Expert: Renee Cox - 2/4/2009

Question
QUESTION: 6 Days ago my 11 year old boxer was put on gentamicin ointment for a slight ear infection (bacteria and yeast). So slight that I'm not sure if I should have been sent home with any medication.  After 4 days of the medication, Hailey is completely deaf.  I stopped the medication imediately.  The vet told me that the gentamicin sometimes causes temporary deafness, and that her hearing should come back after a few days.  I have an appointment for the end of the week.  The vet I took her to isn't my normal vet.  I don't know whether to trust them or not.  Is there anything I should be doing besides waiting to see?  I've looked all over the internet and cant quite get a straight answer but it doesnt appear to always or even most of the time be temporary hearing loss and that often times it can be permenant.  It also says it will take 2-4 weeks for her hearing to come back if it is just temporary. I'm so angry right now and feel so guilty for my baby girl.  She had perfect hearing before this.  Do you know of anything I should be doing between now and my appt that may speed up her regaining her hearing?

ANSWER: Hi Amy. I'm sorry this happened to your girl. I know from experience though, that when an elderly Boxer gets an ear infection, it's best to treat it fast, no matter how slight it is. My then 12 year old male Boxer had a slight ear infection and my then vet said not to treat it, it would heal on it's own. I listened to him, and it caused so many problems for my old guy. Even with cleaning the ears every day, keeping them dry and free of debris, his ears got so bad, it took a little over six months to get back to normal. I'm very proactive on the ear thing now.:-) There is nothing that you can really do to make her hearing come back faster. Keep her ears clean, free of gunk. That's about all you can do. If you're not comfortable with the vet that gave you the medication, then I'd go to a different vet for this check up. There are other meds that can be used for ear infections, talk to your vet about your alternatives when you go in. Deaf dogs deal with deafness much better than we do. My old guy had been deaf for a while before we even noticed it. You just have to make sure they know you're close to them when they're asleep and keep them on a leash while outside. I think my guy enjoyed being deaf because he couldn't hear anyone when they hollered at him for drinking from the toilet, grabbing a bag of bread, or doing any of his other bad habits.:-) My best advice here would be to take her to a different vet that has dealth with this problem before and see what he thinks can be done. It may just be temporary, I'm crossing my fingers that it is. I know this hasn't been much help to you, but wanted to let you know that deaf dogs do cope really well with becoming deaf. This was not your fault, you did what your vet told you to do. Sometimes, with dogs as in humans, the meds we take have certain risks that may or may not outweight the benifits. Did your vet tell you the side effects before giving it to you?

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QUESTION: Thank you for responding.  No the vet didn't tell me the the side affects beforehand.  If she had I would have asked about alternative medications. I'm a bit upset that I wasn't made aware of the possibility and to know to look out for it.  Looking back I suspect she was loosing her hearing after the first day of treatment.  Like you said it is easy to over look at first. They are very good at not letting you on to it.  

I have another question for you, if your willing.  Sorry these are so long.  Have you ever had a boxer who just suddenly later in life had super anxiety about rides in the car?  All the way up until around 9 years old Hailey absolutely loved car rides, then all of a sudden she began to get very nervous in the car.  It takes a lot of coaxing to get her in the car and once she's in her whole body shakes horribly.  She seams terrified. (sort of like the last boxer I had who was a rescue, reacted to thunderstorms).  She never had any trauma in the car, was never in an accident etc.  And sometimes it's worse than others. She kind of goes through phases where for a while she tolerates car rides and then all of a sudden it's like the worse thing in the world to her.  Anyways, thats the reason I decided to take her to the new vet.  My regular vet is about a 45 minute drive from my home and I didn't want her to go through all that anxiety for a possible ear infection.  So, instead I took her to a vet less than 5 minutes from my house.  I've tried to make car rides fun for her.  Like taking short rides to go get her a hamburger or go on a special hike or get an ice cream cone.  It doesn't seem to help.  Usually I have to get her back home before she will even think about eating any yummy treat I just got her.  If this has ever happened with any of your boxers any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.  

You know I think I may agree with you about her enjoying her deafness a little.  It's hard to tell if she even notices.  She doesn't spook at loud noises and sleeps very soundly.  It might be kinda nice for her.  I think I'm having a harder time adjusting.  Yesterday I had to go outside to shovel snow for a bit and when I came back in I accidentally bumped her with the door.  She was just quietly waiting there for me to come back in and obviously didn't hear me opening the door.  Poor girl, her mom needs to be more aware.  
Thank you so much for your encouragement.  It's an unfortunate situation but hearing about your experiences helps me feel a little more okay with it.  Thanks.

Answer
The first time I noticed my old guy was having problems was when he was asleep and someone dropped a pan. He didn't even twitch. It broke my heart because it made me aware of his age, and I wasn't ready for it.:-) You are right, we have a harder time dealing with it then they do. You kind of learn how to adjust to it, like when I wanted his attention I would gently tap him on the side, or move to his head so he could see me. He got to where he understood hand gestures. Living with an older Boxer can be a joy, and a pain. They stay puppy like for so long, and then it seems like overnight they turn into an elderly dog. But I think deafness if something that Boxers enjoy.:-) They think they can get away with all those bad habits. lol

The reason why I asked if your vet told you of the side effects because many don't. I have taken meds from my vet and blindly given it to them, seemingly simple meds that you wouldn't think could cause problems. I ask about everything now, just wanted you to push for answers the next time. Seriously, who would think that ear infection meds could cause this type of problem? Vets should tell people of any possible side effects from any medications.

Did the problem with the car rides start when her hearing started to fail? Some older Boxers don't like new things, even things that used to be normal for them makes them freaky. My old guy got to where he was scared of doors. Not sure why but if a door was left half open, he wouldn't come into the room, he would just sit there and whine until someone opened the door for him. When you take her back, ask for a physical, get some blood work done if you can. I would have her checked out just to make sure that she doesn't have something else going on. If she has a clean bill of health, then it may be a senior Boxer moment, and she may never enjoy car rides again like she use to. Like I said, living with a senior Boxer can be great and a pain at the same time. You have to adjust to them and their needs. If I can be of any help at all, please feel free to write. My e-mail is vvvzena@yahoo.com (that's 3 v's). I'll help in any way I can.