How do you tell if your cat is deaf??

Back on August 23, I adopted a kitten named Stella. She's now 4 months old. Recently something happened to make me question whether Stella could be deaf or not.

The other night my mother dropped dishes that crashed very loudly to the floor and broke. Luna & Midnight (my other 2 cats) both took off to hide. Stella didn't even react. She just continued playing with her feather toy. Also she doesn't respond to her name at all. She doesn't even turn around if I call her or make the kissing sounds. How could we tell if she really is deaf or just ignoring us? The shelter didn't say anything about her being deaf. She's been to 2 different vets and they didn't tell us anything about her being deaf. It just struck me as very odd that the crashing dishes didn't scare her at all. Also the garbage trucks are very loud and go by once a week. Luna & Midnight always take off, Stella isn't bothered by them at all. She's been here through 2 thunder storms. Stella wasn't bothered by the thunder at all, then again Midnight isn't either. Luna runs and hides. 

Is there any way I can tell for sure if she's really deaf or just some hearing loss? 

Start off with small interesting noises behind her so she can't see. See if she responds at all to say a box of kibble shaking, a bell a rattle. Then move on to some other noises, the vaccum, a hairdryer, If she doesn't respond to any of them then a vet trip is in order.

Reading your post though it doesn't seem as if she's responing to anything at all. She might just be really chilled out, which is why I suggested trying her to see if she can hear 'positive' noises. You don't want to scare her witless by thinking oh she's deaf and making some really loud unpleasant noises for no reason.

The good news is, even if she is deaf she can still lead a happy life, she'll probably adapt to knowing when it's time for dinner by smelling the food and things anyway. You won't be able to just say her name to give her attention, but you could get a laser pointer so that you can grab her interest and bring her over to you.

We used to have a cat that was deaf and it took us a while to realise, it didn't really make any difference though she was a house cat which probably helped. We just used really obvious hand actions instead. We think she was quite old when she arrived with us and we don't think she was completely deaf at first either, and she still adapted even with a new home too

She could just need her ears cleaning or just be really used to loud noises. We have a cat and her three kittens at the moment and we're going to do our best to get them used to things like the vacuum etc in the hope they won't grow up scared of it!

That would certainly have me questioning the same thing if a kitten didn't react to dishes being dropped! Does she respond to any hissing from the other cats - Luna maybe? Might this be why Midnight took so quickly to Stella - he may have sensed her special needs? I would think that if you were to clap right behind Stella and she does not react, move away or turn around, then you have your answer. Most vets wouldn't be able to tell if a cat is deaf from a visit to their office. And, on behalf of the shelter, they may also have a hard time determining if a kitten is deaf especially if they only had the kitten for a few days before adoption. Usually, the staff or shelter vets may notice a cat being deaf once it is out of it's cage and possibly put into the main free cat room that they will notice a cat not hearing well. It is usually only the owner's that will notice if a cat is deaf from what you are describing. I have no experience with deaf kitties BUT would assume it to be not a big issue at all other than making sure she never gets outside, that is!! Which you are so careful about anyway.

Did she have ear mites OR an ear infection after adoption? If so, then her hearing may be slightly deafened if the infection is severe. I do not recall you mentioning this though so then I would try the clapping and/or a whistle blow if you have one (BUT be careful, Midnight and Luna will react). If Stella doesn't turn or run from either of those things, then I would again assume she may be deaf. Let us know how that turns out. I will try to find some good threads from member's here with deaf cats too.

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/the-deaf-cat

Finding out Stella's deaf, won't change how I feel about her. It will just make me worry about her even more. Especially with Luna & Midnight around. Stella has never once responded to them hissing and growling at her. She has never once hissed or growled back at them. I don't trust Luna with her at all, Luna won't even give her a chance at friendship. Midnight's a little better, he laps her face, cleans her ears, touches noses with her, but he will not play with her anymore. She's never left alone with them. If all 3 are in the living room during her play sessions I'm right there watching, because I don't think she'd hear them coming if they came up behind her. 

It's very hard to tell if Stella's deaf or not. She doesn't respond to the loud sounds that scare Luna & Midnight. But sometimes she will respond to a sound, turning and looking in that direction. But you can't tell because if she catches movement from the corner of her eye, she knows you're doing something and will turn to look even if she can't hear what you're doing. 

As far as I know, she's never had ear mites or an ear infection. Doesn't mention any of that on the information sheets that came with her from the shelter. 

Deaf or not, she will always be an indoor cat. 

Thank you for the link and for the suggestions. I've got Temptations for Luna & Midnight, I'll start by shaking that bag behind her and see what she does. Hopefully she responds!

AND of course, deaf or not - she has her forever family and I think it will only make her more endearing and special, in a way. It also sounds like she is totally laid back about Midnight and Luna and is just happy being a little, cute and silly kitten. Luna and Midnight seem to be quite accepting of Stella and very good about this new little addition to the family. Let us know how it goes with you testing out things to see if she turns or responds!!!

We have a deaf cat.  When we first brought her home from the Shelter she would get up and run all around the apartment for no reason, (to see what was going on in the other rooms, where a hearing cat might just perk their ears).  We would startle her if we walked up behind her.  She tends to sleep VERY deeply, even if you pet her, or kiss her forehead, she doesn't react.  Sometimes she will react to loud noises, and we will be like she HEARD that, but thunder, motorcycles, things like that have a vibration.  She is not bothered by the vibration from the vacum - that is a "noise" she is use to, but if someone slams a door downstairs, she will jump.  She also doesn't react to being hissed at, just sits and stares as if no care in the world, even though you can tell by the expression on the other cats face that she is hissing.  After the first few weeks at home, she calmed down and no longer investigated all the time.  She is very visual.  She likes to see what I am doing all the time and she reminds of a toddler... she has a box she can jump up on to watch me in the kitchen.  Her favorite toy is a laser light.  And she loves going for rides in a cardboard box, across the carpet, across the linoleum... its her favorite thing!

Stella isn't deaf. She might have some hearing loss but not fully deaf. We were at the vet today. She did somethings like clapping. Stella clearly heard that. But she didn't respind to other things, which is why the vet thought it was possible that Stella has some hearing loss.

it's great she's not completely deaf!

Thanks to God!

My4LLMA said:

Stella isn't deaf. She might have some hearing loss but not fully deaf. We were at the vet today. She did somethings like clapping. Stella clearly heard that. But she didn't respind to other things, which is why the vet thought it was possible that Stella has some hearing loss.

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I am happy that Stella is not completely deaf, and certainly don't want to argue with your vet who not only has much more knowledge than me regarding animal health, but has also actually seen the cat in person...

but I cant help myself from pointing out that cats have very good peripheral vision, and even clapping directly behind the cat, there may have been a draft, vibration, or some other stimuli she was responding too.  When you lose one sense the others are heightened.  We were told our cat was deaf when we adopted her, and our vet has confirmed this, but sometimes we look at her and say "She HEARD that..."  As you said earlier, its not a big deal either way, you will love her regardless.  Animals just adapt better than humans.  I mean an animal goes through an amputation, he doesn't hang about feeling sorry for himself for losing a limb, he just gets up and keep on going on what he has left.  I think hearing is the same.  There are more dangers because sounds alert us to a lot of dangers, but they obviously make up for it in other ways!  With Snowy, aside from the initial get acquainted, get aclimated phase, we never even really notice she is deaf.  We still talk to her, we just include hand signals or other visuals like showing her the food when we are feeding if we actually want a response.  There is one special thing I do since she is deaf, and that is at least twice a day I will pick her up and purr into her neck.  Its my way of saying I love you since she cannot hear my words when I tell her, or when I tell her how pretty she is or the other nice things I say.  (She can feel the vibration from me purring)

CoolCat said:

Thanks to God!

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!!!!! This is great news that Stella is not completely deaf !!!! :rub:

MollyBlue said:

There is one special thing I do since she is deaf, and that is at least twice a day I will pick her up and purr into her neck.  Its my way of saying I love you since she cannot hear my words when I tell her, or when I tell her how pretty she is or the other nice things I say.  (She can feel the vibration from me purring)

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That is so sweet.  Snowy is very lucky she was adopted by your family. 

Awww.... Snowy is beautiful.  And, somehow, despite knowing her name was Snowy and that she was deaf, it never occurred to me that she'd be pure white.

I dont think clapping is the best indicator because she would be sensitive to vibrations. How about if you try blowing a whistle?