I am considering a blue-eyed white kitten from a breeder. I have read the articles regarding deafness and see that they have a 70% chance of being deaf. I can handle that, but want to be informed.
My question is this: If a blue-eyed white kitten will be deaf, will it be deaf as a kitten, or might the kitten be normal and then the deafness come a year or two later? (I know any cat can go deaf in old age.)
I found this on wikipedia. It comes close to answering my question, but not totally since it is saying that the deaf kittens were likely deaf since birth. It does not speak to the likelihood of (blue-eyed white) kittens who are hearing at birth developing deafness as a young cat:
My question is this: If a blue-eyed white kitten will be deaf, will it be deaf as a kitten, or might the kitten be normal and then the deafness come a year or two later? (I know any cat can go deaf in old age.)
I found this on wikipedia. It comes close to answering my question, but not totally since it is saying that the deaf kittens were likely deaf since birth. It does not speak to the likelihood of (blue-eyed white) kittens who are hearing at birth developing deafness as a young cat:
The entire organ of Corti was found to have degenerated within the first few weeks after birth; however, even during these weeks no brain stem responses could be evoked by auditory stimuli, suggesting that these animals had never experienced any auditory sensations.