Buttercup gone deaf?

Question
Hi Dr. Dana!
I have a 5 yr old french lop named buttercup. he always used to respond to his name and he used to do tricks and everything. Latley, he has been ignoring me and dosnt even seem to respond to his name. Has he gone deaf? is that even possible?
Another possibility is that I went on vacation for 3 weeks and left him with my uncle who took great care of him. Is he upset that i left him for so long and is now deliberatly ignoring me?
Another strange occurance is that i have never had buttercup neuterd so he used to hump everything. Now, he has suddenly stopped and apperently has no desire anymore. Did he grow it out?  I know this si alot to read but i am REALLY LOST and i need ur help. Thanks so much!

Answer
Dear Leah,

To find out if your bunny is deaf, one way is to wait until he's relaxed and not facing you, and then clap your hands.  If he can hear you, he will give some sign, even if it's only a twitch of the ears.  If he doesn't respond, I'd get him to a good rabbit vet for a look into the ears.  A problem like this could just be an ear wax plug or it could be more serious, such as an ear infection.  

It is possible for a rabbit to go deaf, but it's important to find out if there is a medically treatable cause to reduce or stop the damage before it's permanent.

It's possible he's snubbing you, but I'd have the vet check him out to be sure.

His loss of libido could be related to aging (though he's by no means old at 5), or to a health problem such as the pain of an ear infection, so ask the vet about that, too.  This all could be related to the same thing.

I hope this helps.

Dana