Deaf Co-Pilot

EdFred

Taxi to Parking
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Feb 25, 2005
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Michigan
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White Chocolate
Kaiser, who more than a few of you have met is 12 in 2 months, and lost his hearing like that. *snaps fingers* In about a week he went from normal to no response to audio. Which makes me really glad I also did visual training when he was a puppy so I can still have him sit, lay, stay, "go over" (he's supposed to do his business in a specific part of the yard, but sometimes tries to sneak it closer to the house) and come. So there's still some ability to communicate.

But I can't help but thinking, with him being deaf now, is his bark going to start to sound like the canine equivalent of Marlee Matlin.

Am I wrong for thinking that?
 
Is this him?

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Yep, that's him. There's a couple pictures of him smattered on the board. He would have been just shy of 2 in that picture. (2009 I believe that pic was taken)
 
My Golden "Hank" also lost his hearing pretty rapidly it seems. He's about 13 yrs old, but had always been very responsive until the last 6-8 months or so. Now I can slam doors, walk right past him when he's sleeping, etc. and he never notices. The biggest thing I worry about for him is he likes to roam around outside the house (stays within 2-properties on either side of us) and crosses our neighborhood street. He wouldn't be able to hear a car coming anymore, but it's not a busy street since we aren't on an arterial road in the neighborhood. He's still as happy as ever, though, and responds to visual cues like he always has. Usually he'll wake if he feels vibration from someone walking by him, or if someone is cooking food his nose apparently has not lost its acuity.
 
But I can't help but thinking, with him being deaf now, is his bark going to start to sound like the canine equivalent of Marlee Matlin.
I would doubt it. We had a cat who had a set of lungs on him and could get your attention from 100 yards away if he needed to. He was almost completely deaf by the time he died. As his hearing was going, my wife was concerned that he would lose his 'inside voice' and start yelling everything. He lost almost all his hearing but his voice never changed and he never lost the ability to regulate volume as needed.
 
I would doubt it. We had a cat who had a set of lungs on him and could get your attention from 100 yards away if he needed to. He was almost completely deaf by the time he died. As his hearing was going, my wife was concerned that he would lose his 'inside voice' and start yelling everything. He lost almost all his hearing but his voice never changed and he never lost the ability to regulate volume as needed.

r/wooooooooooooooooosh
 
Kaiser, who more than a few of you have met is 12 in 2 months, and lost his hearing like that. *snaps fingers* In about a week he went from normal to no response to audio. Which makes me really glad I also did visual training when he was a puppy so I can still have him sit, lay, stay, "go over" (he's supposed to do his business in a specific part of the yard, but sometimes tries to sneak it closer to the house) and come. So there's still some ability to communicate.

But I can't help but thinking, with him being deaf now, is his bark going to start to sound like the canine equivalent of Marlee Matlin.

Am I wrong for thinking that?

If so, he could star in the remake “Children of a Lesser Dog.”

:D
 
Yep, that's him. There's a couple pictures of him smattered on the board. He would have been just shy of 2 in that picture. (2009 I believe that pic was taken)

Correct, 2009, that last Gastons I did. Damn, 10 years ago...
 
I had to get up and leave the office.... Mental picture of dog 'marking' instead of 'barking' popped in my head and I can't get rid of it now... At least I got my ab workout for the day...
 
Ok, being the husband of a veterinary specialist, I have to ask; have you had him checked by a vet? Or more specifically a vet specialist? We have seen animals that have had their hearing restored with a good ear cleaning, or sometimes, surgery.
 
Ok, being the husband of a veterinary specialist, I have to ask; have you had him checked by a vet? Or more specifically a vet specialist? We have seen animals that have had their hearing restored with a good ear cleaning, or sometimes, surgery.

He just had a zep (?) done in March on his right ear to remove a (whatever the term is for cartilage grown in response to chronic ear infection). Hearing was OK after that. No blockages in either ear, and no gunk in either one. Hearing loss just happened in the past month.
 
He just had a zep (?) done in March on his right ear to remove a (whatever the term is for cartilage grown in response to chronic ear infection). Hearing was OK after that. No blockages in either ear, and no gunk in either one. Hearing loss just happened in the past month.
Per my wife, chronic ear infections probably indicates past extensive topical antibiotic use in the ear. That can cause permanent hearing loss.

But the good news is that dogs can function way better than I can with hearing loss. (My hearing loss is profound without my hearing aids, which are the most powerful on the market today). That is why I am the co-pilot and she (being IFR rated) is the pilot.
 
Yeah, did use mometamax (sp?) quite a bit, but only his right ear, never his left. And he was good after surgery. Would hear a bag of chips open and be by my side from two rooms away. I did call my vet, and they said at his age they've seen it happen as quick as this incident happened and aren't surprised at all. Maybe they call back and say bring him in, but he's border trained and never leaves the backyard, so I don't have to worry about him wandering off and getting hit by a car. But I can't see the whole back yard (trees and detached garages) so sometimes I have to go out and find him when he doesn't come back inside right away.
 
Our dog lost her hearing fairly quickly, but not a snap of the fingers, with some small amount remaining. Her bark sounded like she was a little "horse" after her hearing loss.
 
His bark sounds completely normal volume wise and tone wise. The Matlin comment was a joke. But I'm wondering what the heck he's barking at since he can't hear anything and he doesn't have a visual on what might be outside.
 
I take it you guys made it back to Florida okay?
I take it you are talking to me.
Yes, we got home early. Weather patterns across the South East were building up and we HAD to stop in Tullahoma TN to see my brother, who is recovering from pancreatic cancer surgery. If we waited any longer, we may have had to skip that stop, and that wasn't happening.
Seems we had severe weather building up behind us almost the whole trip (Florida - Louisiana - Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho, and all the way home).

Edit: Sorry for the thread drift. I didn’t mean to take away from Ed’s co-pilot’s problem.
 
Kaiser, who more than a few of you have met is 12 in 2 months, and lost his hearing like that. *snaps fingers* In about a week he went from normal to no response to audio. Which makes me really glad I also did visual training when he was a puppy so I can still have him sit, lay, stay, "go over" (he's supposed to do his business in a specific part of the yard, but sometimes tries to sneak it closer to the house) and come. So there's still some ability to communicate.

But I can't help but thinking, with him being deaf now, is his bark going to start to sound like the canine equivalent of Marlee Matlin.

Am I wrong for thinking that?

Take him to a vet, my dog went through the same thing, in a matter of days went from being fine to stone deaf. Doc said he had a little inflammation in the ears but nothing all that bad. Prescribed antibiotics and steroids. Now he is as good as new.
 
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Kaiser's a damn good dog.
 
Take him to a vet, my dog went through the same thing, in a matter of days went being fine to stone deaf. Doc said he had a little inflammation in the ears but nothing all that bad. Prescribed antibiotics and steroids. Now he is as good as new.
Agree, get him to a vet. And if the vet is unable to help, ask for a referral to a specialist.
 
Toward the end of his life my Kurzon dog lost his hearing. I first learned about it (unknowingly) when he would get up in the middle of the night and start howling for no reason. He was quickly banished to the downstairs, and I quickly realized his condition when he failed to rise when I got downstairs in the morning unless he saw me. I think this was about a year before he met his honored ancestors. Didn't slow down his barking by much, they can still see and smell. And I'm pretty certain he could hear Phyzzbyn barking, because he'd start barking too. Maybe he just saw her barking and joined in on principle.
 
So, his hearing suddenly came back after a little while. My uncle, a retired vet said what happens is the bones in the ear will start to fuse, but occasionally a violent head shake breaks them apart, and he had his hearing until about a month ago. Then he couldn't hear my voice (rather lower frequency) but could hear a whistle until about 2 weeks ago.

Unrelated to his hearing loss, I switched his dog food from dry to Fresh Pet in January following surgery for removal of a large cancerous tumor. (Some of you know the ups and down of that ordeal). It was like rolling the clock back years. He wanted to play our version of softball and soccer again right up until his hearing went completely away the second time.

Thursday we got up, he hopped down off the bed like normal, and we went about the normal routine: Let him outside, come in, he eats while I pee, then we go back out so he can poop. Except when I came out of the bathroom he was sitting looking at me like he does while waiting to go out the second time he fell to the side like a tree was being logged. An end table prevented him from falling completely to the floor. I laid him to the floor and let him rest for a bit, then we got up and did number two. He had a slight limp but he's almost 13, and hell, there's days where I gotta stretch, but he went outside without issue. He came back in and sat waiting near his treat box while I closed the door and he again fell over like previously this time falling against the wall. I let him rest a few minutes and he got back up, finished his food while I sat on the couch and he came over to me while I waited for the vet to open. As I was petting him he fell over again.

I made a call to the vet right after that, but he was occupied and he would call me back. He did not seem in pain, but definitely confused. By the time the vet called me back he had three more collapses, with three out of the six accompanied by evacuation of the bladder. The vet and I talked and he said we might need to see a neurologist, and I said he's going to be 13 in 2 weeks, it would be different if he was 6. So Friday at noon we would go in. He rapidly deteriorated the rest of the day, lacking the strength to even fully stand on his own. He would get up to his front feet, attempt to stand, but would lay right back down. I slept on the floor with him Thursday night, and carried him out to do his business that night. When he licked my face that night (now early morning) his tongue was hot, not warm, but hot. I moved him to the cold tile floor of the kitchen and he immediately seemed more comfortable and slept for 2-3 hours without moving to try and get comfortable like he had been doing all night in the living room. I made him his favorite foods before going to the vet - pancakes and popcorn - but he just turned his head away and laid down. He would only drink water and didn't attempt to move otherwise.

The vet called saying they were ready and I carried him to the truck, and then into the vet where I carried him in and laid him on the table. He wanted to get to the cool floor. The assistant lowered the table to the floor while we waited on the vet and his front feet performed like a deer on ice when he tried to move onto the tile floor. The vet tech left to get the vet, I took off my mask and sat down to wait for the vet. He looked at me, and made one last effort with the last of his strength to get up, walk over to me and lay down at my feet.

The vet came in, and unlike previous visits (Kaiser was a 3 time cancer survivor) he didn't suggest any treatment upon seeing him. In the course of 30 hours he went from normal (other than hearing and a slight limp) to massive fever, and in addition to the collapsed the second toe on his favored foot (left rear) had swollen to between the size of a golf and tennis ball, his lymph nodes on both his rear legs and swollen to the point they were visibly swollen and loss of appetite. We moved him back to the table, he didn't react at all to being moved, we raised him up and the vet gave him the sedative injection. I pet him as he drifted off to sleep from the sedative and said goodbye.
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August 12 2007 - July 31 2020
 
Aw man Ed - I'm really sorry.

RIP Keiser :(
 
Sorry man. Never easy saying goodbye to a furry family member.

No one can truly understand why dogs are called 'man's best friend' until they have experienced the loss of one.
 
Wow, things can happen so fast.
So sorry, Ed.
 
I'm so sorry to hear about this Ed.
A wonderful, loyal companion for more than a dozen years.
 
It’s never easy...there is no words that help the loss of a best friend who never questioned your motives and was always there to make your day better...sometimes I don’t think we deserve a good dog...no doubt he was one. Sorry for your loss.
 
I'm sorry to hear. My condolences.
 
Our pets are just like family members, and in fact better than some. I know exactly have you feel, had to put down my best hunting dog/friend/family member not all that long ago.
 
Buddy and Kaiser were definitely bestest friends. They only experienced each other a few times but, when they did, they had a grand time!

Buddy passed away suddenly about 20 months ago. It sucked! Condolences Ed. I feel your pain.

This is Buddy and Kaiser the first time they met...my first time at 6Y9...2011 I think it was. Dogs DO NOT expose their belly to another dog unless they are fully trusting...at least that's my experience.

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Kaiser was a sweetheart of a pup; he was well-loved, and gave it back double.
 
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