Question about blue eyed cats

[Logan]

As you know, Butter has very blue eyes. I have noticed that they are extremely wide open and bright blue when he is inside. But when he is outdoors, in the sunlight, he acts like he can hardly hold them open. Are blue eyed cats bothered by the sun? More than other cats perhaps?? He just squints and blinks outside. I rarely see him with his eyes open, and when they are, that blue is kind of faded looking.

Just wondering as this is my first blue eyed cat.....

Thanks in advance.
Logan

[4 feline house]

I would guess yes, because I have heard blue-eyed people are more sensitive to sun than brown-eyed people (never heard where green-, violet-, and grey-eyed people fit in to that equation).

[gini]

I had a blue-eyed white cat for eighteen years and I never noticed that his eyes were sensitive to the sun. However, I am blue-eyed and I am sensitive to direct sunlight.
I am not educated on the subject, but could it be the breed?

I just love the name Butter, for your cat.
Hope he isn't scratching you anymore.

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[Pam]

I work for an ophthalmologist although I am far from an eye doctor myself! I have heard him say that the lighter the iris color the more sensitive to sunlight. This is for humans, but I am guessing it is the same for animals.

[Catcrazed]

Well, speaking for very blue eyed white people I know this is true. This was also a problem for my first cat, bootsie. She had one blue eye and one green.

[Gina]

Here's a question regarding blue eyes...

Any of you guys ever hear of this: a white cat with blue eyes has a higher tendency towards deafness?

All of my cats squint in the sun, and all but one have green eyes, the odd one out has amber eyes! ( this may be because in Ireland we don't get too much sun, so when we do it comes as a shock! for example, today, we had hail stones! It's June..can you believe it?!)

[This message has been edited by Gina (edited June 09, 2001).]

[4 feline house]

Gina, that's really interesting about the hail and Ireland. I think we are the hail capital of the world here in North Texas, and it is very common in April, May and June. It can occur any time of the year, though. It's usually pea sized, but can get as large as softball sized (people are still talking about that storm, and it happened in 1995!).