nifa seems to be deaf

[Mimi]

hi , I havn't been active in a while , I am in the middle of a busy season at work . Nifa who's only 3 seems to be deaf . Its been covered up well as she reacts to things when Heidi does but we have noticed that she does not respond to her Name or loud noises or react or if I come up behind her , and rub her she jumps as if she didnt hear me . She has not had any ear infections , Mites nothing and has not rubbed her ears on the ground or anything . any suggestions ? We are bringing her to the Vet first thing on Monday .
Mimi

[Nicki]

This can be a problem in Cavaliers - it's very sensible to get the vet to check Nifa over.

It would be worth you mentioning about PSOM to the vet too, if they are not aware of the condition - hopefully as she's not showing any other symptoms that will not be the cause, but it can cause deafness.

Dogs adapt very readily to disabilities such as deafness - my own Rupert went totally deaf at two {following a reaction to Kennel Cough Vaccine }. We swapped all his commands over to hand signals, and he coped very well.

If Nifa is deaf, you need to be very careful if you let her off the lead.

There are other things you can do to help her, such as when she's asleep touch her gently on the shoulder to wake her, she will get used to this and not startle so easily.

Please keep us posted...we hope it's something temporary and that she is ok.

[gwynny18]

Hi there. Sorry to hear about you pup. My old cavy was also deaf. But they are quite adaptable. She and I communicated very well...it was really cute. Hand signals...banging on walls...and dont forget they have that incredible sense of smell!!! It was the perfect relationship!!! So no worries either way! Hey it could jut be the cavvy selective hearing! Let us know what happens at the vet.

[Super Princess]

we're having hte same problem with oliver.

is it a common problem in cavaliers?

there wil be times when we're littelry 2 feet away he's looking the other direction or sleeping ' OLIVER... OLIVERRRR..OLIVERRRR and he wont even look over.

but then there are the rare few moments when i swear to god that dog hears me..he'll cock his head..(not that he's reading my lips) ..or if i go "OLIVER NO!!!!!" when hes chewing his paws(he getes scabs) and he'll look back.

so he does hear sometimes...is it selective hearing?
i just dont know ne more.

[Sandrac]

About a year ago when we thought Cinders had hearing problems we got a referral to a hearing specialist and had a test done. This confirmed what we thought and that the hearing loss she had was permanent. It meant that we could work on re-inforcing hand signals. We all cope very well.

[Mimi]

Hi , Was at the vet yesterday and he said yes she has some hearing loss but is heatlhy otherwise . no other symptoms or problems detected . He says she has great reactions otherwise so he is not worried about her at all .
Mimi

[Cathy Moon]

Geordie was almost totally deaf for a few months last summer (he could only hear a very loud whistle), and a specialist scoped his ears - he had the bulging ear drums that are symptoms of PSOM. We were going to enter him in the PSOM study after our vacation trip, but his hearing returned right before we left for our trip.

Now India has been nearly deaf for a few months - she can hear us clapping loudly though - and I'm seeing a little improvement lately. She has that same delayed reaction after I've called her name a few times.

Both dogs know hand signals that I've developed with Geordie for agility. Chocolate knows most of the hand signals too.

[Jen]

We thought Gus was deaf when he was younger, he didn't respond to several test our trainer did on him. We brought him to the vet who couldn't find anything wrong with him and then referred us to have a hearing test. We never went, but started training w/ hand signals instead. A few months ago we did those same tests we did when he was very young, and he responded to all of them. Not sure what it was, but he appears to be hearing fine now.

[Cathy Moon]

Last summer I posted a website that described PSOM in children. It often resolves itself over time, but because young children must have good hearing to learn language skills, the PSOM must be treated.

With dogs, I would wait several weeks and see if their hearing returns before going to a vet neurologist for a hearing test.