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Entry 318Filed under Breeding

Are White Cats With Blue Eyes Always Deaf? What Owners Should Know

White cats with blue eyes are at higher risk of congenital deafness, but eye color is not a diagnosis. Learn what studies found and how BAER testing assesses hearing.
3-minute read By Animalso Team
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No. A white cat with blue eyes has a higher risk of being born deaf, but many such cats can hear. Eye color cannot tell you whether an individual cat is deaf; a veterinarian can discuss a BAER hearing test, which can assess each ear.

Why white cats with blue eyes have a higher risk

Congenital sensorineural deafness is associated with the genetics of a white coat. Blue irises are a risk marker in some studied populations, but the evidence does not show that blue eyes themselves cause deafness or that every white, blue-eyed cat is affected. Cornell’s Feline Health Center describes hereditary deafness as a particular concern in white cats, especially when one or both irises are blue (Cornell Feline Health Center).

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Deafness can affect one ear or both. A cat that responds to some sounds may still have hearing loss in one ear, so ordinary observation cannot establish normal hearing in both ears.

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What percentage of white cats with blue eyes are deaf?

There is no single percentage that applies to all white, blue-eyed cats. Published results differ with the cats enrolled and how they were assessed. These figures are estimates for specific study populations, not a prediction for an individual pet.

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Study population and method Reported findings
132 solid-white, client-owned purebred kittens in the United Kingdom; hearing assessed with BAER by Mari et al. (2019) 30.3% had deafness overall: 15.9% bilateral and 14.4% unilateral. Among the white kittens, prevalence was 44.4% with one blue iris, 50% with two blue irises, and 22.2% without blue irises. Kittens with at least one blue iris were reported as 3.2 times more likely to have congenital sensorineural deafness than those without blue irises.
72 client-owned purebred white cats from six breeds examined in Poland, 2007–2021; Kozłowska et al. (2022) 16.7% had congenital sensorineural deafness. The study did not find a statistically significant association between iris color and deafness in its sample.
Crossbred white cats in research colonies, summarized in a 2015 review The review describes overall prevalence estimates ranging from 50% to 96%. These colony findings are not interchangeable with estimates from client-owned cats.

The United Kingdom kitten study and the Polish study differ in population and design, so their results should be read separately rather than combined into a universal rate. The studies also show why eye color is useful for understanding risk but not for diagnosing a particular cat. See the 2019 United Kingdom study, the 2022 Polish study, and the 2015 review of deafness genetics.

How to find out whether your cat can hear

Ask your veterinarian about a BAER (brainstem auditory evoked response) test if you need a reliable assessment. BAER testing measures the brain’s response to sound and can help determine whether deafness is present; it is used in hearing assessments such as the United Kingdom kitten study. The Governing Council of the Cat Fancy describes BAER as a simple, non-invasive test available at specialist centers, though local availability may vary (GCCF: BAER testing for white cats).

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Do not rely on iris color or a home sound-response check to diagnose hearing. A response can be difficult to interpret, and one-sided deafness may go unnoticed. Your veterinarian can advise whether testing is appropriate and where it is available.

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Does a new hearing problem mean inherited deafness?

The figures above concern congenital deafness—hearing loss present from birth. They do not establish that a hearing change that appears later in life is inherited because a cat is white or blue-eyed. If your cat’s response to sound changes, discuss the change with a veterinarian rather than attributing it to coat or eye color.

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