Is this Genuine? Can Black Cats have Blue Eyes?

Are black cats with blue eyes a myth? Can black cats have blue eyes?

As you may know, all cats have blue eyes when they are born much like a lot of creatures on this planet, including a lot of humans.

If the cat’s eyes are going to change color then this will be at around 8 weeks after the cat has been born.

So can black cats have blue eyes?

The short answer to the question is yes!

Black cats will have blue eyes as a kitten but do black cats eyes stay blue?

Black cats having blue eyes beyond being a kitten is very rare indeed.

The Science

When looking through a transparent glass the edges of the glass appear to have a blue tint.

The exact same effect is what we see with cat’s eyes that appear to be blue. The cat doesn’t actually have any blue pigment, it’s a sort of optical illusion caused by the Tyndall effect.

In fact, this is the same for humans with ‘blue eyes’ too.

Proof

When looking around the internet for evidence of black cats with blue eyes, you will come across many images that have been enhanced or doctored to create an effect.

Just to prove that point I actually used a photo of our cat Coco who has green eyes and doctored the photo to give his eyes a blue appearance.

Like I said earlier, black cats with blue eyes are rare and as a result, photographic evidence can be hard to come by.

That One Breed

If you had to name one particular breed where you could find a black cat with blue eyes then that breed would be the Tonkinese.

Tonkinese cats come in all different colors but the one thing that they appear to have in common is that they pretty much always have blue eyes.

If you see a black Tonkinese cat then it’s very likely that you’re staring at a black cat with blue eyes.

Having said that, from the photos of Tonkinese cats that I’ve seen, the cat could be a very dark shade of brown, much like other cats that we like to call “black”.

My final thoughts

So can black cats have blue eyes? As mentioned earlier on in this blog, many of the images of black cats with blue eyes on the web appear to be faked.

I think the most common black cats like the American/British Shorthair and The Bombay Cat won’t have blue eyes unless there’s a genetic issue and the cat doesn’t have pigment in the eyes.

When researching for this blog post I came across the question; do black cats ever have blue eyes?

The Tonkinese black cat (which will be brown really) is the closest thing to a blue-eyed black cat and even these cats appear to be rare.

Do Black Cats Have Blue Eyes?

From the research that I have done on black cats, it would seem as if black cats have very strong genes and these genes produce yellow, green, or orange eyes in general.

Maybe one day I’ll see an American Shorthair with blue eyes but I’m not holding my breath…

Whatever color the cats fur, eyes, pads, lips does it really matter?

Not to me, I see all cats as beautiful in their own way and I don’t think it’s a good idea for people to be selective over things like eye color.

Black cats are the least likely to be adopted simply because of the color of their fur and many are put to sleep by cat shelters. So sad…

While you are on the website, why not read an article on 12 Fascinating Black Cat Breeds Explained…

Have you joined the My Mini Panther black cat community on Facebook?