Deafness in Dogs and Cats

George Strain received his training in electrical engineering (BS, University of Illinois), biomedical engineering (MS and PhD, Iowa State University), and physiology (PhD, Iowa State University), followed by postdoctoral training in neurology (UCLA Brain Research Institute). He has been on the faculty of the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine since 1978, where he teaches veterinary and graduate students and has held several administrative positions. His research interests broadly encompass veterinary neurology, including epilepsy, narcolepsy, spongiform encephalopathies, and the development and application of electrodiagnostic techniques, but his greatest focus for more than twenty years has been on studies of deafness in animal species.

1: Anatomy of the Auditory System 1.1: Anatomy of the External Ear 1.2: Anatomy of the Middle Ear 1.3: Anatomy of the Inner Ear 1.4: Development of the Ear 1.5: Blood Supply of the Ear 1.6: Innervation of the Ear 2: Physiology of the Auditory System 2.1: Sound 2.2: Divisions of the Ear 2.3: Sound Localization 2.4: Central Projections 3: Forms and Mechanisms of Deafness 3.1: Unilateral versus Bilateral Deafness 3.2: Partial versus Total Deafness 3.3: Syndromic versus Non-syndromic Deafness 3.4: Peripheral versus Central Deafness 3.5: Forms of Peripheral Deafness 3.6: Other Forms of Hearing Disturbance 3.7: Treatment of Deafness 4: Hereditary Deafness 4.1: Dogs 4.2: Cats 5: Later Onset Deafness 5.1: Ototoxicity 5.2: Presbycusis 5.3: Noise Trauma 5.4: Anesthesia-associated Deafness 5.5: Conduction Deafness 6: Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response (BAER) 6.1: Biophysics of BAER Recordings 6.2: Overview of the BAER 6.3: Extrinsic Factors Affecting the BAER 6.4: Intrinsic Factors Affecting the BAER 6.5: Clinical Applications of the BAER 7: Other Tests of Auditory Function 7.1: Endocochlear Potential 7.2: Cochlear Microphonic and Summating Potential 7.3: Electrocochleogram 7.4: Acoustic Impedance, Tympanometry and the Acoustic Reflex 7.5: Middle- and Long-latency-evoked Responses 7.6: Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emissions 7.7: Saccule- and Vestibular-evoked Myogenic Potentials 8: Living with a Deaf Dog or Cat 8.1: Behavior of Deaf Animals 8.2: Hand Signal Training 8.3: Counseling For Owners/Breeders of Deaf Animals