Kittens are born with blue eyes due to the absence of melanin in their irises. Melanin is the pigment that gives color to the hair, skin, and eyes of humans and animals. In kittens, the melanocytes (cells that produce melanin) in their irises have not yet fully developed, and so their eyes appear blue because of the scattering of white light through the iris of the eye. Refracted (scattered) white light is the same effect that makes the sky blue. Image: MikeB As kittens grow older, their melanocytes become more active and start to produce melanin. This can cause a change in eye color from blue to green, yellow, or brown. The exact timing of this change in eye color can vary depending on the breed of the cat, but it typically occurs between 6 and 12 weeks of age. It's worth noting that some cat breeds, such as Siamese and some other pointed breeds, have a genetic trait that causes them to retain their blue eye color into adulthood. However, for most cats, blue eyes are a temporary f...

My friend Michael (and tka blog host) has a new entry up at his awesome and high traffic site Pictures of Cats*. It delves into the details of cat anatomy , from whiskers to ears, to noses and beyond, and oh yes, cat eyes. (*note- all proceeds from POC and tka go to fund cat rescue.) So, I'm prompted to post a photo from yesterday of Tootsie my beauty cat Maine coon (who, as it happens, is a rescue cat). I didn't realize until I looked closely at the photo, but amazing eye detail! TY Tootsie. I can almost see where the boundaries of the irises are. And, that purple stuff beyond, which makes her eyes look like the surface of the moon, I'm assuming show the blood vessels that supply the eye. Michael can correct me on that, if needs be. Tootsie, it is clear, has yellow eyes. I've looked hard, hoping they might be green *g*. But, just as when I find an absolutely wonderful Harris Tweed jacket that I might purchase for a friend who is a great lover of such, b...

What is the color range of cats' eyes? I got curious about this, after doing some research on deaf cats. From Michael's post about odd-eyed cats, here it would seem that the basic colors are blue, yellow, orange and green. I've only just started to dip into all the posts over there, but discovered that the breed standards for various purebred/ pedigreed cats are specific as to the quality of eye color, for example, "vivid green" for the Russian Blue. I went to flickr, and searched for the best photos I could find showing different eye colors- oh, not just the eyes, but the cat too! I'm only posting the ones that show the face of the cat. Along the way, I discovered that there are a lot of different eye colors. And, that sometimes I couldn't figure out how the color fell along the spectrum. I know "blue" when I see it, but yellow/ green or yellow/ orange, well? And, where the heck is "amber" on the spectrum? And, as an aside, huma...

Not all white cats are deaf. It depends on many things. This is Casper, a polydactyl cat rescued from the Human's yard. Direct link is here Human says: "6 days 6 weeks 6 months; Well close enough, we found this little kitten abandoned in our yard, still had his eyes closed, middle segment is about Christmas (playing with the wrapping bow), and last segment shows his polydactyl 6 toes, brown/blue eyes. He is not deaf as many are. And just as cute as can be." Casper has one blue eye and one brown/ amber eye, which is a good indicator that he's deaf in one ear, on the side with the blue eye. A good discussion of odd-eyed cats is here. Intro: "What causes odd-eyed cats? The color of eyes of an odd eyed cat are blue plus either yellow, orange or green." An explanation about the cause of white coats and hereditary deafness is here. And, this article gives even more information about the genetics of cat coat color- and white fur and deafness in cats here. Ma...