Deaf rabbit?

[MyPets1031]

I think my bunny Toby is deaf. Today I was in my room all day where he lives and he fell asleep in his litter box. I thought that was weird so I called his name to try to wake him up. He didn’t flinch so I though he was dead. I started hitting the ground closer and closer to his cage to try to wake him up and he didn’t respond. I seriously thought he was dead at this point so I opened the cage and touched him. Then he jumped. Then tonight I let him out and I couldn’t find him. I looked on the other side of the room and sure enough- there he is. So I called his name and he didn’t respond. I approched him from the behind and Picked him up and it obviously startled him. Now that I think about it, he never responds to noise. How can I tell if he’s deaf or just chooses to ignor me?

[LBJ10]

I gots one of those. =)

It is hard to tell if a rabbit is deaf since they can have “selective hearing”. I would set up an experiment where he isn’t looking at you and see if he responds to a loud noise.

[Eucalyptus]

You can try using a vacuum to test it out. I know that people do that for kitties. If there’s no response, I would probably conclude he’s deaf because vacuums are quite loud and startling to all animals (and even unexpecting humans!).

Good luck!

[Monkeybun]

My Squirrel is deaf. Definitely try different noises and see if he responds to anything. He may just be a heavy sleeper

[peppypoo]

Try making a loud noise when he’s awake, and see if he startles. Deafness doesn’t seem uncommon in lop bunnies, so it’s definitely possible. However, they’re perfectly happy and still make great pets .

[LittlePuffyTail]

That sounds like my Bindi. I often have to blow on him gently to wake him up because no noise will wake him. I’m pretty sure my Bindi is almost deaf. Deaf bunnies seem to get on really well. It doesn’t slow down Bindi, that’s for sure.

[Malp_15]

Nate, my lop is deaf as well. I actually think its what makes him so chill. It took me quite a while to realize he was I found out when my cat knocked down the baby gate and he was only a few feet away with his butt to it, and it went clattering to the ground and he didn’t even flinch.

Nate responds very well to hand signals and if I need his attention, I tap my foot on the ground and he will turn around and face me. I’ve also read that you can train them with a LED light, in place of a clicker, if you were interested in that. I would like to try it because my other rabbit is clicker trained.

[tobyluv]

I’m pretty sure that one of my bunnies is deaf. If he is faced to me when I walk toward him, he will come running, hoping I have a treat for him, but if his back is turned to me when I walk toward him, he doesn’t respond at all – even if I call his name or make sounds to attract his attention. He is a very sound sleeper, and I sometimes have to shake him awake when I have food for him. He seems very happy, though, so I guess it doesn’t bother him. He and his companion spend a lot of time out on our screen porch and I hate that he can’t hear all of the birds tweeting and singing in the nearby trees.

When we first adopted Bosco a few years ago, he had airplane ears, but with time, he looks more like a lop. I believe that he had hearing at first because he didn’t give me a reason to think he was deaf then. I remember one time when my husband was in the hall and Bosco was laying in one of his favorite spots in the living room – under the coffee table. My husband said Bosco’s name loudly, and he popped up in the air. It wasn’t until the last year or so that I began to suspect he was deaf.

[MyPets1031]

Toby definatly makes a good pet and I must admit he is my favorite I guess it never dawned on me that rabbits even COULD be deaf. Aren’t they supposed to have great hearing? Oh well, I hadn’t noticed it until now and I still love him with all my heart. <3 Sometimes I just worry about him because he's so old and wasn't ever treated right until he was four when I got him.

[LBJ10]

Deafness is surprisingly common in lop breeds. Definitely happens more often than people think. I don’t know what the cause is though. I don’t think it makes them any less of a pet. You just have to do things differently and understand that some forms of bunny language aren’t going to “work”.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I suspect in Bindi’s case, the hearing impairment is due to his chronic ear infections. He used to have better hearing than he does now. But it makes sense that lops have reduced hearing if you think of how a bunny’s are structured. They have a long, thin canal and the lops have a big heavy covering over that canal.

Here’s a great diagram if anyone is interested, although it’s not a lop:

 

http://www.smallanimalchannel.com/i…iagram.pdf

[Elrohwen]

Otto, a holland, is likely mostly deaf too. His ears swivel when we make noise, so I think he has some hearing, but not much. Hannah is a mini lop and has fantastic hearing, funny enough.

[MyPets1031]

I turned on the vaccume right in front of him and there was no jumping or anything. WIth my other bunny, she would have ran away but he acctually came closer to inspect what I was doing. No fear or sounds- the more i look into it the more i think he is deaf!

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