"William Robb" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> Here is another one I have heard: White cats with blue eyes are
> deaf. True ar false?
Mostly true. I don't remember, off hand, the exact path from genes to
color and hearing, but the white color is caused by a genetically
controlled suppression of the development of pigmentation for the fur.
Timing is everything: some times, this suppression stop just short of
leaving the cat completely white, in which case it will typically have
a darker patch on top of the head (which may disappear as the kitten
matures), and the cat will then have normal hearing. Some times,
however, the pigmentation is more severely suppressed, and the cat
becomes all white. In this case, one or both eyes may be blue, and
hearing may be impaired or completely absent. The reason for this is
that the same agent that suppresses pigmentation will, if present
during a critical foetal development phase, suppress the proper
development of the inner ear. The popular belief that one blue eye
indicates one bad ear is wrong; eye color and hearing are both
affected by the condition, but are not interdependent.
This was explained to me by my vet, after my white, yellow-eyed cat,
who is normal in all respects, gave birth to two white kittens out of
a litter of four, one of which has a darker patch between her ears,
green eyes and normal hearing, while her brother, who was born all
white, with one blue and one green eye, is totally deaf.
-tih
--
The basic difference is this: hackers build things, crackers break them.
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