The Progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) gene causes degeneration of the photoreceptors (the rods and cones) in the retina by producing a defective protein associated with retinal atrophy.
This causes late onset blindness and cats affected by this condition have normal vision at birth but then typically, after about 1+ years, the eyesight slowly deteriorates with cats losing their sight between the ages of 3 to 5 years.
Cats are of course individuals and the age of onset of the condition and the speed of it’s progression are variable and some cats may not totally lose their sight until a little later in life.
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