The majority of us take for granted our ability to employ any of our five senses (or six, depending on the individual’s beliefs!) whenever we require them. Seeing a long lost family member after several years, sipping our cappuccino whilst enjoying the coffee aroma in our local café or hearing the telephone ring are all daily occurrences for many of us. However, what would happen if one of our senses was suddenly taken away from us? And what about if this happens to your beloved dog or cat? Whilst in humans it may be easier to adapt to this new and unfamiliar life, animals are unlikely to be able to grasp the concept as quickly or as easily.

Dogs that are suspected to be deaf can be checked using the ‘Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response- BAER’ test (Canine Deafness). There may be signs that appear prior to arranging for a BAER test to be conducted that are indicative of a deaf dog – these include remaining asleep when they should be fed (when they are puppies), or you may deliberately make a noise and gauge the response of the dog in question (Canine Deafness). If it is suspected that a dog is deaf, it is best to get them checked out using a proven and trustworthy method. However, some dogs will still retain the capacity to hear ultrasound noise, as ultrasound operates at higher frequencies than ‘normal’ noise, starting from 20 kHz (Wikipedia). This means that dogs that can still hear ultrasound may be able to be trained and communicated with using special ultrasonic equipment.  The necessary adaptations can then be employed to help make their lives as enjoyable and bearable as possible. To read more about deafness in dogs, please see caninedeafness.com.

In cats, hearing loss can also be considered a manageable condition. Ordinarily, cats have the amazing ability to hear a great range of sounds when compared to other animals (Amy Shojai, cats.about.com), and these include frequencies that could be considered to be part of the ‘ultrasound family’. You may suspect that a cat is becoming deaf/deaf if they make louder noises, or start to become increasingly ‘sight aware’ of what other members in their household are doing. The latter is because they are using their sense of sight in place of their hearing (Amy Shojai, cats.about.com). This switching of the senses is really quite remarkable, and demonstrates nature at its finest – although it should be noted that sight, taste, smell etc… is by no means a completely satisfactory compensatory mechanism for the loss of hearing. Interestingly, just as in dogs, training your cat may be carried out using ultrasound noise via a dog whistle, which utilises ultrasound frequencies (Amy Shojai, cats.about.com, Wikipedia). So it appears that ultrasound can be a replacement for communicating with both cats and dogs when the verbal voice is no longer adequate. For more information about cats and deafness (and cats in general), check out articles written by Amy Shojai, CABC.

Whilst realising that a dog or cat is deaf is likely to be a shock, and requires a certain amount of life modification, this condition is often easy to live with and adjust to. Using ultrasonic noises as a form of communication with your deaf dog and cat, in conjunction with a few life revisions is sure to help them live long and happy lives.