Do You Think Dogs Can Have Tinnitus?

Do you think dogs have tinnitus but can't tell anyone because they're dogs and dogs can't talk? Why don't people talk about this? I was surprised that a thread like this didn't exist already.

Discuss.

 

I have wondered this too.

 

Maybe he will always prefer staying at a place in the house that has some masking sounds going on..just a guess

 

I have a dog thats 19 and doctors say hes nearly deaf.. But just from bein so old he has neurological issues in his brain so i think he has age related hearing loss which developed around 5 or more years ago and i would bet alot he has T and H cause when my family would crank up the sterio he would all a sudden go bolistic and start howling and running up and down the stairs then he would like run his head over he floor and take his paws and like scratch his ears like hes trying to cover his ears or something.. But ofcorse he cant talk and tell us whats wrong so just a
Guess but i bet he has loud T if he does :-( but he gets around great and is still going somehow.. Love that dog so much!!!

 

Dogs have already developed by themself "habituation to perception" as goal of TRT.

 

I hope not, poor little guy keeps getting ear infections and for obvious reasons can't plug his ears when emergency vehicles go past.

 

Dogs don't do TRT, they're dogs. Maybe in Italy...

 

My cat is very jumpy and sensitive to noises. He is also a true "scaredy cat" I've often wondered if he has hyperacusis. Maybe a mild form. I also think he is phonophobic of the vacuum. He runs like mad from it and it's not ear damaging loud.

 

it's not ear damaging to humans but animals do hear differently than us.

http://www.hearforever.org/userfiles/image/tools_to_learn/SS4_Hearing_Sensitivity.jpg

 

Haha i know @Valentin I was just being silly. However my cat startles more than a regular cat. Very nervous kitty.

 

most tinnitus research uses animal models and is based on the assumption that tinnitus can be generated in animals through ototoxic drugs and noise trauma -- it's pretty horrid research to do, honestly. I want a cure as much as anyone else here, but so far we have no cures and we've tortured a hell of a lot of animals.

 

I wonder if it's common in something like Woodpeckers...

 

I thnk if a dog had T he or she wouldn't care or know it. I believe they can get it for sure but they won't suffer from it.

 

Hearing Health refers to studies that say that fish and birds have the natural ability to regrown lost auditory haircells. mammals unfortunately not. A dog is a mammal so I think they can get tinnitus for sure. But they would n`t care. I think they are unable to judge it emotionally.

 

How about a Beaver then?

 

I rarely meet beavers so I don`t know .. my regular social group consists of faithful dogs, whining cats, beautiful nightingales and a dirty pig here and there ...

 

Why do you think this? In animal studies of tinnitus, they are generally trying to elicit a "tinnitus related stress and anxiety response". I agree that the way humans can suffer is a lot different because we can project our ego into the past and future in a way that animals (probably) can't, but anxiety doesn't seem pleasant for any living being...

 

We are animals too. So yes dogs and cats can get tinnitus because they are our distant cousins.

 

You're correct. I wasn't aware of that aspect of the animal model (irritability/aniexty).

 

It's really awful The more I read about animal studies, the more I want to just stop reading and give some money to PETA, lol. On the other hand, the most recent animal study I've read was in the patent application for Autifony AUT00063, and lord knows, I want that drug to work, we need to test drugs to know they are safe enough to give humans, etc. It's a conundrum

 

My guess is that all mammals can get T and can suffer because of it. You don't have to be able to name or express something in order to suffer from it.
Animals likely do not have a concept of time, missed opportunities, 'I have this but most other dogs do not - this is unfair' etc etc. So they won't suffer in an "OMG I'm going to have this for the rest of my life!"-type of way.
What they do experience, is probably a 'this is really uncomfortable right now!" and a higher level of stress.

Apparently, most T-studies are being done on rats. I think they measure their T by brain activity scans or by measuring stress-hormone-levels.

I'm also really undecided and uncomfortable with animal testing. I really would like to see a cure, but at the same time I don't want to hurt any animals.

 

I feel sorry for this dog, helicopters are loud.

 

How do you think "Rin Tin Tin" got his name?

 

None of the beavers I've ever gone out with, had Tinnitus. };-)

 

I'm a huge dog lover so I have considered this. During the early stages of my own tinnitus and hyperacusis, I had to tape my dog's metal tags together because I couldn't stand the sound. When the sound of clanking metal hurts your ears, you become very aware that dogs never hold still unless they are asleep! They lick, scratch, etc when they are awake. This made me think about the dog's ears and I will always tape the dog tags together from now on (even though the sound of clanking metal doesn't hurt me nowadays). The noise probably bothers them too. I think that dogs have more sensitive ears than humans. My guess is that dogs who go deaf probably do suffer with tinnitus.

 

Probably, but they probably deal with it a lot better and also they have higher frequency hearing such as ultrasonic hearing (ex. they can hear a dog whistle) so I would think they have more sound to hear that can lessen the noticeably.

 

@ street spirit I have one cat (out of three) who I would definitely say has hyperacusis. He got it before I did - maybe from birth! Whenever I unload the dishwasher (which I now try to do ever so quietly), he meows in distress and runs down into the basement from the sound of the cutlery clinking together. And he startles exceptionally easily too. The other two cats do not react like this. Poor little fellow.

 

My cat meows when the metal forks and spoons are put away from the dishwasher! The other cats we have did not do this. It is weird because she meows and might get up but she doesn't run away into another room and she doesn't meow when the forks and spoons are loaded into the dishwasher.

 

@JasonP Interesting! I wonder how many cats do this?

 

I don't know...should I do a poll? Just kidding! Inside joke going on here on the forum because of the 25 polls or so I have put out