At what age and why do kittens' eyes change color?
Kittens have the particularity of having eyes whose color varies with age. While most are born with blue eyes, few retain this color after their eyes have developed. Some kittens are predisposed to have blue eyes, while others may even have different colors in each eye.
At what age do kittens' eyes change color? Why do kittens' eyes change color? We tell you everything!
Most kittens are born with blue eyes!
You should know that the vast majority of kittens have blue eyes when they are born, much like human babies. When they are able to open their eyes, we can then see a blue / gray or clear tint in their iris.
It is estimated that this coloring which tends to blue is partly due to the very young age of the kitten. The poorly developed, weakly pigmented eye allows us to see through the deep layer of the iris. It is accentuated by the phenomenon of refraction of light when the latter comes into contact with the cornea.
However, the blue eye color common to most baby cats is not always definitive. Few of the kittens retain this blue coloration permanently, but certain breeds of cats are known to have blue eyes. The iris is subject to color variations during the eye development phase, in the weeks following the birth of the kitten.
How is the eye development in the kitten?
The development of the organ and the sense of sight occurs gradually in kittens. Note that the latter are born almost blind and with their eyes always closed once they leave their mother's womb. This protects their eyes, which are still very fragile and vulnerable during the childbirth process.
Thus, they see blurry when they are able toopen their eyes slightly within 2 to 16 days of birth. When they open their eyes fully in the 3rd week, their eyesight has improved slightly but not yet perfectly clear. At this stage of development, it is already possible to observe the blue tint in the kitten's iris. It is onlyat the end of the 5th week that the eye reaches its final vision.
However, eye development is not complete, it takes its course with coloring for about 6 months to 1 year, until the iris pigmentation stabilizes and the kitten's eyes achieve their final color. . The eyes of cats definitely have innumerable surprises in store for us.
What colors will the kitten's eyes become?
At the end of the development of their eyes, many kittens lose the blue pigment of the iris in favor of another color. That said, some rare breeds are predisposed to have blue eyes like the Ragdoll, the Sacred Burma or the Snowshoe. Finally, other kittens will have eyes of different colors like the Turk of Van.
The variety of colors for the eyes of the kitten
The iris being subject to color variations, we end up with a multitude of possible colors for the eyes of a kitten. If the most widespread are brown or green, it is possible to find orange and yellow colors…
Eyes predisposed to remain / become blue in some kittens
Certain breeds of cats have blue eyes in adulthood, they are genetically predisposed to have blue eyes at several levels of intensity. Their iris will get and retain the blue pigmentation throughout their life. This is the case of Siamese kittens, Ragdolls or Ojos Azules for example.
Different colors in the kitten's eyes
This is the rare phenomenon of heterochromia that can be observed in some kittens after the development of their eyes. The kitten will definitely have a different color in each eye.
