Ojos azules
The Ojos Azules was found in New Mexico in 1984, in a feral tortoiseshell cat named Cornflower with deep blue eyes.
That was remarkable because blue eyes in cats normally come with either a white coat or a colourpoint pattern, and Cornflower had neither — the gene was new, and it produced blue eyes in any coat colour.
It weighs 4 to 5.5 kilograms and is a medium, moderate cat with nothing unusual about it except the eyes. The breed is now extremely rare and breeding has largely been halted, because the gene was found to cause serious cranial and skeletal defects in kittens inheriting two copies. That finding, rather than lack of interest, is why the breed effectively stopped.
- Origin
- New Mexico, United States, 1984, from a feral cat
- Size
- 4–5.5 kg
- Lifespan
- 10–12 years
- Eyes
- Deep blue in any coat colour — unique among cats
- Genetics
- Dominant; lethal cranial defects when homozygous
- Status
- Extremely rare; breeding largely discontinued
Related: Tortoiseshell
2 ojos azules photos, newest first
Living with a ojos azules
Two blue-eyed cats must never be bred together. Kittens inheriting two copies of the gene are born with cranial deformities, a shortened and kinked tail and white fur, and do not survive. This is the reason the breed effectively ceased, and it is not a historical footnote but the central fact.
A cat with one copy is healthy and normal, and the eyes carry no vision or hearing problem — unlike white-coat blue eyes, this gene is not linked to deafness.
Cats advertised as Ojos Azules today are very likely to be something else. Ask for verifiable registration.
Ordinary care otherwise: it is a moderate domestic cat with no special requirements beyond the breeding restriction.
General guidance, not veterinary advice. Individual cats vary, and anything about a specific animal is a question for a vet who has seen it.
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