Unilateral and bilateral congenital sensorineural deafness in client-owned pure-breed white cats.

BACKGROUND Congenital sensorineural deafness has been reported frequently in experimental mixed-breed white cats but there is a paucity of data on occurrence of deafness in client-owned pure-breed white cats. OBJECTIVE To describe hearing status in client-owned pure-breed white cats. ANIMALS Eighty-four pure-breed client-owned cats with white coat color of 10 registered breeds presented for routine hearing evaluation before breeding (1995-2008). METHODS Hearing was assessed by click-evoked brainstem auditory evoked response. RESULTS Overall deafness prevalence was 20.2%; 9 cats (10.7%) were bilaterally deaf and 8 cats (9.5%) were unilaterally deaf. There was no association between sex and deafness status (P= .85). Deafness status was associated with iris color (P= .04). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE Congenital sensorineural deafness frequently occurs in pure-breed cats with white coat color. Unilateral sensorineural deafness was as common as bilateral deafness.