Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Much Loved Cat Born with Double Disability

Mr White is all-white and deaf because of it. White cats can be deaf and they can blind too. The gene that creates all-white coat can affect the hearing and eyes. Mr White has odd-eye color too (but a faint difference judging by the photos). This is called: heterochromia iridum.

Kangaroo cat Casper White

He is also a "Twisty Cat" or Squitten or there is another name: Kangaroo cat because he uses his hind legs, back and tail much more than normal due to deformed forelegs. He is described as a Kangaroo cat. The genetic defect is called "radial hypoplasia"

I may have misguidedly rolled all three types of cat into one because apparently a different genetic mutation produces the Kangaroo cat to the Squitten but the end result is much the same: forelegs which are much less robust and useful forcing the cat to adapt by using other parts of the body to compensate.

Mr White lives in Australia and is much loved by Sharon Abdallah. She is seeking some help to raise funds it seems to see if something can be done to improve Mr White's life going forward - see her new FB page. Not much activity as yet.

Mr White should live as long as any other cat. He just has a couple of disabilities that slows him down a bit. Jumping down is probably almost impossible.

Interestingly the chief vet of RSPCA Victoria reports that he has seen several cases annually, which gives us a clue as to how common radial hypoplasia is.

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