Older cat going deaf

[RandomWhisker]

Is it normal for older cats to lose their hearing?

My cat is 17 & I've had suspicions that his hearing is less for a while. This morning I called him from the bedroom window & normally he'd instantly look up & start meowing (he's always meowing, very noisy cat!)

So it seems certain now. I feel really sad that he's getting older & I'm a bit nervous to Google in case it says that something else is going on... He seems absolutely fine apart from this.

[Defiantlynot41]

Normal as far as I know. All my oldies have got deaf as time goes on (16-17 onwards), not completely deaf but hard of hearing. Makes it easier to sneak up on them if they need meds!

Incidentally they have all also got louder and more frequent meows around the same time

[RandomWhisker]

Thank you for sharing that. I didn't realise this about cats. I had 3 at one point but the other 2 died at 14.

He's meowing the same for now, I hope he doesn't get much louder as he's always been very loud! Poor boy.

Do you think it upsets them?

[RandomWhisker]

Hmm just realised I missed a part out in the op. Today, when I called him, he just sat there as if there wasn't any noise. He's never done that before.