Hearing Loss in Dogs....[LONG]

[disneynutt1225]

Here's some background first:

Toby's been having quite a number of ear infections (some of you may remember from a previous thread) since he was 4 months old - he's now two. A few months ago, when he had yet another infection and we took him to the vet, we asked the vet if it could be food allergies. She had said she had no idea what was wrong with him and basically just treated the problem, not the cause.

Fast forward a few months. We recently came back from a trip to WDW and Toby was at the kennel while we were away. When we picked him up on a Sunday (Feb. 26), the kennel staff told us that he had been scratching his ears a lot and it might be an ear infection. No problem, we thought, we've been through this before. Since we moved to NY, we had to find a new vet, and I'm so happy that we did!

When we put him in the car that afternoon and got a look at his ears, we were sick with worry. They were so red and bumpy, I could automatically tell he had a yeast infection. Luckily I was able to get an appointment at the new vet on Monday and when we took him in I was so upset, I haven't been able to talk about it for a few weeks.

The doctor was very worried about his ears. He did a culture on both of them, and a few days later the results came back that he had: strep, staph, yeast, and ear infections as well as ear mites in both ears. He said it was definitely a food allergy and we now have Toby on a special diet for 3 months to rule out what he's allergic to (hopefully). We had to take my poor Toby to the vets office twice a day for a week so they could clean and medicate his ears because he wouldn't allow us near them - he was just in too much pain.

Probably due to all the infections, his ear drum burst in his one year. The doctor can't tell if it will grow back yet, and even if it does, Toby may have hearing loss in that one ear. My question is, what can we expect for the future if he does have hearing loss? What can I do to make it easier on him? Utilize hand signals more? He does still have hearing in his other ear, I'm just trying to prepare myself for what may happen down the road.

I'm just so upset with myself for not pushing his previous vet for the cause of all the ear infections - right now I feel like they just wanted more of my money. I feel blessed to have found this new vet - he said we'll get to the bottom of it and if he can't figure out what the cause is, he'll send me to someone who can. He's really a miracle.

 

[horseshowmom]

Hopefully, things will start to look up from here. As far as the eardrum goes, there's a good chance that it will be okay. I know that my own eardrum has burst before, and while it was very painful at the time, it healed fine, and I didn't have any problems.

We've had more than one elderly dog who lost some (or most) of their hearing, and we did things like clapping our hands to get their attention and making sure we were in their sight when we called them (using hand motions as you said).

Good luck!

 

[Disney Doll]

He may end up with a hearing decrease, but he probably won't lose his hearing all together.

My dog is almost 12, and has lost his hearing a bit due to old age. I basically talk a little louder, clap my hands to get his attention, sometimes I stamp on the floor to get his attention too, make sure I am looking at him when I talk to him. Dogs have such keen hearing to begin with that a decrease isn't as significiant as with people.

Don't beat yourself up...you are obviously a concerned, attentive pet owner...it's hard with pets to know what's going on sometimes....don't you wish they could talk!!!!!

 

[disneynutt1225]

Thank you both for your replies. Disney Doll, I absolutely wish he could talk sometimes!