Stuart started to suspect that Scottie was losing his hearing.  Scottie used to come straight to the door when Stuart opened it for him, but now Stuart has to walk all the way to Scottie to get his attention.  I immediately made an appointment for him to see the vet today.  Scottie was more timid than usual; he stayed in his carrier the entire time while waiting for his vet.    He looked so sad.  The vet did a physical exam; Scottie appeared fine.  There were no signs of infections or tumors which could also be the causes of hearing loss.  When the vet went around Scottie a few times squeaking a squeaky toy, Scottie did not show any responses at all.  At that point, it really hit me that our cat is getting older and now he has lost his hearing.  I immediately filled with sadness and guilt.  I have been somewhat neglecting Scottie, and we often get mad at him for his loud meow as we worry that he will wake up the kids.  I also have been avoiding holding him so I won’t have to get fur all over me before holding Connor.  The vet tried to calm me by saying that cats are very resilient and will adapt to the change soon.  Besides the hearing loss, Scottie also continues to lose weight; he is now only 8lbs 11oz.  So we did another blood panel today.  Will keep our finger crossed for the results.

     We are still trying to accept this sad news.  We have to try to limit his outing now since he won’t be able to hear approaching cars.  Scottie may not be joining us as much to play as he won’t be finding us by our voices to different rooms of the house or hear that we are in the yard.  We really need to step it up now to give him more TLC.