Deaf Guinea-pig?

[abbypig]

My piggy Lady has a history of ear infections, they have left her with a permanent head tilt even after all the treatment (she gets along just fine with it so we leave her be).

In the past few days I have noticed she isn't very responsive anymore. This morning she was awake, but with her back to me when I walked into the room, I spoke to them and the other pig noticed me, I went to stroke them and Lady jumped a foot in the air, I could swear she had not noticed I was there.

Also, I have trained my pigs to expect treats when I click my tongue (just to give them some sense of anticipation and excitement) but Lady doesn't start to run in circles and get excited until her friend does, it's almost as if she hasn't heard me but is imitating her friend.

Sorry for such long post. Does anyone have any ideas if she could be deaf or partially deaf? I'm positive sometimes she can hear me when I talk to her. She's still very healthy so I am unwilling to take her to the vet unless she seems to be unhappy, though I would take her immediately if I believed her to not be herself.

[Orlaith]

I've never encountered a deaf piggy before so I'm not the best person to be giving advice. The only thing I can think is to try to approach her from the side so she doesn't get as much of a fright. It's definitely possible that all her ear infections have affected her hearing. To test her you could take her cagemate out for a few minutes and try making some loud noises to see if she reacts. That way you'll know if she can hear you or if she's just copying her friend.

[abbypig]

I think I can conclude she's just deaf! She's probably delighted to have a diagnosis though, we've always thought her slow reactions to everything were due to her being a bit stupid...!