Pure white kitties

[Cirrus]

I see a lot of you have white cats around here by the amatuer pic pages and the pet threads. I have always loved pure white cats, but never had one. My guy, Poe, is pretty close...just a wee little bit of orange on him.

I've heard white cats have health problems, and a lot are deaf. Is that true, or is it an urban legend? I'm wondering because I've been thinking more and more about getting a playmate for Poe since I won't be home much in a few months. I'd love a white cat (yes, I know all about getting them used to each other and all that, which is why I want to get one now) but I obviously wouldn't want a sickly cat. Deaf wouldn't matter to me, cats pretend not to hear you most of the time anyway.

 

[Angel]

I had an all pure white cat who lived for 12 years. No health problems at all, and she wasn't deaf.

 

[Laurel]

There are a great many pure white strays around my neck of the woods. They're VERY fair skinned - all pink underneath their fur. The biggest problem they all seem to have is (weirdly enough) skin cancer.

We trap ferals, spay/neuter them, and release them...and the clinic we take them to (which treats ferals for free) makes you sign a release form allowing them to provide "any necessary care" for the animal. We took in a pure white male, and they found that he had serious cancer on his ears...so they removed 75% of each ear!

The white strays have scabs on the tips of their ears, which I always thought were from mites. Apparently, it's cancer. So if you do get a white kitten, it's a good idea to make it an indoor pet.

 

[willfulbrat]

I have a pure white cat with lovely golden eyes. Deafness is often linked with blue eyes in white cats. In the case of a cat with one blue eye and one another color, they can be deaf on just the side with the blue eye.

 

[OUTSIDER]

It's not unusual to find Pure breeds to have more problems than mongrels, pure breeds tend to be more closely related than mongrels and genetic traits become defined.

I've always had mongrel cats and they are very hardy.

 

[Cirrus]

Hmmm...I've done some looking on the net since I posted, and I've found conflicting info. Some say that eye color doesn't matter, but that males are more prone to deafness than females. Some say only blue eyed whites are deaf, and that the sex of the cat doesn't matter, it's all eye color. Doesn't matter to me one way or the other though.

I wouldn't care one little bit if the cat was deaf. All my cats have been and always will be indoor cats. I can see where a white cat would be more likely to get skin cancer just like a fair skinned person would, but like I said it wouldn't be outside at all. My neighborhood just isn't safe for an outdoor cat. Too many dogs, cars, and little kids with bad tempers.

I agree with getting mongrel cats. They don't seem to have many health problems that are inherent with the breeding and selection that goes into purebreds. Around our area white cats seem pretty rare, I've only seen a few at the shelter and I had a neighbor that had one. As far as I know, they were just regular domestic cats, no special breed.

Just out of curiosity, assuming the cat I get can hear, what would you name it? And please no Caspers, Marshmallows, or Honkys either.

 

[OUTSIDER]

If you were a Brit I'd say call it "Bagpuss"


P.S. do a net search and find out why