Deafness in Cats

I was just wondering if others have experienced their cats go deaf and when that happened (age). Sonny went deaf when was 12 years old. I had no idea until we moved (I lived in an efficiency so he always smelled the wet food and came running) to a larger home and he didn't come running if he was in different room to the sound of the can opening like he used to. He gave no indication at all before this. He's always been startled if I woke him up, because he sleeps so deeply, and since we were in one room he was always on my bed so I never really called him name.

I had a (white of course-but not blue eyed) cat who was born deaf when i was a kid so I'm pretty well versed on how to deal with them and such (not to sneak up on them, lead them to the food dish, etc). But I was curious because Sonny seems quite young to have lost his hearing already. A few years ago he had issues with chronic ear infections and maybe they did permanent damage that contributed to the hearing loss. One of his ears is fairly closed up due to his aural hematoma surgery in 2010, but I clean it regularly. The vet looked at his ears and they're clean and there's no infection or ear mites. I'm not sure what happened.

Thanks to anyone who responds who has had a cat go deaf.

This wasn't my personal experience, but one of my friends had their DLH go deaf when she was around 11-12 years old, I believe. They have a terrible track record when it comes to pet owning and caregiving, and this really reflects it. The cat had only been to the vet once to be spayed and declawed as a kitten, and never again after that until they put her to sleep. They never thought to have her vetted when she started walking around the house yowling. She never used to meow and was very quiet all her life. They would try to yell at her to get off of the counters, but of course they eventually deduced she couldn't even hear them. She slowed down, got very skinny, her fur became wiry and greasy, and generally she "aged" quite young and quite rapidly.

I'm not sure how much this helps because I'm suspecting there was a lot going on with their pets they were oblivious to because they didn't care enough to ask or have it checked. Quite a different story from lots of our members here.

I had a deaf cat, he had severe allergies that damaged his ears leading to having his ear canals removed, and basically I would have to move gently around him if he was asleep as not to startle him too badly, I free fed my cats when I had him so I didn't have to worry about finding him at meal times.  He was a lap cat so he was pretty much in my lap a good majority of the time. 

I also had a deaf cat.  I took him in when he was about 14 and he was already pretty much deaf by then.  He had health issues--IBD and then kidney problems, and then the poor guy went deaf, too.  I don't think it was related, it just happened that way.  It's good you already have experience with dealing with deaf cats!  That will make it easier on your boy, and on you, too.

I had a deaf cat years ago, and it was a long time before we realized he was deaf. He would look up when we entered a room (vibrations), come when called, (could see us) and it wasn't until I realized he didn't look around when his back was to us and I was calling,that I realized he was deaf. He got along fine because we had his brother too, and he would copy what he did. When it was time to call him, we flashed the light on and off and he would come running! Good luck with your boy, I'm sure he'll do fine!

Amber went deaf sometime maybe a couple years before she died, that would be about age 15. Didn't realize it until she got less startled at things, didn't run from vacuum, etc. I remember some nighttime yowling that I think related. We took to leaving some lights on or night lights so that she had a bit more visual clues to get around. This seemed to comfort her. She adapted fine even though she was an only cat.

One of our current two cats I also wonder about. She is only 5 but she had a bout with vestibular disease. She has a permanent head tilt now from thatand seemed to have some problem hearing at least temporarily. It's hard to tell for sure with her as she's not particularly reactive to startling noises or the vacuum even when she seems to be hearing. I'm not certain it doesn't come and go to some extent. She also has the other cat to provide cues for some things.

Losing hearing is not really that big a deal for an indoor cat. Sight and smell are enough for them to operate, even though cat vision is probably not the greatest.

Our BooBoo is completely deaf; he just turned 19 years old in February and he's been deaf for over a year now. In his case, we think it was due to sinus and allergy problems. He doesn't hear anything, but his vision is still good. He does have a bit of arthritis is a front paw as well as a rear leg. Other than that, though, he's in fairly good shape. To ward off the worst of the allergies and the sinus problems, he does get an antibiotic shot as well as a steroid shot about every three months or so. We can tell that it's time for the shots when he gets really stuffy and starts snotting and coughing. 

Boo tends to watch the other cats a lot, especially when he thinks it's time for a snack or a meal. If they hear me in the kitchen with their food dishes and come running, he notices and he comes out to the kitchen, too; he probably feels that it can't hurt to come out, just in case there is food involved. And there is always food involved with our gang. 

I mentioned on other threads that Boo and I have learned some sign language. When I am feeding the cats, if he's sleeping he doesn't know. So I go to wherever he's napping and (gently!) awaken him. Then I put my hands together (like clapping, but slower and silently) three times. Then I crook my finger and say "C'mon buddy...time for supper." Til I have the third clap done, he's on his way to the kitchen. He knows those three claps mean food. And when he thinks it's meal time, he will always watch me closely, waiting for those hand motions. 

We always keep a night light on in the bathroom. The fridge in the kitchen has lights that are just as good, if not better, than a night light. The cats can move around the house easily at night.

I said that we gently awaken him. That, I think, is crucial. He can't hear me; he can't hear the other cats. So when he sleeps, he can't hear us at all. I always touch him gently (but he still startles...and it breaks my heart that no matter how gentle we are with him, it still startles him when he first awakens; we can see it in his eyes) and then put my hands together. And then he's thinking "Oh, food. OK." 

And I also think that he sleeps the soundest or the best when he's in bed with us. He knows that we won't let anything happen to him, that we won't let the other cats do anything to him (not that they would). So when he's curled up on our laps or (with me, he usually stretches completely out on my neck, chest, and trunk) when he's lying between us in bed, he's comfortable and he can really sleep. We always keep a watch out for anything untoward that might affect him and he knows that.

Even though Boo is deaf, he's fine. I know he'd be better if he could hear and sometimes we wonder if not being able to hear makes him a little depressed sometimes. He loves to play with the laser light and will chase it around the living room. He'll play with Da Bird, too, when his arthritis isn't hurting, but, on the whole he really doesn't care for Da Bird all that much. He loves to sit in the bay window in the living room and watch the leaves (or right now, the snow).