Sudden hearing loss

Over the past week, my husband and I have noticed that Sophie's hearing has gone. She doesn't hear normal voice volume; only loud noises. Sophie isn't quite six years old, so it's not old-age-related deafness.

She has no PSOM symptoms listed at cavalierhealth.org and otherwise is a very happy, healthy dog.
Sophie had an excellent health check-up back in June.

So, I am relying on the collective wisdom here at CavalierTalk. Hubby wants me to take her to the vet for an exam. Outside of the inconvenience of having a deaf dog at such a young age, what could a veterinarian do for it?

Based upon her age, this sounds like a case of progressive hearing loss. It probably was not as rapid as you think. See http://www.cavalierhealth.org/deafness.htm

Is she your only dog?

Yes, she is our only dog. I read that page when reading about PSOM, and told my husband last night how the BAER test doesn't cover the human voice level. This is why I doubt it's worth having her examined. I've also thought this might be the/one of the reasons her breeder has stopped breeding (she can no longer be found).

My Oliver started to go seriously deaf at the age of 6; a BAER test confirmed that he was very deaf on one side - so, for example, if that side was uppermost when he slept he wouldn't hear me coming into the room. Another test 2 years later showed that he couldn't hear anything below 9 decibels, so effectively he is totally deaf unless I really yell at him. He obeys hand signals for come, go down, wait and other basics, and can sometimes get disoriented if he loses sight of me when off-lead on a walk, so I need to keep a sharp eye on him, but otherwise his deafness seems to make little difference - though it does deprive a dog of one of their major ways of experiencing the world, and as I can no longer talk to Oliver I try to handle him more so that we still contact each other. This sort of progressive hearing loss seems to be common in Cavaliers, but I don't think it is hereditary, so I wouldn't think it had anything to do with your dog's breeder giving up.

Kate, Oliver (now 13) and Aled

waldor said:

Yes, she is our only dog. I read that page when reading about PSOM, and told my husband last night how the BAER test doesn't cover the human voice level. This is why I doubt it's worth having her examined. I've also thought this might be the/one of the reasons her breeder has stopped breeding (she can no longer be found).

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I think maybe you should get a second one. Deaf dogs get essential information from the non-deaf ones. We've had enough deaf cavaliers to know to start training hand signals to all our cavaliers when they are puppies. I competed a deaf cavalier in agility trials without saying a word out loud to him. It was eerie to many spectators because handlers tend to be shouting at their dogs the entire time they are in the ring. I finally had to start talking to him anyway, because apparently in the AKC, deafness is a disqualifier for agility, and the judges were getting suspicious. So I would shout out commands like "left" and "right" just before I knew he was going to go left or right anyway, and after my runs I would be asked how I taught him those commands.

Sadly Cavaliers do seem to suffer with early onset deafness. Mostly they cope incredibly well, and easily switch to hand signals for commands. Obviously you have to be aware of any dangers when you are out and about, but hopefully there are places where Sophie could still enjoy some off lead exercise?

You could get her BAER tested, but I suspect it will only confirm what you already know...

It is with getting the vet to check inside her ears, just to make sure there isn't something like a build up of wax causing hearing difficulties.

If they have a doggie companion, that can be very helpful, as Rod says, they can build a very special bind and the hearing dog is a great support to the deaf dog. However I'm not sure it's sufficient justification for adding to the family, unless you were already thinking of doing that anyway.

You will probably find that Sophie wants more physical contact with you.

Just seconding some of the previous comments -- deafness is SOOOOOO common in the breed. It's pretty clear there are at least two causes, PSOM being one and some sort of inherited condition as well. Every single cavalier I have had -- 7 now -- have been at least part deaf by about 6 or 7. Some had PSOM (but no symptoms for it necessarily; it is extremely common but doesn't always -- maybe even often does not -- cause symptoms (other than deafness in some dogs...). It shows up on at least half of MRIs as far as I recall from past discussions with neurologists.

I also agree that it probably wasn't a sudden change -- dogs read body language so well that people tend to only notice a dog is deaf when it isn't waking when they come in a room, etc. They know their people so well, and certain routines etc that until they REALLY cannot hear much, we don;t tend to notice a slow decline.

Some level of deafness was a very common finding in cavaliers tested -- think it was an Ohio State study?

Most dogs do better with hand signals than verbal commands anyway -- used to be in the olden days that classes always taught a hand and voice command. It isn't hard to teach a hand signal to actions the dog already knows, but it is useful for all cavalier owners, I think, to link a hand sign to every command their dog knows while the dog can still hear .

My Jaspar has been totally deaf -- cannot seem to hear a thing -- for about two years now; I first noticed he was getting deaf around age 6 as well. Most people have no idea at all that he is deaf -- he is a bright dog and always checking in with me so tends to be more alert and responsive than the ones that can hear!! :lol:

This is a great website on deaf dogs and hand signs etc: http://deafdogs.org/

Owners do need to be sure their dog's always on a lead on walks if it tends to wander and lose sight of it people; and of course always around traffic. I've no doubt one of the reasons people often say cavaliers have no 'road sense' (a kind of false concept anyway; at best, a risky one!) is due to some degree of hearing loss in most of them as they age.

On my very deaf dogs, I add a second dog tag to the collar stating they are deaf and to please put them on a lead if found and call me.

Karlin and Rod - Yes, you are correct that this did not happen overnight. In talking with my husband, we think it has happened over the past several weeks, but with a profound sudden progression in the past week. We both compared notes, and definitely in the past week we have both noticed no response to calling her, etc.

Sophie is never, ever off lead outdoors, so no worries there. I will have to tell her boarding kennel, as she joins their daycare/day school while boarding there.

Another question --- can this have an emotional impact on a dog? Today (and never before today), Sophie has been very clingy. Stuck to my side. Not letting me get out of her sight. She even tried to slip out the door with us (something she has never done!) when we were going to church this morning. I had to stop her.

Her demeanor and behavior today make me think that SHE has finally realized something is wrong, and that she's disturbed by it. I've not done anything differently with my behavior, so I doubt I've triggered anything. I just wonder if she has finally noticed and is worried.

Sophie knows a few hand signals when she was obedience trained. Looks like she will be learning a few more. Yesterday, I found that site you linked, via the cavalierhealth.org site. I"ve already ordered two books on the topic, since we'll be living with a deaf Sophie for many years.

Karlin - you mention one of your dogs had PSOM but no symptoms? Did you have it treated?

Oliver too tends to ask for more hands on contact, though this is partly that he is now old. I'm not sure that this is worry - perhaps a more practical response that they are going to have to rely more on humans to make up the deficiency caused by loss of hearing, and that they miss the contact provided by us talking to them. Oliver has always been a very independent dog and his deafness really made very little difference until the last two years or so - and he will still see my 'come' signal and turn away so that he can't see it, in order to sniff a few more blades of grass in the park! We just have to keep each other in sight.

Kate, Oliver and Aled

Yes we've noticed that they can definitely become clingy when they lose their hearing, firstly with Rupert and then lately with Tommy, who seems to have gone almost totally deaf at the age of 5, very sad. He's terribly clingy at the moment, I can't move for him being under my feet I think it must be rather confusing and it takes a while for their other senses to compensate.

Rupert developed the most incredible sense of smell, and as Karlin notes, he was always bright and responsive, and used to watch my face all the time. I carried on competing in obedience with him for a while.

. . . perhaps a more practical response that they are going to have to rely more on humans to make up the deficiency caused by loss of hearing, and that they miss the contact provided by us talking to them

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That makes sense. Thanks for your input.

UPDATE --- I took Sophie to the vet this afternoon, so that he could examine her. He checked her ears with the otoscope but did not see anything unusual. There was a trace amount of wax after digging (very gently) around in there with a long Q-Tip, but rather normal for any dog. He said there was a very small bit of wax in there, but given the heavy ragweed pollen right now (we're ALL suffering... dogs & people alike), thought it might be caused by that. He looked at it under the microscope and said there was also an extremely small amount of yeast. He knows about PSOM but did not see anything to indicate, and Sophie is exhibiting no symptoms other than hearing loss. He also knew that the breed is prone to deafness, but that it is noticeable at an earlier age than 5 years old.

We were sent home with Otomax for her hears and a suggestion to give some Mucinex for several days, just to see if it makes any difference.... in case it is allergies. I know my own hearing is impaired by congestion from my allergies, so we're going to give it a try. He will call us in ten days to see if there is any improvement.

All in all, I think it's just bad luck that it's happened to her at this age.

Nicki wrote 'I can't move for him being under my feet' - quite so... I was manoeuvring Aled in his buggy out of the sitting room door a couple of days ago, walking slowly backwards to get round dog baskets, settee etc and didn't realise Oliver was lying right across the doorway. I tripped over him and sprawled full length - fortunately away from him. I fall over quite often, due to a condition in my feet that upsets my balance, and I'm very aware that if I fell directly on Oliver I could kill him, or at least seriously damage his rather fragile spine (syrinx plus osteo-arthritis plus curvature of the spine). Missed him this time, fortunately, but had to shuffle around on my knees to find somewhere I could use to push myself upright! This too is a symptom of his deafness - as he can't hear what I'm doing, he lies in the doorway of whichever room I'm in (especially the kitchen) to see what's happening. Before his deafness he could hear food being dropped on the floor from the other end of my small bungalow; now he has to watch for it!

Kate, Oliver and Aled

[QUOTE - as he can't hear what I'm doing, he lies in the doorway of whichever room I'm in (especially the kitchen) to see what's happening.][/QUOTE]

Kate - that is so interesting to me, because I've noticed in the past month that Sophie positions herself right smack dab in the middle of my usual traffic pattern, no matter which room, but the worst is the kitchen! I'm no youngster, myself, and I worry that I'll trip over her and break some bones (either hers or mine!). This would explain her new positioning.