Quiet Piggy - Possibly Deaf?

[Dilly's Piggies]

Harriet is always very slow to react when it's veggie or treat time, I usually come into the room clicking and all the pigs come running, wheeking, but Harriet never does this, she is always doing her own thing or sleeping and seems oblivious, until she actually SEES me, then she will get excited like the others and come for her food. She is also very quiet and shy in general, she's not a timid or scared pig at all, she's just very quiet and keeps to herself most of the time, she doesn't respond to noises either, like a rustling bag, the other pigs get excited and she usually does nothing until she see's the other piggies getting excited then she will join in, loud noises also do not spook her like they do the others. I wouldn't love her any less, I'd actually probably love her more if she had a special need, but it'd still be nice to know if she is actually deaf or partially deaf, can a vet diagnose this? Is there a way to tell for sure if she's deaf?

 

[Wiebke]

Harriet is always very slow to react when it's veggie or treat time, I usually come into the room clicking and all the pigs come running, wheeking, but Harriet never does this, she is always doing her own thing or sleeping and seems oblivious, until she actually SEES me, then she will get excited like the others and come for her food. She is also very quiet and shy in general, she's not a timid or scared pig at all, she's just very quiet and keeps to herself most of the time, she doesn't respond to noises either, like a rustling bag, the other pigs get excited and she usually does nothing until she see's the other piggies getting excited then she will join in, loud noises also do not spook her like they do the others. I wouldn't love her any less, I'd actually probably love her more if she had a special need, but it'd still be nice to know if she is actually deaf or partially deaf, can a vet diagnose this? Is there a way to tell for sure if she's deaf?
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The best way of finding out whether a piggy is deaf is to clap your hands or drop something clanky just behind her and see whether she reacts or not. Make sure that she cannot injure herself if jumps or runs off as a reaction.

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

The best way of finding out whether a piggy is deaf is to clap your hands or drop something clanky just behind her and see whether she reacts or not. Make sure that she cannot injure herself if jumps or runs off as a reaction.

I just sat her in my lap and got someone else to make noise around the corner where she couldn't see, clapping and smacking a shoe on the wall didn't cause her to react at all, however we threw a bottle of water down the stairs and her nose twitched with each thud, I have a feeling she may have been reacting to vibration as I felt it through the floor too, literally no reaction besides a little nose twitch. I got a couple of my other pigs out and did the same tests and there was very obvious reactions from them, freezing with head up, rumbling and spooking. I don't know if she's extremely brave, partially deaf or felt vibrations? She always seems to use her nose first, sometimes she will not even see me when I go in with food, she smells the food first, if you understand, I'm honestly not sure but there's definitely something different with her

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

I don't know if this helps? She was eating cucumber so was distracted but I still thought she should react a little considering the other pigs bolted

 

[flowerfairy]

She does seem remarkably unaffected by the noise.

Your guinea pigs are so lovely. Really lovely!

 

[DM030819]

I used to have a pig very similar. He wasn't bothered about any sound at all. The vet never worked out whether he was deaf but to be honest we never really looked into it much.

He was happy and healthy and I used to tap on the cage bars or floor to announce that I was there so I didn't scare him.

 

[Kylie80]

Wow she didn't react at all did she.
Beautiful piggies too btw.

 

[eileen]

she does not appear to hear the sound.lovely piggies.maybe as Jaycey suggests find a way of communicating you are there without sound .

 

[Adelle]

Fudge has been deaf for a while now since reaching old age. What first made me realise was exactly what u described, less reactive than the others and clearly only got excited by my presence when she actually saw me. In turn, she is also quieter than any of my others. However she is the friendliest and most confident (with me but she is the most submissive pig towards her own kind) and doesn't get spooked at all (the unable to hear probably helps this!). Her nose goes in the air before I get a reaction from her, if I drop something or make a loud bang, all 3 will bolt and fudge will literally continue as she was, completely oblivious. It wasn't long after I noticed her lack of hearing that it was clear she couldn't hear anything whatsoever. I stroke her foot to wake her up before I bring her out for her meds and this prevents her from getting any frights.

In all honesty, it doesn't affect her negatively at all. Your little one does seem to have limited hearing, but it shouldn't make her any different from the others and she will manage just fine.

Ps.. She is stunning!

 

[Dilly's Piggies]

Fudge has been deaf for a while now since reaching old age. What first made me realise was exactly what you described, less reactive than the others and clearly only got excited by my presence when she actually saw me. In turn, she is also quieter than any of my others. However she is the friendliest and most confident (with me but she is the most submissive pig towards her own kind) and doesn't get spooked at all (the unable to hear probably helps this!). Her nose goes in the air before I get a reaction from her, if I drop something or make a loud bang, all 3 will bolt and fudge will literally continue as she was, completely oblivious. It wasn't long after I noticed her lack of hearing that it was clear she couldn't hear anything whatsoever. I stroke her foot to wake her up before I bring her out for her meds and this prevents her from getting any frights.

In all honesty, it doesn't affect her negatively at all. Your little one does seem to have limited hearing, but it shouldn't make her any different from the others and she will manage just fine.

Ps.. She is stunning!

What you've experienced with Fudge sounds just like Harriet, she's also a dream to handle although she does nip me very hard, she'll let me do anything with her, she's also confident with me but is submissive to the other two pigs. The nose is always the first reaction for Harriet also, she smells veggies before anything else, sometimes I do have to wake her up, usually by touching her nose or feet if she's slobbing out lol. Harriet was born here so I've had her her entire life, I know everything about her, it wasn't until she turned about 8 months old I noticed something different, now she's 11 months and I'm considering deafness. If she is deaf then she has been like this since birth or at least very young, it doesn't affect her at all and doesn't bother me either, she's still gorgeous and I love her very much.