What will you learn from the article?
- What will happen if a white cat appears in our lives?
- White cat breeds White British Shorthair
- White Persian
- Devon Rex
- Maine Coon
- Turkish Angora
- Foreign white
White cats, like black cats, have certain legends, their characteristics and stories that hover around them. This article will help you reveal the life of snow-white beauties, where you will find comprehensive information about fluffies.
White cats can have different coat colors - pure white or white with another color, that is, a two-tone color. There are cats born as albinos who have no melanin at all. And some breeds, such as the Birman cat, are born dazzlingly white and then change color as they grow older. The same goes for most kittens.
But in general, these are loyal, gentle and affectionate friends who remain devoted to one owner all their lives.
Features of white cats with blue eyes
White cats are active and inquisitive, they like to climb onto cabinets and examine household members or hide under the bed.
White cats are gentle and affectionate. They do not tolerate rudeness and cruelty. Animals love to be the center of attention and are able to detect the slightest changes in the owner’s intonation. Cats won't force themselves when they realize it's inappropriate.
Snow-white beauties prefer to sleep in the arms or next to the owner. They are quite smart and well trained. Owners of white cats note that their pets quickly become accustomed to the litter box and maintain the cleanliness of their luxurious coat on their own.
Kobe the cat
Genetics of this color
Three genes are responsible for the purity of white color:
- With albinism;
- W white color;
- S piebald.
If a female with the dominant white W gene is crossed with a cat of a different color, the kittens will repeat the color of the mother. The combination of two W genes produces variegated offspring. The iris of the eyes of such animals is bright blue or blue, topaz or green.
The S piebald gene is present in animals with white spots on the background of the main one. Visually, a cat is perceived as pure white if the spots merge. Eye color can be blue, yellow, green.
Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages of snow cats:
- peacefulness;
- friendliness;
- self-esteem;
- affectionate disposition;
- agreeableness;
- sensitivity.
Disadvantages: hearing loss and the need for careful grooming.
Deafness and beauty of cats
Experts conducted studies, as a result of which it was found that 50% of white cat breeds have poor hearing. And 5% are completely deaf. The reason for this is the genes that combine the blue and white combination. They interfere with the natural development of hearing in animals.
When purchasing a cat, carefully review all relevant documents. The conclusion of the examination should indicate the kitten's deafness. He may not be able to hear in both ears, or maybe only in one. If a cat has different colored eyes, the ear that is closest to the blue eye will be the non-hearing ear.
Important! In order to provide adequate care for a deaf mother cat for her small offspring, the cat family needs a hard surface. Thus, the mother will be able to monitor the children through vibration.
Cat breeds
White coat color is characteristic of many cat breeds. However, there are varieties for which only a white coat is acceptable. These are forinwhite and kao-money.
Khao-mani
Khao Mani is a cat breed native to Thailand. Translated from Thai, the name of the breed means “white gem”. In English, cats are called "diamond eyes". The distinctive features of the animals are snow-white fur and multi-colored irises.
Kittens are born with a dark spot on their head, but it disappears with age. Sometimes there are cats with spotted fur. The color of the iris can be amber, green, blue. About 50% of animals with heterochromia have hearing loss in one or both ears.
By nature, Kao-Mani are active and cheerful, they love to “talk” with their owner.
Reference. Khao Mani is an ancient breed. She is mentioned in the manuscript “Book of Poems about Cats.” For several centuries, cats were kept only at the royal court.
British
White Britons have the same breed characteristics as their blue counterparts. The fur is just as plush and soft. The iris is blue or heterochromic (one eye is blue, the other is orange). The British are famous for their calm and somewhat phlegmatic character.
Scottish
The Scottish Fold cat can be not only gray, spotted, tabby, lilac or black, but also white. There is also a straight-eared variety with the same plush fur. The solid white color is accompanied by a blue iris or heterochromia.
Maine Coon
The Maine Coon is a long-haired, large-sized cat with a stern look and charming tufts on its ears. The breed standard allows for a variety of colors, including snow-white, although it is much less common. The iris of the eyes is amber, green, blue or multi-colored.
Javanese
The Javanese breed is descended from the Siamese and Abyssinian breeds. White color always goes with blue eyes. The coat is long, the hairs are thin and prone to tangling.
Norwegian forest
The Norwegian Forest cat is a long-haired cat of large size. Any color is acceptable, but white is rare. That is why he is valuable. Slanting almond-shaped eyes are predominantly green and amber in color.
Manx
Manxes are adorable tailless cats and often have white fur with small black and tan spots. The iris of the eyes is green, blue, amber.
Neva Masquerade
The Neva fluffy beauty has a mask on its face that resembles a masquerade mask. The color usually combines snow on the body, a dark mask on the face, smoky toes on the legs and a dark blotch on the tail. The iris is usually blue, heterochromia occurs.
Exotic
Exot is the same Persian, but with short hair. The breed is often called a Persian for the lazy, because caring for a fur coat is not as burdensome for the owner as compared to daily combing the shaggy hair of a Persian cat. The snow-white color is rare and highly valued.
Cornish Rex
Cornish Rexes are funny babies that resemble a shorn lamb with curled wool. Snow-white, blue-eyed cats are rare. The color is clean, without inclusions. Paw pads are pale pink. Eyes blue or amber.
The final appearance of the coat is formed closer to the year. The body of the animal is covered with wavy fur. It seems that the styling was done by a professional groomer, and not by nature itself.
Oriental
There are a great many color options for the Oriental cat. Absolute white without yellowness is especially valued. The iris is green, topaz or blue. You can drown in such eyes! Heterochromia is also acceptable.
Snow Bengal
Absolutely white Bengals do not exist in nature. Even the snow color is still accompanied by a rosette. Experts distinguish three types of snow color:
- Lynx (photo below) is the whitest, the spots are almost invisible. The iris is bright blue. There is no heterochromia, nor is there hereditary deafness.
- Mink - the main background is gray and white, tabby pattern. The eyes are gray-blue with a greenish tint.
- Sepia - warm honey background and dark tabby. Eyes with yellow or aquamarine.
Himalayan cat
The Himalayan cat is a color-point Persian. The main coat color is white, and the face is decorated with a cream-colored mask.
Anatolian cat
The Anatolian cat is a native breed, presumably a short-haired variety of the Turkish Van. There are numerous color options, including pure white or white with red spots. Heterochromia is acceptable.
Persian cat
Snow-white Persians have a soft undercoat. Eye color: honey, amber, blue. There are individuals with heterochromia.
Turkish van
The Turkish Van is a long-haired cat with a snow-white coat and single colored patches on the head, paws and tail. The iris is blue, amber, green.
Russian white
The Russian White is a rare breed created by crossing the Russian Blue and the Siberian Snow cat. The coat is short and white. The iris is green. The breed is registered in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. In the USA and EU, the Russian Bela is still listed as an experimental breed.
Turkish Angora
The Turkish Angora is a beautiful cat with semi-long, dry and thin, crumbly hair of different shades. However, the white color is considered original. The iris is blue or heterochromic.
Balinese
The Balinese cat is a long-haired variety of the Siamese. Long hair appeared as a result of a natural mutation. The color is color-point, the main background is light, often white, the points are dark. There are also pure white Balinese dogs.
Foreign white
Foreign White is a pure white cat breed. This color was achieved through scrupulous genetic selection and inbreeding of ordinary Siamese.
The peculiarity of the breed is that, having blue eyes, cats do not suffer from deafness. Geneticists suggest that this is due to the long isolation of Siamese cats from other species and the purity of the line. There is confirmed evidence that hearing loss was transmitted through the line of Angora cats.
Reference. Translated from English, foreign white means “white foreigner”. The breed was registered in 1966 in Britain.
Caring for a snow-white coat
The photo of white cats with blue eyes shows how graceful and majestic they are, but this must be achieved by caring for the animal in a certain way.
Paying attention to the pet’s fur, nutrition, and lifestyle.
Blue-eyed blond is every girl's dream
Combing
From the first months, it is necessary to accustom your pet to combing with a furminator , of course, if he has long hair, so that later the procedure does not end in fights and scratched hands.
And repeat daily. If you let the wool run, tangles will form, and there will be several times more hairs around the apartment and house.
It’s not easy to comb matted fur; even the calmest representative of purring cats can no longer stand it.
The only option then is to give the cat a haircut .
Careful grooming of a white cat's fur is always important.
For a long-haired cat you need three combs of different sizes:
- large - comb the hair on the back, belly, neck, tail;
- medium - for fur on the paws;
- small – for “styling” hair on the head and ears.
Before the exhibition, professional breeders recommend scratching the cat with a slicker or speaker.
This type of comb helps to get rid of undercoat - fluff.
If you use it daily, you will strip your cat of all the fluff that keeps her warm, and she will look emaciated and shabby.
Trim your cat's claws every three weeks to prevent her from scratching herself and others.
Claws
Nails need to be trimmed once every three weeks. To do this, use special https://kot-pes.com/kak-podstrich-koshke-kogti/ tweezers.
You can read more about how to trim a cat's claws in the article.
You need to consult either a veterinarian or a seller at a pet store about which ones are best to choose. Where to cut the claws, is there a limit? Of course have.
Take a closer look and you will see a capillary in the claw itself. You need to cut it so as not to catch it.
It is also worth buying or making a scratching post , which can be built into the cat's house .
Some breeds of white cats have problems with their eyes - they water. It could also be purulent discharge.
Eyes
Some breeds of white cats have problems with their eyes - they water. It could also be purulent discharge.
First, contact your veterinarian and find out the reason. Next is rinsing the eyes. Be careful if you use tea for the procedure.
This is a good product, but its downside is that it leaves yellow spots around the eyes, which are very noticeable on the white fur of cats.
If your pet participates in exhibitions, then spots may cause unsatisfactory results.
You can shave the fur around the eyes and wait for the white hair to grow back. If you don’t have that much time, and the exhibition is in a couple of days, then powder is your salvation. But with it you need to know when to stop.
So eye care should not only have good medicinal value, but also not affect the pet’s color.
White cats are often born with hearing problems
Breeds of long-haired blue-eyed cats
List of longhaired cats:
- Maine Coon;
- Persian;
- British and Scottish Longhair;
- Turkish van;
- angora;
- Javanese;
- balinese;
- Norwegian forest;
- Neva Masquerade.
Shorthair
List of cats with short hair:
- British;
- Scottish;
- Manx;
- exotic;
- Cornish Rex;
- oriental;
- Bengal;
- Himalayan;
- Anatolian;
- Russian white;
- foreign white
Bald
The white Sphynx has no fur. His skin is light pink, almost white, and his eyes are blue. Animals need careful care. They feel comfortable only next to their beloved owner.
Why is a cat born white?
From a scientific point of view, an animal that is white is most likely an albino, that is, its fur, strictly speaking, has no color. However, among white cats, albinos are rare, no more than one case out of 10,000. In addition to the albinism gene, either the dominant white gene or the piebald gene, which is responsible for the appearance of white spots, can be responsible for the white coat color.
The white gene, unlike the genes of other colors, does not depend on the gender of the carrier. This gene is highly dominant and does not allow the pigment to reach the fur and eyes.
The piebald gene allows small inclusions of other colors, but they are lost among the merged white spots and are usually not visible.
Nuances of care
A snow-white fur coat needs careful care:
- it is necessary to monitor the cleanliness of the house;
- brush and bathe your cat regularly, especially after walking outside;
- do not let the animal go for a walk in rainy weather;
- wash your eyes and clean your ear canals;
- change the filler in a timely manner;
- monitor nutrition - provide super-premium food;
- carry out deworming once every 3 months;
- treat for fleas and ticks twice a year;
Characteristic diseases
Snow cats are generally healthy, but heterochromia is common among individuals with heterochromia and blue eyes.
For example, Scottish fold cats suffer from pathologies of the cardiovascular system, have problems with the kidneys and teeth.
Persians have breathing problems due to the special structure of the skull and the curvature of the nasal septum. Animals suffer severely from renal failure, viral rhinotracheitis and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Exotics are prone to conjunctivitis.
Orientals have digestive problems, suffer from bronchial asthma, heart pathologies, and strabismus.
Balinese dogs are diagnosed with congenital heart defects.
Why is deafness common among white cats?
In 1997, scientists conducted a study in which they were able to find out some facts about deafness in cats:
- Deafness can be complete or partial.
- Hearing loss is diagnosed in 20% of cats with a white coat and an iris of any color other than blue.
- 40% of all cats with heterochromia are deaf. Hearing loss is detected in the ear on the side of the blue eye.
In addition, scientists have explained the cause of hearing loss in cats. Responsibility was assigned to the insidious mutant gene Dominant White (W-). At the stage of embryo formation, melanoblasts are formed in the area of the neural tube, which produce pigment and transport it to the retina. With normal embryo development, the pigment is delivered on time. These kittens are born with yellow or green eyes.
But as soon as the mutant gene gets involved, the speed of transport of melanoblasts decreases. The pigments do not have time to reach the skin and fill the follicles. The same thing happens with the retina - the pigment does not arrive. Sometimes a minimal number of melanoblasts reach their targets, so only some areas remain white. If the pigment fills the iris minimally, then kittens are born with heterochromia. One eye is blue, the other is yellow.
Scientists continue to study the effect of the gene on the body of cats, because snow-white individuals have a decrease in reproductive function and vitality.
Reference. Genetics have also identified factors that increase the likelihood of deafness - long hair and blue irises.
Albinism in cats
Albinos are also found among cats, just like other representatives of the animal world. From a scientific point of view, an albino cat is absolutely colorless, since the “ca” gene is present in its genetic makeup. It is he who is responsible for the lack of pigment in the color.
Pure albinos with red irises are rare. The most common are albinos with faded blue eyes. The “c” gene is responsible for the coloring of such special ones.
There are complete and partial albinism. In the case of complete disease, the body lacks the enzyme tyrosinase. This variety is observed in 1 case out of 10 thousand.
With partial albinism, the enzyme is present in small quantities, and the melanin produced is not able to color the entire body. In such individuals, most of the body remains white, and individual parts are painted in different colors.
Interesting. Often females, not males, are born full albinos.
White cat: Unpredictability of character
Although white cats have the same color and common behavioral traits, each breed adds its own flavor to its character.
The reason for everything is genes. They are responsible for the color and behavior of purring creatures.
What white cats have in common is their attachment to their friends and owners; to some extent, they may simply be dependent on humans.
It cannot be said that all snow-white pets are calm and balanced, since, after all, behavior is not only genes, but also the disposition of the owners, habitat, and environment.
If you want to get a kind and affectionate cat, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with our list:
According to ethologists, a white cat with different eyes is completely unpredictable. She changes her character very quickly, you never know what will attract her attention
There is more than one breed with a predominance of white color. And each breed has its own distinctive characteristics.
For example, a British woman can be called a socialite; she prefers to be close to a person, a noisy company of guests, than to be bored alone and in silence.
Exotics , on the contrary, prefer to watch people from afar, at a distance, and approach only when they want.
According to ethologists, a snow-white cat with different eyes is completely unpredictable.
She changes her character very quickly, you never know what will attract her attention.
Such cats are very sensitive to the moods of their owners.
They do not like loud scandals and excessive attention from strangers.
The white cat is very vulnerable and sensitive to criticism.
If you want such a special representative of domesticated predators, then know that the animal will be extremely attached to you and demanding of attention.
Not ready for this? Then it’s better to consider other color options, for example, red cats .
Signs and superstitions
Snow-white cats, perhaps, do not have as many conjectures and prejudices as black cats have. All signs and superstitions about white cats are positive:
- A stray cat with white fur brings good news and change.
- Such a cat is able to protect the house from the evil eye and all evil spirits.
- In some countries, a white cat is considered a mascot. People keep such animals in their homes because they believe that they bring good luck and prosperity.
- Girls who want you to get married as soon as possible should place 7 snow-white kittens in good hands.
- Women are advised to keep a cat with different colored eyes at home if she wants to remain attractive to men.
- If a white cat gets in the way of the newlyweds, they will have a happy and long life together.
- If a white cat crosses the road, you should make a wish.
- Snow-white murki collect negative energy, relieve stress, and guarantee success in any endeavor.
Such animals balance the psyche, normalize the functioning of internal organs, enhance brain activity, and eliminate depression. At least that's what scientists say.
Are hearing problems a death sentence?
The W (Withe) gene affects not only the color of cats, but also hearing and eye color.
Only blue-eyed blonds can be born completely deaf - approximately 70% of such cases. 40% of kittens are deaf in one ear, if they have different eyes.
Deaf kittens can also be born with non-blue eyes - 20%. In kittens with different eyes, the ear on the side of the blue eye will be deaf.
But be that as it may, some breeders consider it lucky if a predator has multi-colored eyes and no matter what breed of white cat she is, the photo will confirm how mysterious it looks.
