Hi,

I was just wondering how hard is it to come across a pure white kitten?! I am looking for one for my OH's Mother, we are going to get her a kitten anyway but she would love an all white one. Are they really rare?

Thank you in advance.

You don't see many about!

White cats are also prone to deafness (especially those with blue eyes) or partial deafness.

Depends on if you are going pedigree or not?

Our little one was part of a litter of 4 and we picked her as she was the only one who wasn't all white!!! She was much more beautiful than the others though

well iv asked a lady i know who looks after rescue cats/kittens until they are able to go to their new home. Shes ringing around to let me know - so no it wont be a pedigree.

Just had a look through everyones pet pictures and they are all so adorable!

i want a kitten all of my own now..... although i dont think the landlord will let me

Maybe we wont find a white one in time for christmas

Please bear in mind what PIGDAS said about the deafness, and also the fact that white cats are also very susceptible to skin cancer on the ears, because of the lack of colour. You would need to apply a high factor sunscreen to their ears on sunny days - in fact anyone who has a cat with white ears should do this.

And last but not least - getting a pet of any kind because 'they're adorable' or even just because 'I want one' is not good enough reason. Think about the cost/commitment and implications of pet ownership.

i have thought about them things and i dont just want one because there adorable! but i know i cant have one because we are in a rented house.

When i lived at home i had a ginger tom - unfortunatly he passed away last year i do miss him. One day i will have another cat but for now im searching for the perfect kitten for my OH's mother.

thank you for the help guys.

Mine heard a tin of food opening from 6 blocks away

Like the OP says, you do have to make sure you sunscreen their ears tho, else they go black.

They also know they are beautiful

I've got a pure white cat. Got her from a huge litter and she was the only white one. She's not deaf cos she hasn't got blue eyes. She does seem somewhat mentally deficient though, compared to my other cats - not sure if that's due to her colour or not. She has sunscreen on here pink nose and ears for as long as it lasts before she washes it off! I should think they may be hard to find because they'd get snapped up fast and perhaps pure white ones aren't common anyway. I don't know. Sorry. This post is no help to you, but thought I'd add my comments.

Have you tried advertising in the wanted section of Friday ad?

Good luck with your search.

This is exactly what happened when my blue cream persian got down & dirty with my pure white shorthair cross. She managed to produce 3 pure white short haired kittens, and one long haired ginger tabby. To say I was surprised would be an understatement - god alone knows where the ginger came from!

Cats mate very frequently when they are in season and it is possible for a litter of cats to have more than one father.

My little one is a ginger, black and white tortoise shell and she is beautiful!!! The rest were pure white though.... She was just too cute

I'd always wanted a white cat but settled for my cat Charlie who is mainly white but has black patches like a cow .

I'm aware of that, but in this case it's not possible. My lot are indoor cats, and there was only one tom cat anywhere near her that had the relevant equipment.

I have an all whitr kitten (called casper the friendly kitten!!)who is all white apart from tiny tiny barely visible beige few hairs on his head!

He is not deaf in the slighest he would hear the rattling of his bag of food from miles and miles away!!

We got him from a rescue home he was left abandoned on a main road and found by our vet and my hubby saw him there when he was was taking our other cat for a check up he was then taken to the rescue home and we collected him from there!!

So keep up the search, hope you find a kitten soon!!

The blindness much mentioned here is only really a problem in white cats with blue eyes - and it isn't automatic that this combination will result in deafness, just more likely. But even deaf cats have a great quality of life.

Check for adverts in your local pet shops or better still - presuming this isn't a surprise kitten (never a good idea) and your MIL would be happy for a home check, phone round your local rescues. Cat Chat will have a list of rescues in your area.

Also a lot of white cats have black patches on their heads while they are kittens so don't pass on a kitten with a grey or black splodge on their bonce. I had a real beauty about 15 years ago, still miss her sometimes She had the black splodge at 4 months but it was gone a few months later.

Ohh I've started getting a white cat in my garden - it looks EVIL! Got my cat hissing at it earlier but didn't seem to react.

I have 3 white cats (not pedigree) – two sisters who are white and can hear fine. When they were kittens they had quite large grey patches of fur on their heads but as they grew these disappeared and they are now pure white! Their younger brother is also pure white and unfortunately deaf – he doesn’t however have blue eyes so this isn’t always a true indicator of deafness. It was pretty obvious he was deaf – he didn’t react to noise and loved to sit on a moving hoover!
If the kitten you get is going to be an indoor only cat please don’t rule out having a deaf one as they are just as healthy as other cats. My deaf cat Milo is the most loving of all my cats – to get his attention you just tap the floor and he feels the vibration and comes running, he isn’t scared of fireworks – the others hide under the sofa but he sits and watches them! The only down side of him being deaf is his cry which is extremely loud – when he wants something he howls! I hope you are lucky enough to get one they are truly beautiful, but I’m sure she’ll love a kitten whatever colour it happens to be.

Very true. My cat produced 3 white kittens, one of them pure white from birth and the other 2 both had what looked like a black finger print on the top of their heads. Gone by 6 months old. I still have one of the kittens (4yrs old now), and if you look REALLY closely at her head you can still see a few black hairs, but you wouldn't spot it unless you knew what you were looking for.

Many years ago I took in a friend and his pregnant German Shepherd. She had a litter of 7 which included 3 white pups. We were told by the vet that an all white animal is indicative of genetic defects. Despite this, the white pups were the first to find homes. A male was returned due to sight or hearing problems and the owner decided to keep him - he was the cutest thing but walked into everything.

Thank you for all the posts - i had a look on the internet last night for resue centres in my area - my OH and i are going to take the next few weeks to look around and try and find the perfect kitty (although they all seem perfect to me - fallen in love with a few i have seen)


Thank you for all your help. Ill keep you updated.

Just thought I'd add a couple of thoughts,

1. Please consider 2 cats rather than one. They are honestly no more trouble than 1 and are company for each other, also they are so much fun to watch playing together. And I do find with cats that one is never enough!

2. Please consider a rescue cat(s). There are so many cats and kittens needing homes and apparently it's getting worse because of the credit crunch. Also if you can bear to wait until a month or 2 after Christmas there will be many more as the novelty of a pet will have worn off in some families and there'll be a lot of Xmas Day presents that will have been abandoned.

Whatever you decide, enjoy your kitten(s). They give you so much love and joy and ask for so little in return.

(Just seen your last post that says you've had a look for rescue centres - I'm so glad.)

Are people seriously abondoning their cats because of the credit crunch?! that is just awful!!!

Thank you for the advice, i really wish i could enjoy it but she/he wont be living with me

after spending the last few days reasearching(isnt the internet a wonderful place) i would like to have one all for myself.

Can some white cats also be known to be blind too??

Black cats are needing homes at the moment, I know when we were looking for our cat, we were hoping to get a tortie, but we took th cutiest honey ginger and white female kittie, very unusual colours for a female and she has a cute butterfly marking on her neck. We chose her because she come bouncing to me, she was lively. With our kitten, well that was an unexpected adoption, we went to cats home just for a look and ended up coming away with a tabbie kit.

I would consider the personality of the kitten above the colour. Think about it, you could end up with a cat who doesnt like being stroked, climbs your mother in laws walls and scratches everything in sight - but it will be white so thats ok?

I think its sad really that people will choose a cat based purely on colour. There are so many needy cats and kittens in rescue that its hard to understand how someone can pass one by who may be the sweetest cat ever just because he/she is black