sapphie's deaf

this is a belated post. had saved an empty entry with the title in my draft and planned to write this some time this week. didn't expect her to leave. anyway...

sapphie has had a history of ear infections since her ears drooped some 4-5 years back. i had been clearing the dirt and mucus almost fortnightly since then. she really hated ear cleaning as i would flush her ear canal with medicated ear cleanser and she would run away whenever she saw me with the ear cleanser. i had to corner her and hold her down before she would give in to me. cleaning her ears fortnightly became a routine since then. her hearing began deteriorating very quickly over the last 3 months. and she’d yelp when i cleaned her ears. subsequently, i didn’t insist on cleaning it anymore when i noted her increased weakness by the days. and increasingly, she became less responsive to my calls. recently, when i returned home from work, i'd often see her standing and staring blankly into the walkway that leads to my room. she didn’t even know i’d return home when i opened the door. she seemed to be in a world of her own. i needed to shout out her name before she turned her head. that was when i concluded she’s almost deaf.

i did some internet search on caring for deaf dogs and learned of the need to be extra careful in guiding them and to increase the use of visuals rather than voice commands. i began to make changes to the way i communicate with her. i had to make conscious efforts to wave my hands to signal her to, say, follow me, or to allow me to carry her, etc. and she responded nicely. carrying her around also became somewhat a routine for me these days too as i noted she’s rather weak. at times, she’d even not respond to my tugging of the leash, choosing to just stand there and stare at me. when that happened, i’d just squat down beside her and extend my arm out in front of her. she’d happily raise her front left leg and rest it onto my arm and do a little hop, as i used my other hand to support her back as i scoop her up.

that was how i cared for her in recent weeks. and that was also clear signals to me that her end was near.