What causes many white cats to be deaf?
We just adopted a two-year old white male cat. We have had him for a week and he appears to be deaf, which I guess is common in white cats. What causes this? Are there any special needs or care he should have? Congenital deafness in white cats is a genetic problem. Although not every white-haired cat is congenitally deaf, there is a strong genetic tendency linking deafness with complete or relative absence of pigment (hypopigmentation) in the hair, skin, and irises of the eyes. This genetic process is known to occur in other animals and humans as well. The white hair trait is inherited on an autosomal dominant gene. All cats with this gene will have a white hair coat. About one out of twenty cats have the gene and are therefore white. The white hair gene is closely related to a set of genes that govern the early embryonic development of tissue that ultimately becomes the cochlea of the inner ear and the cells that give the eyes their color. Blue eyes result from hypopigmentation as wel
