ear cleaned now deaf...

before i took my siamese cat in for an ear cleaning, she could hear fine... she would come to you like a dog when you called her name... well anyway.. her ears got cleaned and now she is deaf... i have been giving her antibiotics for 3 weeks now because the vet says that its an ear infection... but they cant tell me if she'll ever hear again nor why she cant hear now... does anyone have an idea ?

Oh my God that's horrible! I would bring her to another vet for a second opinion, and to possibly determine what went wrong and why. What did they use to clean her ears? You may want to find out. Were her ears really dirty?

the vet said that her ears were a lil dirty and that they needed cleaning... they checked for ear mites... which they found none... so the vet had the technician in the office clean them... i got my cat back and she looked a mess.. the vet then said that the ears were really inflamed and that i needed to put drops in them... i took my cat home and had to take her back the next day... she was very dizzy and wouldnt eat nor pick up her head or anything...i would call her name and clap my hands and she wouldnt even look at me... so needless to say.. the vet will only tell me that the ears were really bad and when i ask about her being deaf now.. she cant give me any reason why it happened or if she will get her hearing back...i get no answers... they keep giving me new stuff to give my cat to try and fix the problem... but i dont know if they really know what is the problem... i just wish i wouldnt have gotten here hears checked because then i would know she would still be able to hear....

You should call another vet like right now. It sounds a little fishy to me. You cat should not go deaf from a normal, proper cleaning. Did she look a mess, like she put up a fight? Maybe they did damage (inadvertantly or not they should fess up!). Please call another vet. I feel so bad for you, I'm sorry this has happened. and please let me know what happened. also, you may want to ask badhabit, she's a vet tech. Good luck and let us know......

could she be having a reaction to whatever they used to clean her ears?

thank you for your advice.... im off work tomorrow... ill try and get her to a differant vet.. do you think it might be a reaction to the cleaning solution stuff? ill also find the other person you mentioned and ask them about this too... thanks again and ill keep you posted...

I hope you find the answers - she's around here somewhere, her name is BADHABIT and her icon thingy is a doberman!

I agree with everyone else - take her to a different vet for another opinion, and be sure to tell them exactly what happened so they know what to look for. That is just awful! I second what Susieq said - something just doesn't sound right about all that...

BadHabit usually checks this forum when she comes in...I'm sure she will be able to tell you more.

I have to agree that this sounds fishy. Even though I wasn't a tech when I worked for a vet clinic I did occasionally do ear cleanings for some of the cats and have never seen or heard of an ear cleaning resulting in this manner. I clean my cats ears all the time. Cats usually enjoy it and that's part of why I think this is fishy because your cat shouldn't have looked a mess after the cleaning. The fur can appear a little damp at the base of the opening of the ear due to the solution, but that's all you should see besides clean ears.

My my my quite the problem you have here. Since I only have what you've written to go on here's what I think. Either your babie has a serious inner ear infection or while cleaning they might have possibly ruptured the ear drum while cleaning.

Although I'm going to lean towards the infection for the sake of this post. The middle and inner ear infections need to be diagnosed and treated quickly to prevent permanent damage and deafness. The middle and inner ear coordinate hearing and balance so a problem in these areas could be seen as a loss of hearing and dizziness.

If you feel your veterinarian isn't doing enough to solve this problem then I would suggest taking your kitty to another veterinarian or possibly your vet could recommend a specialist take a look right away.

Please let us know how she does and what you decide to do.

At my kitty's spay at 6 months, I asked the vet to clean out her ears. The spay went fine but as a result of the ear cleaning, she came out a mess as well -- was extremely dizzy for a few days (could not walk straight without toppling over), had nystagmus (eyes twitch to one side) and the nictating membrane (third eyelid) covered one of her eyes. The dizziness and nystagmus was better in a week, but the nictating membrane partially covered her eye for several months (indicating that she was not well).

We got a similar response from the vet -- no answers as to cause, no answers for cure, and several different remedies were tried. The two vets in the office also did not agree on which ear solution was used in her ear. She went on antibiotics for several weeks. At one of the appts, one of the vets scoped her ear to see if he could see what the problem was, pulled out some scab and said oops, looks like it's bleeding a little now. Never took her back there again.

I have tested her hearing by making tiny clicking noises behind her (while she cannot see me) and watching to see which ear turned toward the sound. She consistently uses one ear much more than the other, which leads me to believe she did have some hearing damage, and to this day 10 years later she still uses one ear more than another.

The vet could only say that it may have been a reaction to the cleaning solution, may have been due to the anesthesia, etc. but I don't think anyone really knew or if they knew they weren't telling me.

Was your kitty deaf immediately after the procedure? or after several days had passed? If it took several days maybe the hearing loss is temporary, due to infection. I hope your kitty gets better and her hearing returns.

This sounds awful! My heart goes out to you and your furbaby. I hope nothing permanant comes out of this. And hopefully with the medication, it will subside. Keep us posted. And just to be safe, take her for a second opinion!!!

thank you all for your advice so far... and for all the hopes that she'll get her hearing back... to answer one of the questions.... i noticed she couldnt hear as soon as i got her home from the vet.... the vet sent me home with tresaderm drops for her ears... when i took her back the next day for her un-responsiveness... they prescribed predisolone and baytril... and said not to do the drops in the ears.... then 3 days after that she went back because she was not eating still... she had went from 9.6 lbs. to 8.7 lbs. and they told me to finish with the baytril and keep using the predisolone and they gave me otomax drops for her ears... that was last friday... i have an apt. tomorrow morning... i guess we'll see what's next... needless to say.. i haven't had to pay for any meds or office visits since her first trip there...i just wish she would get some hearing back....
thanks again for all of the advice and hopes... ill keep you all posted...

Could it be possible there is some big glob of leftover wax or something that is preventing her from hearing?

I'd take her to another vet just to be on the safe side ..... I hope she will be ok.

vet update....
i just got home with Bailey (my kitty that went deaf)... and the vet said that her right ear is perfectly fine now and the left ear had a little bit of stuff way deep in the ear... everything was in tact so there should be no reason why she would be deaf... the vet told me that bailey is probably ignoring me... and that she can hear... she didnt do anything to test her hearing... i tested to see if bailey could hear anything when i got home... i jingled my keys behind her to see if she would turn her head and she did nothing but lay there with her eyes closed... i continued to make a ton of noise behind her and still nothing till i nudged her in the back... does that sound like im being ignored or does anyone belive she's still deaf.... this is my first time having a cat and well i still think shes deaf... the vet told me to continue one more week with the otomax ear drops and with the predsolone till i ran out... she said there was no need to bring her back for another checkup... i think i will make an appointment with another vet for a checkup..

call another vet - today if you can - you don't wanna be putting drops in that she doesn't need. Just call and tell them the situation and let us know what they say. That's crap that she's ignoring you - her ears would move backward naturally - instintively. Cats ignore you by moving their ears and NOT responding to you. Just my 2 cents ..... please call another vet.

thanks... i'm going to make bailey an apt. as soon as i can... thanks again... ill keep ya posted

please let us know... and kiss kidden

One thing that comes to mind is that it's very easy to rupture an ear drum. If the vet or tech (whoever did the cleaning), ruptured the ear drum then there's a chance that when they put the medication in there it caused the loss of hearing. From what I understand about this, the damage done (if this is the case) is permanent.
I am glad you are going to another vet. It's fairly obvious this vet hasn't a clue.

I think it is strange that the vet is not billing you for the treatment after the ear cleaning. To me that admits that the vet screwed up and ruptured the ear drum. Every vet that I have ever been to charges for ALL medication, especially as intensive as your cat's treatment. I am anxious to hear your second opinion.