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With chronic exposure to loud sounds over time, the muscles inside your
dog or cat's ears will contract to help protect their hearing,
but over a long period of time they can only compensate so much and you'll wind up with
diminished hearing and potentially hearing loss. Things like fireworks or
chronic exposure to loud noise such as loud music in a car or another enclosed
space, a warehouse or a factory or on a construction site,
or even in your own home workshop, your pets can be exposed to these noises that
can lead to problems with their hearing.
Certainly for gun dogs, we would have exposure to gunfire, especially if they're standing
close to you when you're firing the gun.
So if you're protecting your hearing regularly in a situation where you've
got your pets, it's important to think about protecting your pet's hearing too.
And because you're not likely to be able to get your dog or cat to be able to wear earmuffs,
it's important that maybe we consider sticking cotton in their years if we
can't remove himself from the situation. It's important, though, to remember to remove the
cotton once they're not going to be exposed to that sound anymore. And so as a little
gentle reminder, attaching a colored piece of thread to the cotton balls to
remind yourself to take it out. If you like to listen to your music loud,
consider keeping your pets out of the room we are doing so or turning it down
a little bit in the car when they're traveling with you. Just as you would do
to protect your child's hearing, you should do the same thing to protect your pet's
hearing. Even in scenarios where they're hearing loud noise just very rapidly and
not for a sustained period time,
in an event such as fireworks, we can take some precautions by leaving our pets at
home, but also if they do need to be out with you for certain situation, go ahead
and put some cotton in their years to help protect their hearing. Sometimes
it's hard to tell if your pet has lost their hearing but if you're noticing
behavioral changes or any problems, it will be wise to bring them to your veterinarian
to have them evaluated.
Certainly if they've been in a scenario where they've been exposed to repeated
loud noises and very sudden loud noises, then hearing loss would be a
consideration. Mention it to your veterinarian so they can evaluate that
specifically and then refer you on for a specific test called the BAER test to
confirm or rule out the potential for hearing loss.
It's the only way to know for certain
and it's pretty simple to do. It's a non-invasive test. Some pets require
sedation to have it done,
but it's pretty simple. There's only certain centers around that do it but talk
to your veterinarian about having it done if you've got concern for hearing
loss in your pets.