My cat is deaf after vestibular syndrome. Will his hearing come back?

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poot Vali! Yes! A total ear ablation can affect the peripheral vestibular nerve with in the ear. They can also have other temporary peripheral nerve defects like horner's (small pupil, elevated 3rd eyelid), facial nerve paralysis, etc. I'd expect the unbalanced symptoms to resolve but it may take time. Be sure to inform your Vet who performed the surgery so they are aware and can provide medications if needed. I hope this helps and I wish Vali a speedy recovery!

Hello. It is more likely that Katniss's symptoms are related more to the ear cleaning than anything else, as there is no way a nail trim could cause neurological signs unless your cat was handled very roughly, & I hope this is not so. Anything placed in the ear could potentially cause enough irritation to result in the signs of vestibular syndrome. If no medications were instilled in the ears, then the symptoms should subside In 3-5 days. In addition to the medications prescribed, I might have added something for nausea ( like Cerenia ) just to make sure Katniss continues to eat well. Unfortunately, there is no strict timeline as to when she may totally recover, but if she is not significantly better by Monday, then I might be thinking about recommending a CAT scan or MRI to evaluate what is going on in her inner ear canal. Hopefully she will start to feel & act better with each passing day, but if not, you may need to pursue some advanced diagnostics. I hope she is doing better soon, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I'm sorry that Floppy is having this issue. If Floppy's ear drum had an issue or was ruptured at the time that your mom put the medication in his ear this could have caused hearing loss. It's always very important to have a veterinarian check the ears prior to starting a medication to ensure the ear drums are okay. There are also reactions to certain medications that can cause temporary hearing loss. These reactions cannot be predicted, however with time most often hearing will return. Without knowing the type of medication that was used it's difficult to say if this happened. You may want to contact the company that manufactures the ear medication to report the event and they may be able to offer more advice to you. As long as Floppy is otherwise acting normally and you've flushed the remaining medication out of his ear I would continue to monitor. Hopefully his hearing will gradually return. Obviously in the future I would not recommend using the medication that caused the issue. I hope this helps! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Best wishes to you and Floppy and I'm hoping his hearing returns quickly!

The signs you described for Deacon do fit with vestibular disease but can also be seen with an inner ear infection, inflammation in the brain and a tumor in the brain. Typically vestibular disease will clear up within 5-7 days although I have seen some pets deal with it for 10-14 days until it is completely resolved. During that time, they are expected to show improvement daily. Of course you always have the option to have him seen at any point. But if he is not back to normal within 5 days or if he is getting worse, then it would be safer to have him examined. I hope he starts feeling better quickly and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hello. Yes, it is most likely that the gentamicin has induced the deafness in your dog. Most times this is reversible, but in some cases the deafness is permanent. I would not use any more gentamycin. Most ear infections are due to underlying allergies, so the first thing to do is have a culture done to see if antibiotics are even warranted ( may have to wait at least several days after stopping medications to obtain the culture ). I would also start a low dose with a decreasing dosage of steroids to decrease inflammation in the ears & start an anti-allergy medication such as Apoquel or Cytopoint to see if the ears can be kept at least more comfortable without the use of topical ear medications. Hopefully, some hearing may return, but it certainly will not as long as the gentamycin is being used. Good luck & thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Poor guy. It sounds like his ear infection was bad enough to possibly cause a rupture of the ear drum if he is dizzy or ataxic. If this is the case, then it can take 2-3 weeks for resolution of clinical signs as the ear drum grows back. His symptoms should not get worse and he should be showing gradual improvement if you have been treating for over a week, so if this is not the case then a rechk appt should be scheduled with your vet. In additions, your vet can prescribe some motion sickness medication to help him with his dizziness as well, so ask about this if it wasn't already prescribed. I do hope that Apollo's ear infection resolves soon! Best wishes and take care.

Hello. It is unfortunate that Maddie has lost her hearing. This is a problem with some dogs using ear medications. Yes, you should have your vet take a look just to make sure everything is OK. Usually, with time, the hearing does return. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.