It is important to understand that an albino cat requires special care, since due to the characteristics that this condition entails it can suffer related problems such as the case of deafness, blindness, cancer or red eyes.
Albino cats have some particular peculiarities as is common in many other albino animals. Albinism is produced by a genetic alteration at birth that forms a cat with very specific characteristics that requires some specific care or attention that other cats do not require.
Continue reading our site to find out care for an albino cat.
Albino cat or white cat?
Not all white cats are albinos, but all albino cats are white.
How can we tell them apart?
Albinism among cats, apart from the pristine white of their coat with a total absence of other color spots, is also manifested in the eyes, which are usually both blue, or bicolor (one of each color). Another relevant characteristic is the tone of the epidermis, which in albino cats shows a pinkish tone, which also appears on their nose, eyelids, lips, ears and pads.
If a cat has completely white fur but its epidermis is greyish-white, its nose is dark, and its eyes are green or other colors (including blue), it means that the cat is not albino despite being white.
Diseases related to albinism
Deafness in albino cats
Albino cats have a tendency to suffer partial or total deafness, caused by the alteration of the autosomal gene W. Many other albino animals have this same deficiency. Formerly it was considered that albino animals suffered from a certain mental retardation, which is not true. Obviously the fact of being deaf causes understanding difficulties for the cat, but it does not affect its intelligence.
This deafness is the consequence of an irreversible malformation of the inner ear. Deafness can be total or partial, as we have already mentioned before. There are even albino cats that are not deaf. Deafness is detected when the cat is a puppy because it does not respond to calls by its name. We must learn to communicate efficiently with them.
If you suspect that your cat is deaf, it will be important to review the care of deaf cats in order to help them communicate and live without this sense.
As with deaf people, good communication is possible with deaf albino cats. This communication is done through gestures, which the cat learns to discern with a little training. It also includes the facial gestures of our face.
Deaf albino cats are sensitive to vibrations, for this reason they sense when a door closes, or the approach of our footsteps. It is very dangerous for deaf cats to go outside alone, since the risk of being run over is very high.
The epidermis of the albino cat
Albino cats suffer a great sensitivity of their epidermis to the action of the sunraysThis means that we must protect them from direct exposure to the sun between 12 noon and 5 pm. Your dermis can be severely burned, or develop skin cancer. Statistically there are more cases of this disease among albino cats than among other more common cats.
It is imperative that the veterinarian prescribes a non-toxic cream or sunscreen to apply to the albino cat's nose. We must take care of it controlling its exposure to the sun.
Blindness and eye care for albino cats
Albino cats can't standvery intense lightThere are extreme cases of albinism in which the whites of the cat's eyes are pink, or even reddish. However, at night they still see better than other cats. Albinism is a lack of melanin in the cat's body.
If you suspect that your cat may be suffering from blindness, it is very important to go to the vet as soon as possible so that they can offer us the most appropriate advice for our case. On the sidelines, you can also visit our article on caring for a blind cat.
