Karen, I know the gene is related to a cat's eye color as opposed to the white fur, but when I took Andy to the vet for his first visit the very first question the vet asked me was "can he hear?" I was sort of surprised by that because Andy has gold colored eyes. It turned out that his brother, Arnold, was deaf and Arnold also had gold colored eyes. Strange, huh? It sounds like white kitties, regardless of their eye color, might be at risk. What do you think? Anyone have any ideas or data?