I’m starting to think Leopold is deaf – UPDATED!

[LBJ10]

I know other people have been talking about their deaf or potentially deaf rabbits lately. After reading some of the things other people have been saying, I’m really starting to think Leopold is either partially or fully deaf. Everything just keeps adding up. First of all, you can never catch him completely asleep. It seems he’s always ready to go if he needs to. He doesn’t care too much about the vacuum. Wooly has gotten used to it, but Leopold has always been passive about its presence. Then there is his “lack of listening”. If you catch Wooly doing something wrong, you can yell “no” and he will stop to look at you. That is usually all it takes to get him to stop. Leopold, on the other hand, completely ignores you. I will yell at him, stomp my foot, shake stuff. No reaction, he just keeps doing it. At first I thought maybe he was just being a stubborn little brat. No reaction at all though seems to fit more with him not being able to hear you. I will often throw something (soft) at him to get his attention. Then he knows I’m there and knows he needs to stop whatever he’s doing. Finally, there is the way he communicates with you. He doesn’t have “normal” bunny language. I have never heard him vocalize. Not a grunt or a honk or anything. Even when he’s trying to get away from you when you’re cutting his nails. There’s just this weird scoffing sound. He never thumps either. And he bites. Hard. He will bruise me and even break the skin. Wooly doesn’t do this. He will grunt and just put his teeth on me. It seems to me that Leopold is overcompensating because maybe he can’t hear and therefore does not know some of the bunny language. Does all of this add up to you guys to? Or am I imagining it? Should I ask the vet about it? I wonder if they would even be able to tell for sure one way or the other.

[Sam and Lady's Human]

You could talk to a vet if your worried about it. Neither of my buns care at all about the vacuum, they both frequently ignore me if I holler at them It takes me physically moving their head to get the point. I’ve only ever heard Samson grunt, Lady doesn’t *talk* much. Neither thump :/ Samson will bite me if I try to pick her up or scare the bejeezes out of her. But I know they can hear me because they both know the word “treat” + some clicking noises I make.

[LBJ10]

They were doing their synchronized grooming thing (both grooming themselves in the same way at the same time) earlier. They had no idea I was standing in the doorway. I clapped as loud as I could. Wooly jumped. Leopold, well, Leopold just kept on grooming himself as if nothing had happened. He didn’t even flinch. I went in there, got within a few feet of him and clapped several times. Still no response. Then he was apparently finished, went to bring his head up, and was like holy crap how the heck did you get in front of me?

Does Samson bite you hard? Leopold doesn’t bite me because he is scared. He is just annoyed and wants me to stop doing whatever it is I’m doing. He bites down hard, as if he doesn’t know any restraint. Wooly doesn’t do this. He will grunt, then swing around and place his teeth on me. He never bites down. Wooly also thumps when he’s scared and Leopold has absolutely no reaction to the thumping. It’s as if Wooly knows the language, but Leopold does not. Maybe I’m just reading into it too much. I don’t know.

[Sam and Lady's Human]

Samson would bite hard if I don’t move fast enough She’s just a little… temperamental. She did once, hard enough to bruise, after I had to pick her up for something. I’ve since found other ways hah.

See if he reacts to you stomping around him, he should be sensitive to the vibrations if he is deaf.

When exactly does Leopold bite? I assume he’s fixed right?

[Roberta]

Pepper and Piglet also have selective deafness. For instance when eating the day bed cushions or destroying something else they have gotten hold of a herd of rhino could stampede through the place and they wouldn’t twitch and ear. Call out the word greens or treats and they appear like a flash from their hidey holes. They can also tell the sound of the hay bag being opened yet Mummy scalding for bad behavior is ignored. I have discovered that Rabbits and Cats share many similarities!

As to biting, Piglet has never done it. He use to hang onto my finger with his teeth when he wanted my undivided attention as a baby bun but now he is really mellow except when it comes to grooming time then he is a long eared bandit and makes me chase him round the day bed. (he is the instigater BTW and he loves it, binkies his brains out trying to get me to catch him he plays the same game with the babies) Pepper however was very aggressive and use to charge and nip. Not now though, if she is having a Miss Crabby Pants day she will punch and grumble but a quick scratch behind the ears and she melts. I got to the bottom of it though, my original bunny sitters who took day care when they were first rescued favoured Pepz as she was black and over handled her whilst Piglet was left alone and ignored. Balance is now restored and Piglet loves to sit with you on the day bed whilst Pepper loves to be gently stroked and never bites or nips anymore just the occasional growl when she wants to be left alone. I sacked the original Bunny sitters after they failed to bring them home and I had to go and get them (the deal was I dropped them in the morning and they brought them back when I got home from work. My new Bunny sitter for the hot weather is a saint and has been brilliant. Both bunnies (plus the babies) love her and come running as they know Cathy will usually have broccoli leaves and fresh grass with her when she visits.

[LBJ10]

Posted By Sam and Lady’s Human on 12/28/2011 06:56 PM
Samson would bite hard if I don’t move fast enough She’s just a little… temperamental. She did once, hard enough to bruise, after I had to pick her up for something. I’ve since found other ways hah.

See if he reacts to you stomping around him, he should be sensitive to the vibrations if he is deaf.

When exactly does Leopold bite? I assume he’s fixed right?

I will try the stomping thing. I will have to do it when he’s not looking though. Yes, he is man no more. He has been neutered for quite some time now (he’s almost 2 years old). He bites when I’m doing something that displeases him and he wants me to stop. So usually this is when I’m grooming him or something. He’s fine being picked up, he actually comes pretty quietly now. No fuss, no struggle, I just scoop him up. I will put him in my lap and start doing what I need to do. When he’s had enough, he will tell me by nipping. I don’t think it’s a mean nip, I really think he just doesn’t realize he’s hurting me. I have squealed before, but this gets no reaction from him.

When I’m grooming Wooly and he has decided he has had enough, he will grunt and just put his teeth on me. He’s saying “stop mom, I don’t like this anymore”. He is sure not to hurt me, he is just communicating with me. Leopold is communicating as well, just not as uh gracefully.

[LBJ10]

Posted By Roberta on 12/28/2011 07:20 PM

Pepper and Piglet also have selective deafness. For instance when eating the day bed cushions or destroying something else they have gotten hold of a herd of rhino could stampede through the place and they wouldn’t twitch and ear. Call out the word greens or treats and they appear like a flash from their hidey holes. They can also tell the sound of the hay bag being opened yet Mummy scalding for bad behavior is ignored. I have discovered that Rabbits and Cats share many similarities!

As to biting, Piglet has never done it. He use to hang onto my finger with his teeth when he wanted my undivided attention as a baby bun but now he is really mellow except when it comes to grooming time then he is a long eared bandit and makes me chase him round the day bed. (he is the instigater BTW and he loves it, binkies his brains out trying to get me to catch him he plays the same game with the babies) Pepper however was very aggressive and use to charge and nip. Not now though, if she is having a Miss Crabby Pants day she will punch and grumble but a quick scratch behind the ears and she melts. I got to the bottom of it though, my original bunny sitters who took day care when they were first rescued favoured Pepz as she was black and over handled her whilst Piglet was left alone and ignored. Balance is now restored and Piglet loves to sit with you on the day bed whilst Pepper loves to be gently stroked and never bites or nips anymore just the occasional growl when she wants to be left alone. I sacked the original Bunny sitters after they failed to bring them home and I had to go and get them (the deal was I dropped them in the morning and they brought them back when I got home from work. My new Bunny sitter for the hot weather is a saint and has been brilliant. Both bunnies (plus the babies) love her and come running as they know Cathy will usually have broccoli leaves and fresh grass with her when she visits.

I thought maybe he just has selective hearing too. But there are all these other factors too, so that’s why I think maybe he is hearing impaired.

[LBJ10]

Okay, I just went to check on them. Leopold was lying on his tummy, head up, facing away from the doorway. He couldn’t see me. I stomped my feet on the floor. Wooly looked up at me. Leopold still didn’t budge. He was like a little statue. Again, I approached him. He couldn’t see me. I couldn’t come up squarely behind (furniture was in the way), so when I reached out to touch him he caught my hand in the corner of his eye. He jumped up and seemed startled. Again, he looked like he was saying “how the heck did you get in here?”.

So I don’t know what that means. You would have thought he could feel the vibrations, but he didn’t move. Just poor Wooly is wondering why I keep coming in there and making loud noises.

[bunnyfriend]

I have the same problem with Wilbur. No reactions to sounds whatsoever, doesn’t startle at the vacuum, clapping, screaming or smashing pans. If I walk into the room making noise and she doesn’t see me she startles like I snuck up on her. The big thing is that she doesn’t come running when I shake the pellet bin or crinkle a treat bag like Totoro does, but if she sees me go into the closet (where the pellets are kept) or sees me holding something that looks like a craisin bag then she does run and act all crazy. I asked my vet, she tried snapping her fingers behind Wilbur’s ears where she couldn’t see and there was no reaction. The vet said the only way to know for sure is to do some electrode (I think) test. I really hope she’s just partially deaf because I talk to her all the time

[3 buns mom]

I figured out that Max is deaf. I know for a fact that he wasn’t when he was younger. He is over 3 now. I asked the vet about it and she told me that sometimes medications can cause it…i.e dosage of meds or combination of meds. This makes sense to me because Max has been on a variety of meds over the past year and prior to that, he could hear. I still talk to him like he could hear me out of habit. I make sure I do it when I am holding him so maybe he can feel the soft vibrations in my chest and feel soothed. I will sometimes lay down beside him on the floor face to face and pet him, so he knows it’s me and can see everything I am doing.

[LBJ10]

Leopold has never been on any medication. Wooly has, but he is fine. As far as I know, Leopold has never had an ear infection. He’s never acted like something was wrong with his ears. The vet looked him over the last time he was there, I think they took a peek in his ears. It’s hard to know what to think. I hate to drag him to the vet if nothing is really wrong with him, no need to traumatize him unnecessarily. The vet wouldn’t be able to do anything anyway, I suppose. Except maybe determine if he really is deaf.

[Sarita]

I agree that dragging him to the vet for this is probably not necessary.

I know Bobby runs when I vacuum and I think my others do too, but I don’t remember for sure since I don’t think about it I guess when I vacuum – I just vacuum cause I need to get it done.

Now, there is always lots of ignoring and hoping she goes away so I can’t tell from that either – I’m pretty sure though none of my are deaf.

Too bad we can’t give our rabbits those tests we get to determine if we can hear – you know where you raise your hand when you hear sounds…do they still do this in school?

[bunnyfriend]

Wilbur has never been on medication either and the vet said her hears are healthy. I’m pretty sure she could hear when I first got her. I’ve heard it’s a common lop problem, LBJ10 Leopold is not a lop right?

[LBJ10]

Sarita – I’m sure they probably still do something like that. Or at least require it when kids are entering school.

bunnyfriend – Leopold is a Holland lop. I think I saw somewhere that this was not an uncommon thing with that breed.

[bunnyfriend]

Ohhh I think I was thinking of your other bunny (haha if I’m not mistaken). Hmm yeah I wonder why.

[LBJ10]

You’re thinking of Wooly? Maybe because he’s so unbelievably adorable? :p

[Cassi&Charlie]

I think it’s difficult to know what is selective bunny hearing (my bunny ‘can’t hear’ the vacuum, ‘no’, clapping, his name, the smoke alarm etc but can hear the fridge opening and a craisin bag crinkling) and what is deafness. Bunnies are such odd creatures!

[BinkyBunny]

Ah….the treat bag trick……if a bunny doesn’t hear the treat bag….definitely an issue.

[bunnyfriend]

Posted By LBJ10 on 12/29/2011 07:11 PM
You’re thinking of Wooly? Maybe because he’s so unbelievably adorable? :p

That is true

[LBJ10]

I will try the treat bag. The problem is that Wooly will spring up the second he sees/hears it, which clues Leopold in. So I’ll have to figure out how to do it without Wooly influencing him.

[BinkyBunny]

Make sure that the treat bag is closed completely as shaking the treat bag could create a yummy scent and cue Leopold.

[LBJ10]

UPDATE!

I tried the treat bag experiment. I took Wooly from the room and groomed him out in the living room, I took the treat bag with me. When I was finished, I left Wooly on the couch and carried the treat bag with me to their room. Leopold was going about his business. I stood in the doorway and crinkled the treat bag while it was hidden (I held it up to the wall, just to the side of the door jam). No reaction. I let him hop around for awhile. He saw me in the doorway, but only glanced in my direction. Then I crinkled it some more. Still no reaction. But Wooly, haha, Wooly came all the way from the living room into the hallway looking for those treats. I gave him one, but I don’t think Leopold could see him since he was behind the gate. So apparently without Wooly there, Leopold has no clue when there are treats to be had.

[bunnyfriend]

Sounds like Leopold is probably deaf or hard of hearing, sorry Wilbur relies on Totoro to know when it’s treat or meal time too, it’s so sweet. I guess Wooly and Totoro are hearing ear bunnies (like seeing eye dogs lol).

[Sam and Lady's Human]

What’d he do when he saw the treat bag?

[LBJ10]

Posted By bunnyfriend on 12/30/2011 07:35 PM

Sounds like Leopold is probably deaf or hard of hearing, sorry Wilbur relies on Totoro to know when it’s treat or meal time too, it’s so sweet. I guess Wooly and Totoro are hearing ear bunnies (like seeing eye dogs lol).

Yep, it seems that way.

[LBJ10]

Posted By Sam and Lady’s Human on 12/30/2011 07:39 PM
What’d he do when he saw the treat bag?

Well, I had to flash the bag right in his face before he even realized I had it. Then he came over.

[BinkyBunny]

Here are some great tips for people who have deaf bunnies.   http://www.ohare.org/vol2_1.htm#deaf

[RabbitPam]

Great article – I bookmarked it.
Some of those tips are very good even if you do not have a deaf bunny, so everyone might want to check it out. I especially like tooth purring with your face on theirs so they feel the love.

[Sam and Lady's Human]

Oh that is a great article!

[BinkyBunny]

Posted By RabbitPam on 12/31/2011 05:38 AM
Great article – I bookmarked it.
Some of those tips are very good even if you do not have a deaf bunny, so everyone might want to check it out. I especially like tooth purring with your face on theirs so they feel the love.

Its funny that you picked that one out because I actually do that with Vivian.  She is not deaf but I learned that if I do the tooth purr while I bury my face in her soft fur and she does the soft tooth grind back.   Jack used to just tooth purr back if he heard me do a tooth purr to him and I miss that because Vivian doesn’t respond back that way.  However, I discovered she would when I was giving her kisses on her back and she’d purr back only when I made kiss noises or she could feel tooth purrs.

 I haven’t done any “decoding” of the number or set of tooth clicks yet but it sure will be interesting to try!

[LBJ10]

What a nice article! I don’t think Leopold would like me putting my head on his though. Haha!

I was calling him tonight and not getting much reaction. I got down on the floor and patted the carpet with my hands. He looked over at me. His ears were being held forward a little bit though, like he was trying to zero in on the source of the sound. But maybe it’s just a reflex and he was just feeling the vibrations. I don’t know.

[SuperCheesetastic]

Huh. I never knew deaf bunnies existed.
O_O
How is it January first already?

[BinkyBunny]

Posted By LBJ10 on 12/31/2011 04:02 PM
,,,,I got down on the floor and patted the carpet with my hands. He looked over at me. His ears were being held forward a little bit though, like he was trying to zero in on the source of the sound. But maybe it’s just a reflex and he was just feeling the vibrations. I don’t know.

I can see where that could be a physical reaction of curiosity regardless if he could actually hear it or not. 

[LBJ10]

Posted By BB on 12/31/2011 04:05 PM

Posted By LBJ10 on 12/31/2011 04:02 PM
,,,,I got down on the floor and patted the carpet with my hands. He looked over at me. His ears were being held forward a little bit though, like he was trying to zero in on the source of the sound. But maybe it’s just a reflex and he was just feeling the vibrations. I don’t know.

I can see where that could be a physical reaction of curiosity regardless if he could actually hear it or not. 

 

That’s what I’m thinking. Well, I’m just going to assume he is deaf then. I will bring it up with the vet next time I’m there. It’s nothing worth dragging him in for, but if he’s going anyway then I can ask.

[blackfang]

Posted By SuperCheesetastic on 12/31/2011 04:05 PM
Huh. I never knew deaf bunnies existed.
O_O
How is it January first already?

 

There are deaf rabbits, cats, dogs, chincillla, guinea pigs….Basically almost all animals including humans are deaf..

 

I’m a human and deaf..

[LBJ10]

Okay, I was bad. I had a noise maker (party favor horn) left over from the other night. I crept over to their room. Leopold had his back turned to me. I blew on it, Wooly jumped up and looked at me and Leopold just sat there like a little bump on a log. Poor Wooly, I keep traumatizing him.

[BinkyBunny]

Posted By LBJ10 on 01/02/2012 03:02 PM
Okay, I was bad. I had a noise maker (party favor horn) left over from the other night. I crept over to their room. Leopold had his back turned to me. I blew on it, Wooly jumped up and looked at me and Leopold just sat there like a little bump on a log. Poor Wooly, I keep traumatizing him.

hahah….Poor Wooly, he seriously is going to think that the humans of the house have gone nutty…or at least one in particular.

[LBJ10]

I’m thinking at some point Wooly will just start ignoring this nutty human and then I’ll start thinking he’s deaf too!

[Author]

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