What's That, You Say?

So Sonny went deaf on us several months ago. I don't know how we missed it for so long, but one day my husband came home for lunch and Sonny didn't wake up in her crate. She was sleeping soundly. My husband made his lunch, opening the refrigerator door, which is always a wake up call for her. Nothing. He calls me, as if I can do anything about it. So, what's going on? Is she still breathing? Yes, he says. I can see her breathing. Then wake her up and make sure she's ok. Right as rain, he says.

Of course, it's Friday with the weekend coming up. But at the moment, she seems fine. Let's see what happens.

What happens is that I come home, start testing her and finally make the assessment: Sonny's deaf! She can hear me yell loudly, she seems to hear my whistle, but not anything else. Certainly not the doorbell. Not the refrigerator door opening. Not the ice dispensing in the freezer door.

WTF do we do now? It's the weekend and we're faced with doing nothing until she can be examined by Dr. E.

During the week  Dr. E examines Sonny's ears. She's puzzled, because she's never quite seen this in a dog before. At least to this extent. It looks like there's a big wad of waxy buildup in both her ears. Dr. E is unwilling to commit that removing the blockage will bring back her hearing. Maybe it's related, maybe not. But, unlike in humans where they just lavage the ears out, a dog's ear canal curves, so to get in there is not only uncomfortable but could be dangerous to the dog if the dog moves. So, Sonny's going to have to be anesthesized for the blockage to come out.

Hooray, it works. She can hear again!

And now, she can't. Again. At least it appears to us that she's deaf again. Or being extremely unresponsive on purpose! And not only is it a Friday again, but I am flying out of state for the week.

And there is that Money Pit issue...