Sunday, April 12, 2009

The Terrorist

On Tuesday the Saint took Fiona to the vet for her annual exam and vaccinations. He said she was acting odd on the ride home, but she ate her dinner that night. She didn't want to go out at bedtime which we thought strange, but it wasn't worrisome.

When I went out to the kitchen Wednesday morning I honestly thought she was gone. She was still in her bed and didn't move when I came into the room. I called to her softly a few times and got no response. I took a deep breath and touched her - she was warm and breathing. I went back to the bedroom and woke the Saint to tell him I thought something was very wrong.

We went back to the kitchen and after some petting and coaxing she opened her eyes, but made no move to get out of bed. I finally picked her up, carried her outside and put her down. After a bit she did her thing and came back in on her own. But something was off, you know? Just..off.

I called the vet when I got to the office and told them what was going on. They said she may have had a reaction to the vaccinations and could be running a fever. They said if she didn't seem better later in the day we would bring her back in.

The Saint went home in the afternoon and once again he had a hard time waking her so he took her back to the vet. They examined her and couldn't find anything. No fever, her ears and chest were clear, they concluded due to her age she may just be lethargic after the goings on Tuesday.

When we were eating dinner that night and the Saint said he thought he knew what might be wrong. He thought Fiona couldn't HEAR. Precious Youngest jumped up to ring the doorbell. NOTHING. So there was much clapping loudly, calling her name, dropping things on the floor, etc. and NOTHING.

Now we started to realize the reason she's not waking up is because she doesn't hear us coming! There are no audible cues that we're coming into a room. She's not hearing the coffee start to brew and me going out for the newspaper to wake her in the morning. She doesn't hear the garage door going up indicating that someone is home from school/work. She's all jumpy because we're basically sneaking up from behind and yelling "Boo" ALL THE FREAKING TIME!

I'm thinking GOOD GOD how does a dog just "go deaf"? How weird is that? She was FINE. I had to put her in the yard last Saturday before Prom because every time someone rang the door bell she went nuts. But it appeared poor Fiona couldn't hear.

I put in another call to the vet's office Thursday. When I finally spoke to someone that afternoon they told us to bring her back Friday. Which we did. And the vet confirmed that yes, in fact, Fiona can't hear. It appears she is deaf. With no rational explanation. That the vaccines wouldn't have caused this.

So WTF people? Have any of you had an experience like this? Have you any advice to dispense? Please?

9 comments:

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

I have not--with my mom's dog the deafness and blindness was all very gradual. This must be scary--I hope you get some answers.

Marian Dean said...

Absolutely!
Our two older Westies have 'suddenly' lost their hearing, little Molly more so than Robbie, He can just about hear a loud voice, but she can't even hear the 'clap' we have always called them with from out in the garden. It happened without us noticing it going slowly, it was just there one day, no reaction first from Molly and then we noticed a couple of weeks later Robbie wasn't reacting to the door bell. They are both nearly 13, we have their son Jock who we are monitoring for the first sign he can't hear as well.
Maybe it is a pedigree terrier thing, I have no answers for you, only to say ours haven't recently had their jabs, so I don't think that is the reason for Fiona going deaf.
It is unnerving isn't it, when they have always jumped and barked at any noise they hear?
Love Granny

Shelley said...

Poor Fiona, that's so strange! Sorry I have no advice, but I hope she's ok.

Anonymous said...

Oh my, poor thing. I'm so glad it's only the ears, though. We have friends with a blind dog and I think that would be worse.

Holly (me.) said...

One can only imagine the state of her nerves with everyone surprising her nonstop. The poor dear!

Ree said...

Oh, poor Fiona! I have no advice or experience, but I hope she returns to normal soon!

Dawn in D.C. said...

My last bully went deaf and also had cataracts, so more felt his way around the house. His sense of smell worked until the end and he could always find me.

Just make sure that when she looks at you, you smile at her. They know what that means.

Vanessa said...

The vaccines can and do cause things like this. You just have to weigh the risk/benefit when deciding to vaccinate. It's kinda like the autism debate, do vaccines really cause autism? Educate yourself, weigh the risks and go with your gut. I'm sure Fiona will still have a very good life with your family from this point forward, even if she can't hear.

Leanne said...

Ahhh. I'm so sorry. I'm going to now read your newer posts. I hope she's better!