r all white cats with blue eyes..blind?

Answer 1

Hi there...I believe you may have meant deaf?

Here's an excerpt taken from Messybeast.com about white cats with blue eyes and deafness:

There is an established link between the white coat color, blue eyes and deafness. The tapetum lucidum is generated from the same stem cells as melanocytes (pigment cells). The blue eyes in a piebald or epistatic white cat indicates a lack of tapetum. Deafness is caused by an absence of a cell layer in the inner ear that originates from the same stem cells as well. In odd-eyed white cats, the ear on the blue-eyed side may be deaf, but the one on the orange-eyed side usually has normal hearing. Not all blue-eyed whites will be deaf since there are several different genes causing the same physical attributes (whiteness, blue-eyedness) so it all depends on the cat's genotype (its genetic make-up) not its phenotype (its physical appearance). Some people claim that 99% of blue-eyed white cats are deaf. This is inaccurate because blue-eyedness and whiteness can both be caused by different genes. It all depends on what genes the cat has inherited. These are the actual figures from scientific studies around the world. The percentages are given in ranges because results are different in different areas, partly because of the different genes found in the cat population. Where a cat is classed as deaf, the deafness may affect one or both ears.

95% of the general cat population is non-white cats (i.e. not pure white) and congenital deafness is extremely rare in non-white cats.

5% of the general cat population is white cats (i.e. pure white).
15-40% of these pure white cats have one or two blue-eyes.

Of those white cats with one or two blue eyes, 60-80% are deaf; 20-40% have normal hearing; 30-40% had one blue eye and were deaf while 60-70% had one blue eye and normal hearing.

Of the 5% of white cats in the overall population, 60-80% had eyes of other colors (e.g. orange, green). Of those 10- 20% were deaf and 80-90% had normal hearing.

Deaf white cats with one or two blue eyes account for 0.25 - 1.5 of total cat population

Total number of cats with white coat and blue eyes account for 0.75 - 2.0% of total cat population

It is evident from those studies that blue eyed whites exhibit a higher incidence of deafness than do orange/green eyed whites or non-white cats! But not all blue eyed whites are deaf and here's why:-

There is a known link between white coat color, blue eyes and deafness - but since the coat and eye color can be caused by different genes it means that only some blue eyed whites are deaf. There is a gene/gene complex which causes white coat, blue eyes and deafness, but not all cats get their white coat and blue eyes from that particular gene, so not all white cats will be deaf.

If the cat is a Foreign/Oriental White, it carries the gene for 'Siamese Blue Eyes' which is not linked to deafness (the gene for Siamese Blue Eyes is linked to cross-eyes instead). Siamese blue eyes have a reflective tapetum, but this is depigmented because the Siamese colour is caused by albinism. This depigmentation gives the red-eye with flash cameras. Random matings can mean that this gene sometimes appears in non Oriental-looking cats which have colorpoint cats in their ancestry.

Please see section White Cats and Deafness for more details: http://www.messybeast.com/whitecat.htm

Answer 2

Cats With Blue Eyes

Answer 3

White Cats
White fur is the absence of any pigmentation. A solid white coat may be caused by any of three genetic mechanisms, which are completely different:

* Albino white. This is recessive, and has been mentioned in the previous section.
* Complete white spotting. The white spotting factor (S) is an incomplete dominant, which is affected by polygenetic modifiers and usually results in a cat that is only partially white. However, it can be so complete that it results in a completely white coat. White spotting will be discussed in a later section.
* Dominant white. This mutation overrides all other genes for pigmentation, and produces a white coat and blue eyes. As its name implies, this is the effect of a dominant gene (W).

In the dominant white, the other genes for color and pattern are still present, but they are completely hidden. The only way to determine the underlying genotype is by test matings with colored cats of (reasonably) well-known genotype.

Breeding two dominant whites will mostly produce solid white kittens, but if both of the parents are heterozygous (W/w), then the underlying colors may appear on a few of the kittens. Unless the genotypes of the whites are known from pedigree or test breeding, the results are unpredictable.

Dominant white is found in mixed-breed cats, of course, and notably in Persian and Oriental Shorthair breeding programs. At one time the dominant white Oriental Shorthair was considered a separate breed by some associations, called the Foreign White. The dominant white can produce much deeper blue eye color than the albino, so it is considered desirable. It is believed that the best blue eyes in solid white Oriental Shorthairs are those that are masking Chocolate.

Deafness in white cats is associated with the white spotting factor (S), and with the dominant white (W), but not with the albino white (c/c or ca/ca).

Answer 4

Blue Eyes Blind

Answer 5

I have a white cat with blue eyes and she isn't blind but she is deaf which is really weird

Answer 6

no. it's usually deaf not blind. you might want to do some research though. There are controversies on other problems that can arise from "albino" cats with blue eyes.

Answer 7

No, they aren't. Nor all all white cats with blue eyes deaf.

Answer 8

Usually it means deafness, not blindness. But not all of them.

Answer 9

no my cat Casper has blue eyes

Answer 10

i never heard of that.. what i did hear was that the dalmation is deaf, if its all white..