Blue Eyed Cats

[Tambrey]

My husband and I got to wondering this weekend...

My Gump is blue eyed, and he is the only one of my cats who always paws at the water dish...whether there is a little bit or a full dish, he will paw at it and pull it across the room...

My husband wondered if it is because of his blue eyes, he may not see as well and not be able to tell where the water is unless he moves the dish to see the ripples in it...

I have also tried the water fountain type of dishes...he plays with that also...

Maybe he is just one who likes to play in water...but I always have a puddle of water on the kitchen floor and a dry water dish to deal with...

edit added: I got to searching the itnernet and found this statement

The blue eyes of Siamese cats are not a sure sign of deafness, but instead are associated with poor 3-dimensional vision
http://www.sewanee.edu/Chem/Chem&Art/De ... 003/Early/

another edit, just because I kept searching and found this, which I thought was cute...will have to pay more attention to my cats!

Cats "Kiss" with their Eyes. Have you ever noticed your cat gazing at you for a long moment and then slowly blinking his eyes? That's the kitty equivalent of a kiss, and you should feel very flattered. Of course, a nip on the nose is also their way of giving a kiss. If you want to show your cat you love him, give him a kitty kiss right back. No, not on the nose. Just give him that long stare and slow blink and see what happens.
http://cats.about.com/cs/eyesvision/a/cats_eyes_2.htm

[kehorner]

Yeah... I've read that cats play in the water bowl to see where the water level is before they drink. My boys do that, too, even though at least two out of three have no known vision problems or predispositions to them.

I'v also read about Siamese cats having poor 3D vision, and that many of them compensate by crossing their eyes....

[Traci]

I don't know about poor 3-d dimension, I've had blue-eyed cats who see better than others. Cody has gold eyes and paws at his water incessantly.

Have known about the cat "kiss"....I do this all the time with mine.

Cassidy and Curry kiss on the nose all the time. As long as I know what they've been up to prior, I don't mind

[Tambrey]

Gold/amber eyes were the next colour mentioned that have depth perception problems...and on occassion, Majik paws at the water, but not always like Gump does...

I was also reading one where the study mentioned that cats with blue eyes are often hearing impaired or completely deaf, regardless of coat colour...and also that if they have one blue eye and one other coloured eye, they were often deaf on the blue eyed side, but not the other coloured side...

I guess I have never given it much thought as being a Kitty Kiss...we just gaze into eyes alot...

[Traci]

I think some of the studies are useful, others are useless. For example, take you and me, and others with multiple cats with multiple coat colors and multiple eye colors. Different every time.

I've known blue-eyed, white cats who were deaf. I've known the same who weren't deaf. Have known cats with two eye-colors who weren't deaf. Genes will play a role in eye color and deafness but it isn't exact. I don't think some of the studies should be considered standard, because they aren't. All the same, they're interesting.

[Tambrey]

yes, it was interesting reading...and yes, we have a friend with a pure white cat who is not deaf...

[remax realtor]

My cat is part siamese and he hears very well. I can make a small scratching sound from across the room and he will turn and look. His blue eyes do get crossed sometimes. Its actually kind of cute lol.

[k9Karen]

This discussion has me curious to hear other's experiences with animals who have eyes that are two different colors. Allie is deaf (both sides) and has one very light blue eye and one very dark coffee-brown eye. She is a blue merle sheltie, and blue eyes are common in merle coats, as are the two different colored eyes, and deafness may or may not occur unless is it a 'merle-on-merle' breeding. I also work with a woman whose grandson has one brown and one green eye - he was born deaf. What I'm curious about is whether or not others have seen this in their pets or their families, and was it associated with congental deafness?

[Traci]

I wish I could answer that, Karen, but again, I don't think the science is exact. There are several breeds of dogs that have two eye-colors, and in my experience, a very very low percentage of them are deaf.

[doubleR44]

Interesting indeed....I thought at first it was they we're finding the water level also. Now I just think they love to play with it and see the waves move. We have a orange kitty with gold eyes and he will move a water dish from one end of the bathroom sink to the other daily.