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Cornish Rex
Often popping up on the list of curly-coated cats or best hypoallergenic cats, the Cornish rex is no stranger to being at the top of specialty cat breeds. But this time, it’s for this breed's captivating gaze. The Cornish rex has a triangle-shaped head that lends to its oval-shaped eyes' prominent position and size. The eyes are often gold in color, though green, blue, brown, and hazel eyes are also possible.
Breed Overview
Height: 11 to 15 inches
Weight: 6 to 10 pounds
Physical Characteristics: Tight, curly short hair with a triangular head and over-sized, wide-set ears
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Devon Rex
Similar to the Cornish rex, the Devon rex usually gains fame for its curly coat. However, this breed also has large oval-shaped eyes that give it an out-of-this-world look. The svelte body paired with the large eyes and wide, triangular ears mean these cats command attention when they saunter into a room. All shades of eye color are possible in a Devon rex, though cats with a mink-colored coat will often have aqua eyes, and cats with a colorpoint coat often sport beautiful blue eyes.
Breed Overview
Height: 10 to 12 inches
Weight: 6 to 9 pounds
Physical Characteristics: Fine to medium bone structure with broad chest and triangular head; soft, thin, curly coat
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Singapura
One of the tiniest felines also happens to be a cat breed with the most enormous eyes. The Singapura, which originated in the streets of Singapore, is The International Cat Association's (TICA) smallest registered cat breed. It is best known for its large, expressive eyes and affectionate, playful nature. The Singapura’s almond-shaped eyes are hazel, green, or yellow. The large, wide-open eyes are an integral characteristic of the breed. The breed standard states explicitly that small eyes are a severe fault for this breed.
Breed Overview
Height: 6 to 8 inches
Weight: 4 to 8 pounds
Physical Characteristics: Petite but muscular stature; rounded head and large eyes
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Sphynx
Usually known for its hairless skin, the sphynx is also known for its arresting gaze and nearly human-like expressions (and personality). Maybe it’s the lack of facial fur, but there’s no denying that the sphynx will draw you in with its large and uniquely shaped eyes. The breed standard describes its eyes as “lemon-shaped,” with the eyes of this cat breed having a wide-open center that comes to a point at either side of the eye. While a variety of eye colors are possible for this cat breed, icy blue, aqua, and green shades especially highlight the big gaze of the sphynx.
Breed Overview
Height: 8 to 10 inches
Weight: 10 to 12 pounds
Physical Characteristics: Hairless body, with skin pigmentation providing various color types; long limbs and arched back; triangular head with lemon-shaped eyes
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Persian
Perhaps owing to the Persian’s small, flat face, the round, full eyes are prominent in this exotic-looking cat breed. Persians are also known for sporting bright blue, green, or copper peepers that strike a beautiful contrast with their long, fluffy coats. However, odd-eyes or heterochromia (one blue, one copper) is also possible.
Breed Overview
Height: 8 to 10 inches
Weight: 7 to 12 pounds
Physical Characteristics: Medium-sized body with long coat; full, flat face with round eyes
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Scottish Fold
The most distinctive feature of the Scottish fold might be its ears, which appear to fold over and lay flat against the head. But not to be overlooked is the fact that the Scottish fold has rounded, large eyes that, together with its ears, give these cats a quintessentially cute look. Scottish fold eye colors include copper, gold, blue, and green. They are notably well-rounded in shape. The broad nose in the center of the face separates the eyes.
Breed Overview
Height: 8 to 10 inches
Weight: 9 to 13 pounds (males); 6 to 9 pounds (females)
Physical Characteristics: Round face and body with an overall compact appearance; folded ears and large, rounded eyes
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Burmese
The Burmese cat as we know it today results from a cross of the native copper cat of Burma (Myanmar) with the Siamese. All Burmese cats trace their heritage to a female Burma kitty named Wong Mau. Another feature that all Burmese cats share is large round eyes in glowing green or gleaming gold.
Breed Overview
Height: 10 to 12 inches
Weight: 6 to 14 pounds
Physical Characteristics: Short coat with long legs and expressive, rounded eyes; coat is primarily sable, champagne, platinum, and blue
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Tonkinese
Gaze into the eyes of a Tonkinese kitty, and you may not be able to look away. In addition to having large, rounded eyes, these cats have exotic eye colors like aqua, sky blue, violet, and gold. The breed developed as a cross between the Burmese and the Siamese, which have striking coat colors and varied genes. Together, this heritage gives the Tonkinese big, colorful, unique-looking eyes.
Breed Overview
Height: 8 to 10 inches
Weight: 6 to 12 pounds
Physical Characteristics: Medium-sized body with short fur; open, almond-shaped eyes in bright hues like aqua, gold, and blue
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Russian Blue
The beautiful Russian blue is another top cat breed with big eyes. These cats have triangular heads with round, wide-set eyes that always seem to be watching you—except for when a cat nap is in progress. What’s most interesting about this cat breed’s eyes is the fact that all kittens are born with yellow eyes. As the kitten matures, the eyes will slowly transition to green, the expected eye color of this big-eyed cat.
Breed Overview
Height: 9 to 10 inches
Weight: 8 to 15 pounds
Physical Characteristics: Fine-boned with long limbs; triangular head with distinctive green eyes and broad nose; plush double coat in blue-gray
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British Shorthair
Nearly all features of the British shorthair are round, and the eyes of this cat breed are no exception. These cats have large, round, and well-opened eyes. Pictures of the breed often feature a blue coat paired with gorgeous gold eyes, but many coat colors and eye colors are possible, including green, blue, and copper.
Breed Overview
Height: 12 to 14 inches
Weight: 7 to 17 pounds
Physical Characteristics: Round face and body with males having heavy jowls; short but dense coat in both solid shades including white, blue, and black along with tabby, calico, shaded, or bi-color variations
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Abyssinian
The Abyssinian is an exotic-looking cat for many reasons, not the least of which is its large and expressive eyes. Interestingly, these cats have somewhat almond-shaped eyes that are fairly unique in the feline world. This cat's peepers have a distinctive angled corner and aren’t the typical round shape of many large-eyed cat breeds. A unique feature of Abyssinian cat eyes is a thin dark line that encircles the eye, providing high contrast to the often light green or golden eye color.
Breed Overview
Height: 8 to 10 inches
Weight: 8 to 12 pounds
Physical Characteristics: Silky coat in short to medium length; slightly arched back with long limbs; triangular ears and almond-shaped eyes
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Chartreux
The Chartreux is a cat breed with round eyes that seem to be always alert and ever-expressive. A national treasure in France, the Chartreux cat has a uniform blue-gray coat, and its eyes are also somewhat standard in color, ranging from copper to gold. The most desirable eye color is a deep orange hue that nicely complements the Chartreux’s blue coat.
Breed Overview
Height: 9 to 11 inches
Weight: 12 to 16 pounds
Physical Characteristics: Round head and thick body; solid blue-gray coat with a somewhat wooly texture that varies in shade from light ash to slate gray
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Ocicat
Unique in its leopard-like appearance, the ocicat has large, almond-shaped eyes. They angle upwards in the corner and are somewhat wide-set. There should be more than the width of an eye in between each eye, according to the breed guidelines. Ocicats have diverse genes, and the eye color can vary significantly with all eye colors acceptable for the breed—except for blue.
Breed Overview
Height: 9 to 11 inches
Weight: 6 to 15 pounds
Physical Characteristics: Athletic with long tail; short-haired tabby coat with various shades of spotting including blue, brown, lavender, fawn, and silver
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Ragamuffin
The ragamuffin is a long-haired breed with huge, expressive eyes that can be found in all shades. They are sometimes confused with the ragdoll breed. The ragamuffin has walnut-shaped eyes and a distinct scoop to the nose profile. The ragdoll has almond-shaped eyes, and the nose is sloped, not scooped.
Breed Overview
Height: 10 to 15 inches
Weight: 8 to 20 pounds
Physical Characteristics: Long and silky coat; in white, black, blue, red, lavender, cinnamon, chestnut, platinum, and chocolate; with amber, blue, green, gold, or odd-eyed eye colors
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Japanese Bobtail
The Japanese bobtail is perhaps best known for sporting a short bobbed tail, but their eyes are also large and round and come in an attractive range of colors. Heterochromia or having odd-eye colors is not uncommon with this breed. The breed standard accepts heterochromia.
Breed Overview
Height: 8 to 9 inches
Weight: 5 to 10 pounds
Physical Characteristics: Short or long coat; in solid white, black, chocolate, cream, red, lilac, and blue; bi-colored and tricolored coats are common; eye color can be any shade, though blue, gold, and odd-eyed are common
Breeds to Avoid
Macrophthalmia refers to a congenital condition where either the eye or eyes are abnormally large. This condition is extremely rare but can occur during fetal development in any breed. These conditions usually indicate the lens is detached (luxation), the presence of cataracts and glaucoma, and that the cat is generally blind.
Macrophthalmia is likely passed down as a genetic error. Blind cats make up for their vision loss with hearing and smell senses and can live happy and healthy lives. However, it's considered inhumane to breed from cats that have macrophthalmia. Cats may not show discomfort, but if the eye pressure is causing the eye to bulge, it can cause discomfort or pain, and a veterinary specialist should remove the eyeball to alleviate the pain.
