Cross Eyed Ragdoll Cats?
Cross Eyed Ragdoll Cats?
Originally published November 24, 2010
One of the good fortunes of having this website is that I get a lot of interesting questions from people that have Ragdolls or that are considering Ragdoll cats for adoption. Just last week, I received the following inquiry:
“I have just purchased a 4 month old Ragdoll kitten, a male Seal Colourpoint. I already have a Ragdoll but have noticed this week since bringing him home, he has crossed eyes, where one is worse than the other, everyone has noticed this and I would like to know if anyone knows about this problem, is it a common problem with Ragdoll, although I have never seen it before, or is it a problem with the kitten I have.
I did think of taking him to the vets but thought maybe someone on the forum could help me with this problem, or let me know if it is a common problem with a kitten and whether it is only temporary, possibly diminishing in time.
Obviously I am concerned about the kitten’s eyes, in case it is affecting his eyesight.”
I belong to a few Ragdoll Yahoo! Groups – and it’s a great way to find out more about Ragdolls too. So I sent out the inquiry about cross eyed Ragdolls (or Strabismus) to the Yahoo! Group and here are two replies I got:
Cross Eyed Cat:
Any pointed cat can be cross eyed, whether its a ragdoll, siamese, himi, tonkinese ect. Its not breed specific. My daughter has a mink tonkinese that went cross eyed, which is uncommon in the mink.
Lisa
BeCharmed Rag dolls
Siamese breed tends to have more cross-eyed cats than most others.
It is not common in ragdolls but can occur in any breed. Sometimes a kitten may outgrow it and sometimes not. I would make the breeder aware as this is not something you want to pass on to future generations (assuming it is genetic). It usually is more a cosmetic thing as opposed to a health issue.
Gail http://megaileeragdolls.tripod.com
Can you offer Barbara any more advice? What do you know about cross-eyed Ragdoll cats?
Hi, I’m Jenny Dean, creator of Floppycats! Ever since my Aunt got the first Ragdoll cat in our family, I have loved the breed. Inspired by my childhood Ragdoll cat, Rags, I created Floppycats to connect, share and inspire other Ragdoll cat lovers around the world,
i have a cross-eyed male ragdoll, dont know his age as he was a freebie, named him clarence
My Ragdoll kitten was also cross-eyed. He recently turned 1 and I noticed that he is no longer cross-eyed. To be honest I can’t remember the last time I noticed him being cross-eyed so he did grow out of it.
He is teething now and biting everything in sight, including my feet and toes!
Be patient Barbara and if it hasn’t changed by the time he is 1 maybe then see the vet.
I THOUGHT MY RAGDOLL CAT LOOK EVEN CUTER WITH HIS CROSSED EYES.
LoL my new girl is almost 7 months and totally infatuated with my feet. Whether I’m sitting down or laying down in my bed she first will rub her super soft face n cheeks all over them before flopping down on them with her paws wrapped around them before biting them. Never hard, and it tickles something fierce. The more I laugh the more she gets into it. Its hilarious!
that’s so cute!
oh right coz his is only now and again his eye turns towards the nose but then will gor back to normal .any ideas what is could be could it be like a lazy eye
I really do not know. I would ask the breeder or ask the vet. I do know that sometimes it takes awhile for a kitten’s eyes to straighten out – but I think that is accomplished by 8 months – I think that happens more in younger kittens.
i have a friend that has an 8 month old ragdoll that its left eye goes boz eyed every now again but you notice it sometime when tired .with strabismus does it accurr all the time?
Yes, it is a constant thing.
Ive got a beautiful ragdoll who’s about 8 years old now and all my friends have nick named him boss-eyed bill, Ive never really noticed his eye too much but everyone who meets him will first comment on his size then his huge bright blue cross eyes. Its not effected him in the slightest, we still get ‘lovely’ presents of mice (we live behing some fields) infact, hes incredibly gracefull compaired to our moggie – if we leave our bedroom window open for him to jump out of in the night he can hop onto the bedside cabnit and along the windowsill no problem – our moggie will knock absoloutly everything over.
It just makes him extra special – and again not effected him in the slightest, i love playing with him and getting a shot of him focusing on something it looks so cute
Don’t you worry a predator will get him? I always bring my Flamepoint Ragdoll in at night. I love st a wonderful Siamese to a coyote some yrs back.
I have a Ragdoll X and when she was a kitten her eyes were rather crossed and one of them some times looked in any and every direction, more so when she was tired. I thought she would be afflicted for life, however she grew out of it by the time she was about one. Now we just laugh at her kitty photos cos its so noticeable but not anymore, hope this is the case with your kitty too 🙂
Strabismus ( crossed eyes ) can occur in animals of all ages . It may be present at birth and can be the result of abnormalities in the developement of the eye , the muscles of the eye or the brain ( nerves that control the muscles of the eyes. In the pointed cats this does seem to occur more often than in non pointed cats and the thought is that the siamese used in the developement of the pointed breeds can perhaps be resposible so to speak . Of course the cause of this can be genetic , congenital or due to illness or trauma of some sort . If one is concerned it is a good idea to visit a vetrinarian opthamologist .
For the most part it does not affect the quality of life. It may affect their spatial relationship when jumping depending on the severity . In other words they may intend to jump to the middle of a table and end up a bit off center .
If this kitten was purchased for breeding I would not use it for such because of this. However I have seen this result ( cross eyed ) in the kitten or kittens of two ragdoll cats bred together who are not displaying signs of this at all. Then the same two cats bred to other partners and do not produce it at all. Personally if I mate two cats together that are normal and they produce kittens that are cross eyed I will not repeat that mating again. But will try both with other mates to see if I can determine from which cat it is coming from. I am not certain if only one cat has to be carrying the gene to produce it or if both must be carrying it for it to be seen if the offspring. I have not seen a lot of this in my breeding so I am certainly not an expert . But occasinally it can and does occur . I will say that I have seen kittens that appear to be affected at a young age out grow this so to speak as they mature . However that is not always the case .
Kathleen Burke
I am not sure if this is where I reply to this issue of Cross Eyed cats. But maybe you can direct this to where ever it belongs.
30 yrs. I have bred ragdolls and have not really had an issue. But one thing I have noticed that the vaccines can cause this to happen at an older age.. And it is a temporary issue.
Allergic reaction to the vaccine is what I have attributed this to. It has been seen after the 12 week vaccine.a genetic issue would occur at an earlier age.
It will take about two or 3 months to resolve itself.
But I do think it is a warning sign that if this happens, then be very careful about giving vaccines in the future. I would definitely seek out a holistic vet if you feel it is necessary to vaccinate in the future. This is my opinion and only experience that has led me to this conclusion.
sue at http://www.ragdollcat.net
I have a cross-eyed cat who is not a Ragdoll but who, as a Havana Brown, has Siamese in his distant lineage. The crossed eyes give him an odd expression, to be sure, but observing his behavior has convinced me of one additional effect. If you were to meet my Rivers and reach toward him to pat him, he would probably be startled and jump away if your hand approached from an angle. When I first noticed this behavior, I thought he was just skittish, but then it occurred to me that the crossed eyes give him a shorter focal distance and reduce his peripheral vision. To avoid the effect on him of an object coming out of nowhere, it is best to reach for him or offer him objects from the front, rather than from the side.
Does cross eyed mean that one eye looks, normal and the other seems to look te otherway? , My english is not that good but I have a female cream mitted and she has it too, just like her mummy , I think it looks very funny, it makes her look like she has a bit of an attitude!