Sensorineural deafness in purebred white Devon Rex cats

Abstract

Background: Data regarding congenital sensorineural deafness (CSD) in client-owned, white Devon Rex cats is limited because most of the information on this disease comes from experiments on mixed-breed cats. Objectives: Provide data on the occurrence of CSD in a population of client-owned purebred white Devon Rex cats. Animals: Forty client-owned, purebred, white Devon Rex cats examined at 2 different facilities. Median age of the examined cats was 19 weeks. Methods: Hearing status was defined by use of brainstem auditory evoked responses. Results: The occurrence of sensorineural deafness in the studied population of Devon Rex cats was estimated at 10%. Unilateral and bilateral deafness occurred equally often, with 2 individuals having each (ie, 5.0%). No association between the occurrence of CSD and sex could be found, χ2 (1, n = 40) = 0.001 (P >.99). No association between blue irises and deafness was noted in the studied population, χ2 (1, n = 40) < 0.01 (P >.99). Conclusions: The occurrence of CSD in a population of client-owned, white Devon Rex cats was found to be lower compared with data obtained in previously conducted studies of deafness in purebred cats. In the studied population of Devon Rex cats, no association between blue irises and CSD was found.