Ear Medication

Question
Hello!  First of all, thank you for your kindness to answer the following question.

My dog's breed is Shih Tzu and he is now 13 years old.  My dog recently gets the ear infection.  And the vet gave us the ear drops called "Aurizon"(which contains Marbofloxacin, Clotrimazole Ph. Eur and Dexamethasone acetate).  After 4 times of medication, my dog can't hear anything.  We have checked the direction of the ear drops, it said "On rare occasions, the use of this product may be associated with deafness, mainly in elderly dogs and mostly of a transient nature".  Therefore, we brought my dog to the vet again, the vet said stop the ear drop and start the following medication: Prednisolone tablets once a day (half tablet), Cephalexin tablet twice a day (one tablet) and clean the ear with Saline twice a day).  Moreover, the vet said hopefully my dog will get back the hearing within 1 to 2 weeks.  I'm so worry because my dog's health is really good.  But because of the ear drops, my dog becomes deafness.  Is that truth my dog can get back normal hearing within a short time.  Do you have any other opinions?

Thank you for your help

Answer
Your dog may never get his hearing back,  but don't panic,  this is no big deal.  My border collie has been deaf since birth ,  and you wouldnt know it.  Dogs are so in tune with our body language that they don't have to hear our words.  I think the vet acted a bit rashly giving you those ear drops.  Did they explain the possible side effects?  I'd say deafness is quite a serious side effect.

Of course the vet could be right and his hearing may come back.  I doubt it,  but seriously don't worry.  Your dog will still be the same,  and he will get by.  I promise.

Heres a couple of good links.

http://www.ukwebpages.co.uk/deafdogs/index.htm

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_ear_infections.html