Khao Manee care: deafness, sun damage and dental health

The Khao Manee is a pure white, short-coated cat from Thailand, and its white coat is the source of the two health questions that matter most for the breed: hearing and sun damage. The name means "white gem" in Thai. According to the Cat Fanciers' Association breed profile, the cat appears as a good-luck cat in the Tamra Maeo, a Thai book of cat poems from the Ayutthaya period (1350 to 1767), and it stayed almost entirely within Thailand until 1999, when the first cats went to the United States. The CFA accepted it for registration in 2018. Eyes can be any shade of blue, green or yellow, or odd-eyed, with one eye of each color.

The same profile states that the breed is not known for any specific health problems of its own. What it does have is the biology of every white cat, set out below, plus the ordinary care any cat needs.

The white coat gene and deafness

A Khao Manee is white because it carries the dominant white gene, which hides whatever coat color the cat would otherwise show. The same gene suppresses pigment cells called melanocytes. The inner ear needs melanocytes in the stria vascularis, the blood-rich lining of the cochlea. In deaf white kittens that lining degenerates at about three to four weeks of age, a change usually linked to missing melanocytes, and the sensory hair cells then die, leaving the kitten permanently deaf in one or both ears. Because the white colors mask recessive colors underneath, the occasional non-white kitten appears in a litter. The CFA notes that breeders use these cats in breeding programs partly to lower the chance of deaf kittens.

Deafness in white cats has long been linked to blue eyes, but studies of pedigree white cats give a mixed picture. A study of 84 white pedigree cats tested before breeding found about one in five deaf, split roughly evenly between one ear and both ears, and deafness was associated with iris color. A later Polish study of 72 white pedigree cats found 16.7% deaf, with one-sided deafness twice as common as two-sided, and no association with blue eyes in that group. Neither study included the Khao Manee specifically. Taken together, they say that any white kitten can be deaf, whatever its eye color, and that eye color alone is not a hearing test.

Testing hearing

A kitten that is deaf in one ear behaves almost normally, so clapping behind its head proves little. A review of hearing disorders in cats in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery points out that behavioral tests are subjective and do not reliably detect one-sided deafness. The objective test is the brainstem auditory evoked response (BAER), which records the brain's electrical response to clicks played into each ear in turn. Availability is limited, mainly because the equipment is costly. Ask a breeder whether kittens were BAER tested and for the result for each ear. A cat deaf in one ear or both should not be bred.

Living with a deaf cat

The same review says a cat deaf in one ear needs no special management. For a cat deaf in both ears, the practical changes are about safety and communication:

• Keep the cat indoors or in a secure outdoor enclosure. A deaf cat cannot hear cars, dogs or someone calling it back.
• Use visual signals. Hand signals, a flick of the room light and a consistent gesture at mealtime replace calling the cat's name.
• Approach where the cat can see you, or tap the floor so the vibration wakes it gently. A deaf cat woken by a sudden touch may lash out.
• Watch for extra risks at home, such as a cat asleep behind a door, in a laundry basket or under a reclining chair, where it will not hear someone coming.

Calories and protein

No published work sets nutrient needs for the Khao Manee as a breed, so it is fed like any active shorthaired cat. The Merck Veterinary Manual gives the usual starting calculation. Resting energy requirement (RER), in kcal per day, is 70 multiplied by body weight in kilograms raised to the power 0.75. Daily needs are then 2.5 times RER for a kitten, 1.4 for an intact adult, 1.2 for a neutered adult and 1.0 for an adult that gains weight easily. Rounded to the nearest 5 kcal, that gives these adult figures:

A growing kitten at 1 kg works out at about 175 kcal a day, at 2 kg about 295 kcal, and at 3 kg about 400 kcal, though Merck notes kittens can also be fed free choice. All of these numbers are a first guess, since two animals of the same weight can differ by up to 30% in what they need. Weigh an adult cat every month or two on a baby or kitchen scale and change portions by about a tenth at a time. A cat at a healthy weight has ribs that are easy to feel under a thin layer of fat and a visible waist from above.

Cats need more protein than dogs and a few nutrients that only animal tissue supplies, taurine among them. Under AAFCO guidelines, a food for adult cats must contain at least 26% protein on a dry matter basis, and a growth food at least 30%. A commercial food labeled complete and balanced for the cat's life stage meets those minimums. Higher protein percentages are common on premium labels, but there is no evidence that a Khao Manee needs a particular figure above them.

Water and wet food

Cats often drink little. Canned food is 60% to more than 87% water, against 3% to 11% for dry food, so a cat on wet food takes in much of its water with its meals. Offering some wet food, keeping more than one water bowl, and trying a fountain are simple ways to raise intake. A cat that strains in the litter box, passes blood, or goes in and out of the box producing little urine needs a vet the same day. A male cat that cannot pass urine at all is an emergency.

Teeth and gums

Nothing links the Khao Manee to dental disease more than other cats, but gum disease and tooth resorption, where tooth structure is gradually destroyed, are common in adult cats generally. Cats tend to keep eating through mouth pain. Chewing on one side, dropping food or pawing at the mouth are the signs to act on.

• Brushing is the most effective home care. Use a small soft brush and a toothpaste made for cats, since human toothpaste is designed to be spat out. Start with a few seconds on the outer surfaces of the back teeth and build up.
• Dental diets and treats vary a lot in what they do. Products carrying the Veterinary Oral Health Council (VOHC) seal have trial data showing less plaque or tartar.
• A mouth examination at each annual visit, with cleaning and dental X-rays under anesthesia when the vet finds tartar, inflamed gums or a painful tooth. Some problems below the gumline only show on X-rays.

Raw bones are sometimes suggested for cleaning teeth. They carry a risk of bacterial contamination, broken teeth and swallowed fragments, and brushing does the job without those risks.

Sun damage on white skin

White fur lies over pink, unpigmented skin, which has little protection against ultraviolet light. The Merck Veterinary Manual's section on skin tumors in cats names long sun exposure as a major cause of squamous cell carcinoma and says cats that are all or partly white are commonly affected. Lesions usually appear on the ear tips, eyelids, the ridge above the eyes, the nose and the lips. Before a cancer develops, many cats show solar keratosis: skin that thickens, reddens or scales in the same places.

A Khao Manee that sunbathes for hours, indoors or out, is the cat most at risk. Reducing exposure matters more than any product:

• Keep outdoor access, including a catio, to early morning and evening in summer, and provide shade.
• Give the cat a shaded bed near its favorite sunny spot, or fit UV-filtering film to the window it uses most.
• Check the ear tips, nose and eyelids every few weeks for redness, scaling, crusts or a sore that does not heal, and show any of these to a vet. Early lesions are much easier to remove than advanced ones.

Sunscreen is an extra layer, not a substitute for shade. A 2026 review of sunscreen safety in pets found that research is still sparse. It concluded that products with non-nanoparticle zinc oxide appear safe for cats when licking is prevented or kept to a minimum, while the safety of organic UV filters is unclear. Ask a vet before using any product on a cat that grooms the treated area.

Temperament and enrichment

The CFA describes the Khao Manee as curious, intelligent and very social, a cat that plays fetch, carries toys around, follows its owners and communicates with a range of vocalizations. It is described as getting on well with other pets and with children. A cat with that much interest in people needs company and something to do, especially in a home that is empty all day.

• Play in short bouts with wand toys, finishing with a catch the cat can hold. Several short sessions suit a cat better than one long one.
• Food puzzles turn part of the daily ration into a task and slow down a fast eater.
• Vertical space, such as cat trees and wall shelves, gives the cat places to watch from and to get away from other pets.
• A second cat can help in a home that is empty during the working day, if the two are introduced gradually.

The coat needs little work. The CFA recommends regular brushing with a rubber brush to control shedding, since white hair shows on clothes and furniture, and cat shampoo rather than human shampoo for the occasional bath.

Sources

1. Khao Manee breed profile. The Cat Fanciers' Association.
2. Congenital deafness and its recognition. Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice, 1999.
3. Unilateral and bilateral congenital sensorineural deafness in client-owned pure-breed white cats. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 2009.
4. Evaluation of the prevalence of congenital sensorineural deafness in a population of 72 client-owned purebred white cats examined from 2007 to 2021. BMC Veterinary Research, 2022.
5. Hearing disorders in cats. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, 2017.
6. Nutritional Requirements of Small Animals. Merck Veterinary Manual, 2023.
7. Tumors of the Skin in Cats. Merck Veterinary Manual.
8. Ultraviolet light-induced skin cancer and the safety of sunscreen use in pets. Veterinary Sciences, 2026.