

What determines the white-blue-eyed combination?

The culprit, if you can call the unusual beautiful combination of eye color and coat color, is the melanocyte pigment. A high percentage of this substance gives the eyes a green or brown color. In this case, the percentage of melanocyte content is low, since its paired gene “worked hard” for the snow-white coat color. As a result, there is not enough pigment for eye color.

Interesting! Albino cats should not be confused with representatives of snow-white breeds. Albino animals lack color genes. Albino cats are extremely rare: one animal per 10,000 cats.

Common breeds of white cats with blue eyes

Oriental breed

Among this breed there are individuals with perfectly white fur. Eyes may be blue or green. Heterochromia may be observed - one eye is green, the other is blue (see different breeds). White representatives of the Oriental breed come in both long-haired and short-haired varieties. There is no undercoat.

The tip of the nose and paw pads are pink. Sometimes a white kitten is born with a “cap,” a small colored spot on its head. By the age of one year this spot disappears. White oriental cats are humane and suffer without the attention of their owners.

Javanese breed

This breed was officially recognized in 1984. White-haired and also color-pointed, representatives of this cat family are characterized by blue, almond-shaped eyes. The coat is silky, without undercoat. The neck is decorated with a “collar”. Javanese cats need constant play.

Persian breed

According to standards, a white Persian cat should have large dark blue eyes. The shape is round. Heterochromia is allowed. In this case, the color of the second eye is dark orange. The coat is long, with a soft undercoat. Any darkening on the coat is a fault. By nature, the white Persian cat can be called “quiet.”

Turkish Angora

The snow-white fur of the Turkish Angora is thin, semi-long, without undercoat. The eyes are almond-shaped and slightly oblique. The cat's character is flexible and incredibly sociable.

Khao Mani breed

Animals of this breed have short, shiny hair. The undercoat is weak or absent altogether. Khao Mani is considered an unstable breed. Work is still underway to strengthen it. These animals are very trusting even towards strangers.

Scottish breed

Scots of white solid color can also boast of blue eyes. The standards allow different eye colors. The paw pads and nose are pinkish in color. The character is Nordic.

British breed

White, blue-eyed British are extremely rare. Their coats are not allowed to have feathered tips. The character of the British is friendly.

Sphinxes

Sphynxes can also be blue-eyed or odd-eyed blond. The standards allow a pink tint. Sphynx cats are very artistic and easy to train.

Interesting! In the pedigree, the animal's eye color is indicated only for the white color. Thus, the coding for blue eyes is 61, heterochromicity is 63. It is worth noting that white animals with aquamarine eyes among Burmese cats or Ojos Azules are considered not to meet the standards of these breeds.

Deafness is the price to pay for the beauty of the coat

Indeed, according to experts, 50% of white and blue-eyed representatives of the cat world are hard of hearing. Of these, 5% are completely deaf. The genes responsible for the blue-white relationship interfere with the proper development of the hearing organs.

When buying a white cat from a breeder, be sure to ask for an examination document. The kitten may be deaf in one or both ears. If the cat has different eyes, then the ear on the side of the blue eye will not hear. A deaf white mother cat should be with her babies on a hard surface so that she can follow them by vibration.

The lack of hearing is compensated by the high sensitivity of other senses. Thanks to the whiskers (vibrissae), the cat recognizes the owner’s voice, or rather the vibrations from it. There are parents who have no idea that their pet is deaf.

Interesting! White cats should not sunbathe for long periods of time. They have sparse fur on their ears, so they tan quickly. This is how a predisposition to cancer appears.

How to care for snow-white fur

There are several nuances in caring for a snow-white pet, because even a small speck of dirt spoils the aristocratic appearance:

• A white cat will need to be bathed more often than its differently colored counterparts. Choose the right shampoo for your animal. Under no circumstances should it have a tinting effect. It is better to choose a hypoallergenic product. A medicated shampoo should be chosen if your animal has problems with its coat or skin. For white wool, it is necessary to use balms and conditioners, because without a coloring pigment it is very sensitive.
• After water treatments, “Snow White” must be dried with a hairdryer right down to the heels. Dirt will not stick to dry wool as much.
• If your animal's eyes begin to leak, do not wash them with tea or chamomile solution. This will not help the animal, and the fur around the eyes will become colored. The veterinarian will help you choose the right treatment.
• A deaf white cat should not be free-range. The animal cannot react to external stimuli, so it may become a victim of a car collision or an attack by a pack of dogs.
• Long-haired white pets need to be brushed daily. This will avoid the appearance of tangles.
• A tray with a low mesh or lattice is not suitable for a white animal. His paws and tail will get dirty from liquid excrement.
• A cat's diet is reflected in the color of its coat. To avoid yellowness, which turns a royal animal into an unpresentable slob, avoid liver, heart, seaweed or carrot additives in your cat’s diet.
• Two white cats don't mix!
• Diseases of the adrenal glands or thyroid gland can cause a yellow tint to appear on the fur.

A white cat is not a cat for lazy people. Problematic ones, i.e. Frequently soiled areas are the heels, base of the ears and tail, muzzle and chest. Cosmetics for a snow-white cat should be professional. A cheap “whitening” shampoo can give the coat, for example, an emerald tint.

Before getting a “white cat,” weigh all the pros and cons of bringing such a demanding pet into your home. If there are more advantages, then a white blue-eyed cat will become a worthy decoration for any home!

Is it true that all white cats are deaf?

No, this is not always the case, but many white cats with blue eyes are deaf. The gene responsible for the white color is dominant and is symbolically designated as W (for white cats). This gene overrides the genes for all other colors, so white cats can be genetically black or red, but white masks these colors.

As noted, the gene responsible for the white color is in this case denoted W, the gene responsible for the non-white color is denoted w.

• WW (homozygous) gives white color
• Ww (heterozygous) gives a white color
• ww - this combination of genes gives a non-white color

A white cat's eyes may be blue, but not blue. Often white cats have copper or gold eyes, or multi-colored eyes (one eye is blue, the other is gold, or even green). Among white cats with blue eyes, deafness is more common than among white cats with other eye colors. This is already formed during intrauterine development. After conception, the embryo splits into three primitive germ layers:

• Endoderm – the inner layer of cells that form the respiratory tract (excluding the nose), digestive tract, bladder and urethra
• Mesoderm - the middle layer of cells that form connective tissue, bones, cartilage, muscles, blood, blood vessels, kidneys, peritoneum, gonads
• Ectoderm - the outer layer of cells that form claws, fur, pigment cells, nervous system, eyes and ears

As you can see, the ectoderm forms the pigment cells, eyes and ears. It is possible that white cats with blue eyes have a defect in the development of the ectoderm, which leads to deafness.

It should be noted that if you are deaf with different colored eyes, then the deaf ear is on the same side as the blue eye.

Deafness usually affects white cats with blue eyes, but not always. A study of 185 white cats yielded the following results:

• 25% of white cats with yellow eyes have normal hearing
• 31% of white cats with blue eyes have normal hearing
• 7% of white cats with yellow eyes are deaf
• 37% of white cats with blue eyes are also deaf

Albino cats

The gene responsible for albinism is different from the W gene. Albino cats are not deaf at all. There are five known alleles for albinism in cats: solid color (C), Burmese (cb), Siamese (Cs), blue-eyed albinism (partial albinism c/a), and pink-eyed albinism (C/C). Writing with a fraction means that the top gene is dominant, the bottom is recessive.

The cause of albinism is that a cat's fur contains a reduced number of pigment cells (melanocytes), whereas non-albino cats have a "normal" number of melanocytes, but these are masked by the W gene. A partial albino (c/a) will have light blue eyes, a full albino (C/C) – pink eyes.

White cat breeds

• American Shorthair
• Oriental white
• Norwegian forest

How to check if a cat is deaf

If you suspect your cat is deaf in one or both ears, you can get a BAER test at your veterinarian's office. The principle of this method is based on assessing the electrical activity of the brain and recording so-called evoked potentials in response to sound stimulation.

Caring for a white cat

Deaf cats are more sensitive to other signals; they respond to vibrations transmitted through the ground or through the air. They are very attentive to the reactions of their fellow tribesmen to noises that they themselves cannot perceive. Therefore, it is sometimes difficult to determine whether a kitten is deaf or simply calm if it behaves by imitating its siblings who perceive sounds. Communication between cats occurs more through smell (odors, pheromones) and visually (claw marks, body language) than through hearing.

Deaf cats get along quite well with other cats. For humans, a cat’s deafness is a significant disadvantage, since communication occurs mainly in “verbal” form. Therefore, the owner of a deaf cat will have to radically change his habits regarding his pet. White cats have an increased risk of sunburn and skin cancer. In addition, due to deafness, they can be harmed by cars or some kind of predators. You should not let a deaf cat roam freely.

Breeders need to remove cats with progressive deafness and those producing deaf kittens from breeding.

Names for white cats and male cats

Snowball, Snowflake, Snowball, Lily, Snowdrop, Lily of the Valley, Angel, Angel, Blanche, Blonde, Blondie, White, Whitey, Marshmallow, Winter, Kefir, Edelweiss, Squirrel, Blanca, Bianca, Camellia, Sour Cream. Any word that evokes associations with the color white and has a beautiful sound will do, for example, Ice - ice, Snow - snow, and so on.

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Very often, cat owners ask the question of whether their pets can develop deafness. You call your cat, but he doesn’t seem to hear you (read about how to call cats and how to choose the right nickname for them). With what it can be connected? Is it possible to somehow help a cat adapt to a world without sounds? Our publication will try to help answer these questions...

Why does a cat need hearing?

Nature has endowed representatives of the cat family with an excellent sense of smell, the ability to see in the dark and keen hearing (learn more about cats’ abilities to perceive the world). But what if, for some reason, the cat cannot use this last gift? How does an animal feel when it finds itself in a world without sound? In fact, according to experts,

the ability to hear is very important for cats, since with its help they can determine the distance and direction to the source of noise.

Having lost this ability, cats become helpless, especially for those animals that live not in apartments or houses, but on the street. Such a deaf cat will not hear the sound of an approaching car or the barking of a dog, and her entire life will be accompanied by constant risk for her and severe stress.

However, to say that a cat that is deprived of the ability to hear cannot live a full life is not correct. And, although a lot depends on the owners of such a deaf pet, as practice shows - such cats can lead a normal life and are no different from their other relatives if their owners help them adapt to their condition and, if possible, try to eliminate the causes of deafness.

Causes of deafness in cats

First of all, it is worth highlighting 2 main reasons why your cat may not hear you. This is congenital deafness and acquired. One of these reasons is the explanation why your cat does not hear you, does not respond to his name and behaves unusually.

Congenital deafness in cats

Congenital deafness in cats can very often be hereditary in nature and be caused by the action of certain genes (more about). So, for example, cats with white fur and blue eyes are prone to this disorder. Therefore, owners of such cats, first of all, should pay attention to whether their pet can hear them.

Acquired deafness in cats

How to tell if your cat has hearing problems

So, how do we as owners know if our pet has a hearing problem? In fact, it is not very easy to notice that a cat is completely deaf, because it seeks to compensate for the lack of ability to hear at the expense of other senses available to it. However, if you are very careful, you will still be able to notice that something is wrong.

So, deaf cat:

• She does not respond to the owner’s call, and not only does she not know her name, but she does not even respond to the classic “kitty-kitty.”
• The cat's behavior is somewhat nervous, she is excessively timid and often shudders, without any apparent reason.
• Since the cat cannot hear itself, it meows very loudly.
• Often the cat falls into a state of confusion and seems to lose the ability to navigate in space.
• If deafness is acquired and caused by an infectious disease, an inflammatory process or a foreign body in the ear, the cat may shake its head, rub its ears with its paws, an unpleasant odor may emanate from its ears, discharge may be observed, and the skin in the ear area begins to peel...

Based on these behavioral signs and symptoms, you can determine that something is wrong with your animal's hearing. The exact diagnosis can be made by a veterinarian after a complete examination of the animal.

Diagnosis of deafness in a cat

As a rule, to diagnose hearing in a cat, a sound test is performed, which helps determine whether the reaction to sound is completely absent or the reaction is partial. Also, the veterinarian conducts an external examination of the animal in order to identify the presence of fungi, mites, and tumors that may cause deafness.

By the way, until the kitten reaches 3-4 weeks of age, it is not appropriate to talk about its deafness as a congenital or acquired pathology. Because focusing on his behavior alone is not correct. He may not hear sounds, but he can copy the behavior of the other kittens in the litter. But, after he turns a month old, and he is no longer part of the cat group, then it will become clear whether he has formed predictable reactions to sound or not.

Treatment of deafness in cats

Depending on the type of deafness—congenital or acquired—we may be talking about treating such a disorder. Thus, congenital deafness caused by genes, unfortunately, cannot be corrected. Therefore, the owners of such an animal will simply have to come to terms with this shortcoming of their pet.

If we are talking about the treatment of acquired deafness, then it is very important to determine the cause that caused the hearing loss and find out whether such consequences can be eliminated. So, if the cause of deafness is a fungus or infection, an appropriate course of treatment aimed at eliminating the problem will help restore the cat’s hearing. If the cause of deafness is a tumor, then surgery to remove it or radiation and chemotherapy may be offered to ensure partial restoration of hearing.

If deafness occurs as a result of a toxic substance entering the ear canal or is explained in the pet’s body, unfortunately, it is no longer possible to help the cat. But, this should not make her less loved by you.

Why are white cats deaf?

The deafness of white cats has long been studied and proven. Many deaf cats have blue eyes, this is caused by the white gene. This gene influences the formation of ear cells and its nerve endings from the birth of a kitten. Therefore, for genetic reasons, it is white cats that are deaf and it is not possible to restore their hearing, since they have never heard sounds. Most often, the deafness gene is found in albinos and pure white cats. Cats with other colors can also be deaf if their parents had this gene. But it is believed that if an animal has even a small dark spot, it means that it will hear well. Only 20% of white cats are deaf and this is not at all scary, because otherwise the pet is completely healthy and deafness does not affect the general condition of the pet. Usually, such kittens squeak the loudest when they are small, since they cannot hear their own voice, but this is only one of the methods that can be used to identify a deaf kitten.

Deafness in cats may be bilateral or unilateral. Check your cat's hearing very easy, this can be done after 5 days after his birth. If you clap behind your cat's back and he gets scared, then your kitten has hearing. After all, revenge is a lot of white cats who hear well - it’s all about this gene. If you are not sure what type of hearing your pet has, a good veterinarian (animal otolaryngologist) can help you determine this.

Features of caring for deaf cats and training them to use a tray

You can train a cat to a litter box in the same way as usual. The only method of punishment for a cat who is hard of hearing for going to the toilet in a place other than the litter tray is a pat on the butt and an appropriate facial expression.

There are some care features and disadvantages that are important to know:

• do not scare the kitten, do not sneak up on him from behind, he should always see you if you want to pick him up or stroke him. A deaf cat must feel safe in its territory, and if this is not provided to it, it may become aggressive and begin to defend itself.
• Don’t let your deaf cat outside, it’s not safe for her there at all! If you want to go to the dacha, then leave it in the house or make a special fence.
• It is advisable not to get another pet, as it can frighten the kitten. Or it is better to do this from the very birth of the deaf cat, so that they can be friends.
• in an apartment or in a house you will have to walk carefully so as not to step on the cat, especially while he is small. In this case, you can buy a collar with a bell so that you always know where your pet is and can find him if he hides.
• If you have such a kitten, it is advisable to have it examined by a veterinarian so that you can make sure that the pet does not have ear infections or other diseases and disorders.

Often cats that have a white coat are allergic. Therefore, you need to think about the detergents and cleaning products you use in your home. Also, take care of her nutrition and buy only high-quality food. At the first signs of an allergy, namely: peeling of the skin, frequent scratching or sneezing of the cat, contact your veterinarian at the nearest clinic. Just like in caring for other cats of long-haired breeds, they need to be brushed regularly to prevent tangles from appearing. This, preferably, should be taught from childhood.

Positive aspects of deaf cats:

• such cats are very beautiful, especially with blue eyes;
• They are usually very affectionate and affectionate, and get along well with children;
• are not afraid of a vacuum cleaner =) and other extraneous and sudden sounds;
• They love to purr and thus show their love.

White cats with blue eyes are not only very beautiful, they are also loyal and affectionate, they love comfort and peace, so they easily make contact with children and adults, they will be happy to lie on your lap and love to be stroked and scratched, so give them some time more attention and affection, especially in tactile sensations..jpg" alt="bez_imeni_8" width="900" height="599" />!}

There is a widespread belief that white cats are bound to be deaf. We hasten to please you: this is not true.

White color in cats can be caused by several different genes (that is, one cat may be white due to one gene and another due to a completely different one). Only one of these genes also causes deafness, and all the others have no effect on the animal’s hearing.

But if the cat is pure white with blue eyes...

Even in this case, the cat will not necessarily be deaf. Although studies have shown that white blue-eyed cats are indeed deaf quite often, among them there is still a percentage of animals with normal hearing. But white cats with yellow or orange eyes (for example, white British cats, which are characterized by deep amber eyes) are very rarely deaf.

What about odd-eyed cats?

If a cat has one eye blue and the other green or yellow, then the “colored” side - that is, the ear next to the colored eye - will be the hearing side. And the side with the blue eye is subject to the same rules as cats with two blue eyes. The blue side is highly likely to be deaf, but there is a chance that hearing will be preserved there too.

Do spots of a different color affect deafness?

Oddly enough, yes. If a cat has (even very small) spots of a different color: black or red, this means that its color is caused by the spotting gene, which is not associated with deafness.

What about the Siamese?

White cats that have Siamese or Thai in their family, even with blue eyes, have a much lower risk of hearing problems: in their case, blue eyes are caused by Siamese genes, and not by a gene that causes deafness.

One last thing: don't forget that all kittens are born with blue eyes. You can find out what color the eyes of an adult cat will be only when the kitten’s eyes begin to take on their real color.