Is deafness in older pugs inevitable?

Guest 6/22/2010, 1:19 am

My 13 year old pug Louie, who died in Feb of this year, had been totally deaf for about one year before he left us. A neighbor hood pug that I sometimes baby sit is 14 and he is stone deaf. Is this inevitable? Is there any way to prevent it? Does anyone know what causes it? My ten year old still hears well and I can't bear the thought that he, too, will go deaf. Any advice?

Aussie Witch 6/22/2010, 6:10 am

Virtually every Pug I have had became deaf or nearly deaf as they grew older. I don't know what you can do to prevent it. I always made sure their ears were clean so that didn't have anything to do with it. Main thing is it doesn't seem to bother them.

pugpillow 6/22/2010, 7:18 am

Several of my oldies have been/are deaf. Mei-ling wasn't and she reached almost 15. Gooey isn't and he's coming up for 14. Farnsworth isn't, although it's not 100%, and he's coming up for 12. In my own experience, and this is far from scientific, it seems that the more wax the ear produces or the higher the incidence of ear infections, the more likely the pug is to go deaf.

Pugsaunt 6/22/2010, 2:14 pm

Penny doesn't hear as well as she used to, but she still has some hearing. She had an awful time with ear infections until we figured out that it was the wheat that was doing it. She is 12-13 or so.

TNPUGMOMOF3 6/22/2010, 5:17 pm

I think they get older and better at ignoring us!! Is deafness in older pugs inevitable? Icon_lol

Selective hearing.

Carol 6/22/2010, 6:35 pm

My Blossie has been feaf now for over a year....She does great.At first I thought it was selective hearing but nope...She is the grand old age of 13...

Pugsaunt 6/22/2010, 7:10 pm

TNPUGMOMOF3 wrote:I think they get older and better at ignoring us!! Selective hearing.

She definitely does that, too.

pugsandkids 6/22/2010, 7:19 pm

TNPUGMOMOF3 wrote:I think they get older and better at ignoring us!! Selective hearing.

Anna is 7 this September, she's totally got selective hearing!

northernwitch 6/22/2010, 10:09 pm

Yes and no. Theo is totally deaf, but came to me a year ago at age 11 deaf--it's clear he's had a life time of bad ear infections so I suspect that is it.

I think Lola is losing her hearing at age 14/15, but she's always been so good at ignoring me, it's hard to tell if she's losing her hearing or gaining in attitude.

The rest of the crowd all hear just fine at ages 11 and 11/12.

Guest 6/23/2010, 12:56 am

Thanks for all of your responses! Louie had several ear infections when he was young. We changed his diet to raw meat and they stopped. But he still went deaf. Henry has not had many ear infections
so hopefully he will retain his hearing. I have a blog about my boys if anyone is interested: pugmamablog.com

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Is deafness in older pugs inevitable?

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Oh No!!Deafness seems inevitable!!

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