Is my Springer going deaf?

[Nicki85]

My Springer Tess is now 12 years old. Her mind is fully there and is still as quick and bright as she was 10 years ago!

I can see that her eyes are starting to cloud over, the start of cataracts i suspect but what we really want to work out is her hearing.

She has always been the best dog off lead, she acts like a true pack dog, coming back to ask what to do if another pack approaches and sniffing out prey the whole time. She still is all this...

She also used to come back to the slightest noise- whistle or call. Now she doesn't.

I can't figure out if she is taking the pi** in her old age OR she is actually going deaf. She is so responsive to anything that it is hard to tell if she responds to my voice in other situations. She understands hand signals and body so well that you cannot tell face on.

Is there a basic test procedure that any one knows about?

Heres some recent pics of her over the last 4months (just cause she is sooooo cute!).

 

[MurphysMinder]

She certainly doesn't look 12

. Quite a few of mine have gone deaf, or at least harad of hearing as they have got older, don't know if there are any specific tests, but depending on the degree of deafness you could try making noises, e.g. clapping , snapping your fingers, whilst she is looking the other way and see if she reacts. You need to do this away from the other dogs otherwise she will copy them anyway whether she hears you or not.

 

[Nicki85]

I know, she doesn't act her age either! I'm constantly telling her to slow down... part of me feels that a life that she loves (lots of running/ playing etc) is better than a longer one wrapped up in cotton wool.

I will have to try clapping behind her and see if i get a reaction, shes so quick though that if she thinks i'm doing something she is there! I will have to try when she is asleep! (poor dog...)

 

[MurphysMinder]

I agree with you about letting her enjoy life, my not so old GSD (nearly 9) has got a vertebrae problem, not bothering her much at the mo, but has flare ups,usually caused by her chasing rabbits or similar. I could probably keep her going far longer if she was always exercised on lead, but that would be selfish imo, she would hate it

Making noises when your girl is asleep is a good idea, you should get a true reaction then.

 

[Slinkyunicorn]

She is lovely!!

I think my cockers hearing is starting to go - he is nearly 12 too - previously it has definately been selective deafness....but just lately it is things like when I come home I am in the house before he wakes up whereas before he would be waiting behind the door when the car drew up. Although he stills hears dinner and walks.......

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Sorry for being lazy, I've mainly just copied what I wrote about acupuncture on another thread. The acupuncturist who did agree to put ear needles, told me clearly that she had only tried once before, on an about year old Dalmatian as I recall, anyway it had been deaf since birth and after 10 times it was still no improvement. But I said that if my dog already has 12 needles in her for other reasons, I thought it was worth adding a two more needles to at least have a try and see if it helped.

Both my late dogs with old age deafness definitely began hearing better after acupuncture but after all, they had been hearing all their life prior to that they became old. Although you probably need to find an acupuncturist taught according to the full Chinese tradition, sadly I think many acupuncturist for dogs, is only are taught where to put needles to relieve pain.


This far acupuncture has helped 3 of my late dogs;

First one, needed it due to hip dysplasia + one with age one of her vertebra had developed a thorn and later on when she anyway was needing to have acupuncture, she also got two ear needles due to old age deafness, 1 x 6 times of acupuncture per year since she was about 8 years old and she didn't need any painkillers for the hips or vertebra.
About the hearing, before acupuncture she wasn't able to hear that someone was coming up behind her if her ears wasn't turned in the "right" direction and even if they were in in the right direction, if you where 5 to 10 meters away from her, you had to shout for her to hear you. After acupuncture she could hear us coming up behind her even with the ears in the wrong direction and she could hear us without that we needed to shout at her from about 15 meters distance.

Second dog had a hind leg that grew askew when she was young and from when she was maybe 7 years old she got acupuncture once a year, when she also got old age deafness we did as with the first dog and added ear needles. 1 x 6 times meant that she didn't need painkillers for her leg and she also began hearing as "well" as the first dog did after having needles at the ear base.

Third dog had some vertebras that grew together when she was old, she only got acupuncture 1 x 5 times once, because the year after, just as we had planned to begin a new acupuncture period, she had to be euthanized due to cancer at 12 years of age. She hadn't needed any painkillers during her last year.



Also my oldest cat soon almost 4 years ago was diagnosed with three grown together vertebras and we tried Metacam, after some days she got better but my vets thinks Metacam should only be given to cats for two weeks in a row and then they have to have 2 weeks off. So after a while on and off Metacam, in one off period we decided to try acupuncture instead. First we had to persuade the person doing the acupuncture and after some hm and hrm's, she said that since our dogs was so easy to do, she agreed to give it a try.
Now Selma has only needed to have 1 x 4 times per year the first two years off Metacam but this year when it had been a year since the last treatment period she was still jumping up to her cat food (bowl stands on a place out of the dogs reach), still being able to bend enough to clean her bottom when she wants it and she scratches our cat trees, so more than 1,5 year later we haven't re-done it yet. (Actually I just saw her scratch a cat tree as I type this.) All I know is that the three vertebras that was causing her problem, is still grown together but she still doesn't need any Metacam.



This far I have used two different acupuncturist and both have said the following, dogs needs 5 to 10 times with from 1 week to 1 month between (I have this far chosen to go with 1 to 2 weeks between). The needles should sit at least 25 minutes and should be twisted at least once (preferably more) meanwhile they're in and it should not just be right before they're removed. After the acupuncture it is good if you can take the dog for an about 10 to 20 minutes walk. (The walking was not an option with my cat.)

The dogs have responded differently fast on it but in general it has been like this, after the first time they sleep in much more relaxed sleeping positions but it usually only lasts some days (that is why in the beginning I always prefer going once a week), after the second time they've slept more relaxed all the time up to it was time for next weeks visit and sometimes there has also been other changes to the better but sometimes the other changes hasn't came until after the third visit, usually after the third visit things really begins to improve.

None of my dogs though, have responded as fast as the cat, after the first time she came home and in less than 5 minutes she had already cleaned her bottom thoroughly two times (we had thought that she maybe had stopped doing it because she was going senile). After the third time she didn't really think she needed any more acupuncture but because she knows it is easier to just endure my ideas when I have them, she still reluctantly accepted a fourth treatment. The second year she thought she was cured after the second visit and the next two visits she couldn't resist to sometimes sort of try to crawl off the table.



My only other contact with acupuncture was when my late granddad tried it for a bad knee (years before my first dog had her first treatment), he went one time and when the knee wasn't cured, he decided that acupuncture didn't work.
Although my late granddad's experience, I'm a firm believer in acupuncture.

 

[brightmount]

My last Springer was deaf from about the age of 8 until she died at 14. Spaniels are very prone to going deaf as they get a lot of ear infections from their very poorly ventilated ears and tendency to find water even if you think there isn't any within 10 miles.

I have taught hand signals to my present Springer in the probability that she will go deaf in later life.

I had no recall with my old deaf dog for so many years, it was a novelty when I had a young dog again with hearing that came back to call.