Kot: Blue-eyed, pure white cats are frequently deaf

Evidence: 59 • authority: 92

Evaluation of the prevalence of congenital sensorineural deafness in a population of 72 client-owned purebred white cats examined from 2007 to 2021.. Background Data on sensorineural deafness (CSD) in purebred white client-owned cats is limited as most of the information on this disease entity is assured from mixed-breed experimental colonies. It is known that cats with blue irises are more predisposed to CSD having been described as a condition in which many structures in the inner ear are damaged resulting in hearing loss. Cats with CSD are born deaf or lose their hearing irreversibly within the first 4-5 weeks of life. It is important to diagnose cats with this hereditary condition in or…

Evidence: 59 • authority: 92

PAX3 haploinsufficiency in Maine Coon cats with dominant blue eyes and hearing loss resembling the human Waardenburg syndrome.. This study investigated the dominant blue eyes (DBE) trait linked to hearing impairment and variable white spotting in Maine Coon cats. Fifty-eight animals descending from 2 different DBE lineages, the Dutch and the Topaz lines, were sampled. They comprised 48 cats from the Dutch bloodline, including 9 green-eyed and 31 blue-eyed cats, with some individuals exhibiting signs of deafness, and 8 stillborn kittens. Samples from the Topaz lineage included 10 blue-eyed animals. A brainstem auditory evoked response test revealed a reduced to absent response to auditory st…

Evidence: 59 • authority: 90

Hereditary Deafness in the Dalmation Dog. Introduction Deafness in animals as associated with other inherited characteristics has long been recognized. This relationship was noted by Darwin, who in 1859 described the association between the white blue-eyed cat and deafness. Early in this century, many investigators turned to animals in an effort to improve their understanding of the histopathology of deafness and if possible to discover the extent to which the defect was similar to human deafness. In dogs, deafness was usually found in animals described as dappled or merled. These were animals in which the area of color has a marbled and mottled distribution peppered throughout with white h…

Evidence: 58 • authority: 80

Deaf white cats. Source: Current Biology. Year: 2015

Evidence: 58 • authority: 80

Deafness in blue-eyed white cats: The uphill road to solving polygenic disorders. Source: The Veterinary Journal. Year: 2007

Evidence: — • authority: 38