# White cats and deafness **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 3, 2005, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-cats-and-deafness/288092 "2005-02-03T01:42:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-cats-and-deafness/288092/21 "2005-02-03T15:49:56Z")
> [@LifeOnWry](#): > > You mean extra toes, not extra FEET, right? I don’t know the breed of Hemingway’s cats, but he did have a fairly large number of six-toed cats, and from what I understand the decendants of those cats still have the run of his property. :smack: Doh! Yes, I meant TOES. ::::::::walks to bookshelf to pull out Grey’s Anatomy for a quick refresher:::::::: ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-cats-and-deafness/288092/22 "2005-02-03T15:59:12Z")
> [@LifeOnWry](#): > > You mean extra toes, not extra FEET, right? I don’t know the breed of Hemingway’s cats, but he did have a fairly large number of six-toed cats, and from what I understand the decendants of those cats still have the run of his property. They are still all over the Hemingway House in Key West, Florida. There are big signs posted that say “Do not pick up the cats,” presumably for people like me who will try to hug any random cats that get close enough. I had a wonderful yellow-eyed white cat who was not deaf, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-cats-and-deafness/288092/23 "2005-02-03T16:19:39Z")
It’s already been answered and it seems we are just relating anecdotes now so, I have a blue-eyed white cat that is totally deaf. It’s kind of funny to walk up to the sleeping kitten and scream in her ears and get no response. She’s not afraid of anything though, she chases the vacuum cleaner when all the other cats run from the room and hide. Water doesn’t bother her either and she often tries to get in the shower with me, getting wet seems to only be a very minor annoyance. Which makes me think that it’s the noise of running water that tends to scare most cats. I also have a polydactyl (Hemingway cat) with 23 toes total. He’s one of the sweetest kitties I know, most polydactyls I’ve met seem to be that way, though their was one recent exception. There’s always an exception. PS: If you do have a deaf or partially deaf cat, please keep it indoors. Outside is dangerous enough but it you can’t hear the car coming or the enraged dog that wants to eat you it’s even more dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-cats-and-deafness/288092/24 "2005-02-03T19:19:55Z")
> [@missbunny](#): > > That’s true. Calicos and tortoiseshells are almost always female and if a one is a male, he is sterile. All-orange tabbys (fully striped; not half orange stripes and half white) are almost always male. Orange and white cats are usually male, but can be female. You can get an orange tabby female-I have one-but they’re very rare: only one in four hundred orange tabbies will be female. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-cats-and-deafness/288092/25 "2005-02-03T19:34:47Z")
I had an odd-eyed white cat who was deaf, and like \*\*Wile E’s \*\* cat, didn’t mind the water. Later on, I had a green-eyed white cat, who could hear, but developed chronic kidney disease. I decided those damn white cats are defective and I don’t want any more! (unless they _need_ me…) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-cats-and-deafness/288092/26 "2005-02-03T20:10:58Z")
My freind has a white cat, with blue eyes. He has a small patch of grey on his head- my freind and the vet say (somewhat in jest) that the grey patch saved him from being deaf. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-cats-and-deafness/288092/27 "2005-02-03T20:19:54Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > Yes, but will he be able to solve crimes using only forensic evidence? **C** at **S** cene **I** nvestigations? Bringing feline felons to justice through modern technology? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-cats-and-deafness/288092/28 "2005-02-03T20:51:54Z")
Yes, they use the felines to do a… … …cat scan. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-cats-and-deafness/288092/29 "2005-02-03T22:16:42Z")
What sounds, if any, do deaf cats make? How normal/abnormal are the meows, purring, etc.? ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-cats-and-deafness/288092/30 "2005-02-03T23:37:35Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > Our white cat (in the back yard these days… ☹ ) had one blue and one orange eye and she heard fine. Didn’t ever do any tests to see if she was deaf in one ear. Does that mean the kitty was laid to rest? ☹ We had a cat who gave birth to six kittens. One kitten had six toes on one front foot and seven on the other. We named him “Ripley.” ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-cats-and-deafness/288092/31 "2005-02-04T01:04:25Z")
> [@The Scrivener](#): > > What sounds, if any, do deaf cats make? How normal/abnormal are the meows, purring, etc.? In my experience and observation only, they tend to be WAY more vocal than other cats. Both of my blue-eyed, deaf white cats were incessant “talkers” and pretty loud, too. The purrs weren’t ay different than other cats. Incidentally, I have a tortoise shell female now who is also an incessant talker, and she has the kittycat equivalent of a speech impediment. Where normal cats make a sound that really sounds like a variation on the word “ME-OW,” Cara says “GIG-NOG”. Lots o’ hard G sounds in this cat’s vocabulary, and she never makes an M sound. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-cats-and-deafness/288092/32 "2005-02-04T13:15:56Z")
I named my mother’s polydactyl Maine Coon, “Monroe” after the rumor (although incorrect) that Marilyn Monroe had 6 toes on each foot. Speaking of cats that have speech impediments, the above mentioned Monroe squeeks but makes no sounds that even remotely resemble a “meow.” I was told that this was a trait of Maine Coons but I don’t know if this is true or not. One of her orange tabbys says \*\*“meowf” \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Arwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Arwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arwin)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-cats-and-deafness/288092/33 "2005-02-04T13:39:17Z")
I thought of albinoism first, but it is more complicated than that, as [this link](http://www.petpeoplesplace.com/Care/Cats/004/25.htm) just taught me. Seems to have practically the full SD on the topic of the OP. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-cats-and-deafness/288092/34 "2005-02-04T15:12:21Z")
> [@The Scrivener](#): > > What sounds, if any, do deaf cats make? How normal/abnormal are the meows, purring, etc.? My (aforementioned) deaf cat is the most talkative cat I’ve ever met, and I’ve lived with a Siamese. And as **LifeOnWry** mentioned, she’s pretty loud too. Her purring, however, is very weak, almost anemic, and she doesn’t seem to know how to do it “right” — instead of the sustained rumble that most cats have, she has a quiet, breathy purr that you can really only hear when she’s exhaling (not when she’s inhaling.) ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-cats-and-deafness/288092/35 "2005-02-11T10:20:33Z")
A friend of my Mom’s, for whom I did yard work, had a neighbor with an older cat named “Patch” who had off black-and-white splotches. He was in poor health and died soon after. ☹ One of his kittens was a female named Mindy. She was white, with green eyes, but she had a black tail and tabby markings on her right hind leg. (She was not deaf.) She was also a goofy little cat. When I would come over to weed under my customer’s bushes, Mindy would trout over to me, and reach under the bush and bite my fingers! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-cats-and-deafness/288092/36 "2005-02-11T11:33:12Z")
In Shanghai, I’ve had several buddies get white cats (I think it was 3 different people and white cats), and all were deaf ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2005, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-cats-and-deafness/288092/37 "2005-02-11T12:56:26Z")
I too had a blue eyed white deaf kitty. His name was Joe. He would sleep with his head against the stereo speaker when I had it cranked up to hear out on the lake. To come into the house when it was up that high would feel hallucinatory, worse than 3rd row at a Stones concert, but Joe loved it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-cats-and-deafness/288092.md?page=1)