Selective deafness

Eli, our 10 year old GSD, just passed her latest wellness exam with flying colours.  It was just bloodwork and a urinalysis, but the tech who called with the results said they were “wonderful”, and the vet who did the exam said that physically, Eli was in great shape.  I was a bit concerned about her back legs, as they seem to be getting weaker, but I’m told she has excellent range of motion back there, and that any weakness I notice (like occasional difficulty climbing stairs), can probably be attributed to muscle atrophy.  Rimadyl has helped Eli with day-to-day pain, but she still feels that running around the yard aimlessly (like a certain Anatolian I know), is a waste of her time.  I’d love to get her into the pool for hydrotherapy, but she’s been afraid of water since she was a puppy.  I guess I should walk her more often now that the weather is cooler; I’ve avoided it during the summer because there are so many black widow spiders around outside after dark, and they love to hang from the block walls we’d have to pass while we walked.

Anyway, Eli’s body seems to be holding up quite well for an old lady.  The one thing that hasn’t held up are her ears, and she suddenly went deaf earlier this year.  She’s not completely deaf (she still hears thunder, and the refrigerator door opening), but I think she spends most of her time in a blissful state of silence.  I say “blissful”, because she gets herself into the most serene-looking deep sleep, now that she’s not awakened by the sound of footsteps or other noises around the house.  When we come home after being out, she sleeps through the garage door opening and our entrance into the house, so it’s good we don’t rely on her to be a watchdog.  While I normally wouldn’t begrudge her this new-found peace and quiet, it’s driving me crazy because she can’t hear anything I say to her.  She’s always been one of those dogs who understands complete sentences, so the fact that she now can’t hear me when I ask her to come with me, or to go upstairs, or to leave something alone is extremely frustrating.  She understands a few hand gestures, but I have to really get in her face and make eye contact for her to see that I’m motioning to her about something.  I also miss being able to just talk to her about nonsense and to know that she’s listening to me… I worry that she might get lonely in her quiet head.

While the deafness has been hard on me, it’s also been tough on Dante.  He’s used to being able to summon Eli to join him outside with just a couple of barks, but now he gets no reaction from her.  This unfortunately has made him bark more than usual, so I hope he’ll soon figure out some alternate form of communication with her, too.

All in all, I’m pretty happy with how she’s holding up.  She looks fabulous, she’s still quite mobile, and her eyes are fine, so I shouldn’t lament the loss of her hearing so much.  I’m a bit envious of it, I think—what I wouldn’t give for a bit of my own deafness when the parrots decide it’s time to rise and shine every morning!

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 09/13 at 11:05 PM

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