Your cat may be deaf if it stops responding to its name, treat bags, can openers, or vacuums. Loud, frequent meowing, easy startling when touched, and unusually deep sleep are other common signs. Deafness means partial or complete hearing loss in one or both ears. Signs can be subtle at first, especially in older cats, and are easy to mistake for stubborn or aloof behavior.
Table of Contents
- Does your cat ignore familiar sounds?
- Has the meow or sleep changed?
- Which cats face higher risk?
- How do vets confirm hearing loss?
Does your cat ignore familiar sounds?
According to VCA Canada Animal Hospitals in its guide to living with a deaf cat, cats with hearing loss often fail to respond to familiar sounds such as their name, a treat bag, a can opening, or a vacuum. The change may look like disobedience because the cat still sees and smells normally.
VCA Canada Animal Hospitals also notes subtle age-related changes in older cats, such as not coming when called or not noticing an owner arriving home. Watch for a pattern across several days rather than one missed call.
- does not come when called from another room
- does not react to food sounds or household noise
- does not greet you at the door as before
- seems calm during loud sounds that once caused alarm
Has the meow or sleep changed?
Petful's veterinary-reviewed health article reports that deaf cats often meow more loudly or more often because they cannot hear and adjust their own volume. Some become especially noisy at night and may sound hoarse, urgent, or demanding. Kingsdale Animal Hospital explains that cats losing hearing startle easily when touched unexpectedly and fail to wake to loud sounds.
They may sleep more deeply because auditory warnings no longer alert them. A cat that once woke to footsteps but now sleeps through clatter, or that jumps when petted from behind, may be compensating with touch and sight. Approach within view, use gentle floor vibrations, and avoid waking by touch alone.
Which cats face higher risk?
Cornell University Feline Health Center reports in its Ask Elizabeth page on white cats and deafness that white-coated cats face high congenital deafness risk. The center lists 65-85% for cats with two blue eyes, 40% for one blue eye, and 17-22% for non-blue eyes, often on the blue-eyed side. Risk also rises with age and after ear disease.
Older cats commonly develop gradual hearing loss with quiet behavior changes. The Cornell CatWatch Newsletter links acquired deafness to chronic ear infection, ear-mite damage, ruptured eardrum, trauma, loud noise, or brain disease. Head shaking, ear scratching, odor, or discharge with hearing change needs prompt veterinary care.
How do vets confirm hearing loss?
The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association notes in its related resources on deafness in dogs and cats that definitive diagnosis requires veterinary examination plus brainstem auditory evoked response testing. The test measures brain-wave response through scalp electrodes and is the only reliable test for one-sided deafness.
A Santa Clarita veterinary article cautions that at-home clap-from-behind checks are only semi-reliable. Cats compensate well with vision and vibration sense, so a reaction does not prove normal hearing. Keep a suspected deaf cat indoors, use visual signals and touch cues, and ask your veterinarian about hearing testing and ear examination.