Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 3:46 pm Post subject: Ear infections - why so many??Photos pg1
Well today after getting back from going out I noticed the whole of indi's 1 ear was considerably dropped in comparison to the other one. I looked in it (Once i caught her and pinned her down) to find it filled with dry blood!! I cleaned it all out as best I could and phoned the vet. I took her in and she has a raging ear infection in her right ear. Bless her Vera said it is so swollen she cant see the ear drum to see if there is an infection behind it. My poor babba has never cried so much when vera was looking in her ears with the scope. Vera said I had cleaned them out really well (ive become quite a pro at it now) and she has to have cream and antibiotics.
I clean her ears out every 2 weeks as she gets a lot of ear infections and build up. So i check them regularly and then clean them if necessary or give them a quick wipe out with some gauze. If they need the cleaner fluid then I use it but she doesnt like it so I try not to use that too much. I did her ears less that 2 weeks ago. Anyway She showed none of the usual signs of an ear infection (shaking her head or putting her back foot in her ear and wiggling it about.) So Im worried i could have spotted it sooner. She has had a pain killer and antibiotics via a needle and she is now snoring in her chair.
She gets an awful lot of ear infections and im worried its something else. She has allergies to beef, pork, chicken and wheat and she is fed on JWB fish and rice or lamb and rice. She only has fish based treats and JWB treats. I keep her ears clean and dry and regularly groom her. She only got rid of the last infection 4 weeks ago!
Does anyone else have the problem of reoccuring ear infections with their dogs?
Last edited by hayleyharrison on Wed Feb 08, 2012 9:27 pm; edited 1 time in total
Ted has had 2 upto now and hes 9 months.Vet said he'll be prone to them all his life now because hes had 2 already.She said all we can do is clean his ears out regularly to look for the early signs so he isnt in too much discomfort.She did mention allergies too but so far there have been no signs at all,im just glad hes not a swimmer,i imagine itd be even worse x
Don't beat yourself up re not noticing it sooner Hayley, you have done all the right things.
When Bruno came to us he had smelly waxy ears, and like you I used the cleaner every week and kept them as clean as poss, he also got to the point where I could hear him at night shaking his head and rubbing his ears on everything, so it was off to the vets.
The inner part of his ear channels were very red and swollen and they could not even see what was going on further down, he had an injection, AB'S an I think steroid drops to clear up the infection, it took a while but he has been ok for atleast 6 months now.
I hope Indi soon feels better, it may be possible that the previous infections were not fully cleared up when the treatments were finished and the vet missed the signs.
Sam did but we found it was related to his allergies and that as a result some of the debris never really cleared properly despite drops and things like that. The Vet cleaned his ear under sedation and we changed his diet (again!) and touch wood no problems since (3 months later). It might be worth thinking about allergy again if this is still a regular thing maybe not just to food but other things like a particular tree or grassland that she goes on or dustmites or something if she has a lot of soft bedding. Does she show any other signs of allergy like licking/scratching/sucking paws, diarrhoea, sickness etc? The allergy tests aren't always accurate and they can change over time esp if she's under 2 according to Sam's specialist so always worth a review of everything just in case. Like you I tend to feel ever so sorry for him and guilty if he has any symptoms of anything at all, especially recurring ones. Hope you can sort this out for Indi.
My basset's ear's are a nightmare. He got an infection that the vet couldn't treat and so we ended up at the dermatologist. It took about 6 months to clear completely and now he goes for monthly checkups to make sure they stay completely clean. Since then he has been fine for a year and a half.
I have to clean them every three days with Sancerum or TrizCHLOR, both recommended by the dermatologist. He is also fed eukanuba fp, as it is a diet that is proven to help with this sort of problem.
Most of these recurrent problems stem from an allergy. The dermatologist had said if we couldn't get it under control, he would have to be tested further to see what he was allergic to. Fortunately, we didn't have to go down that route.
Most ear problems stem from a yeast imbalance and then a further infection gets in, so if you can control the yeast, that is half the battle. Another basset owner was told by her dermatologist to try Canesten solution (that you can buy at a chemist). Just a few drops of that over a couple of days will keep most yeast infections in check.
Olly gets them all the time and my vet said it's because his right ear is particularly flat and lies close to his head, good for a gundog, not so good for getting airflow inside the ear.
I clean them out every fortnight or so with damp wipe and a bit of caniaural (which he hates) and we make regular trips to the vets for medicines!
Nellie seemed to have one ear infection after the other from coming home at 8 weeks
The vet said she had particularly narrow canals. It was so bad that if she ever swam I always gave her ears a gentle flush out afterwards. She had more time with an infection than without in her first year
Nellie also had repeated bouts of sloppy poos too and I was convined she had food intolerances.
She's now nearly three and touch wood has only had 1 ear infection this last year and isn't too bad now in the tummy department either.
I hope Indi's eases with age too, it's not nice is it
Ear infections and food intolerances/allergies do go hand in hand unfortunately and will often not resolve until the dog either grows out of the intolerance (they never grow out of a true allergy) or the source of the reaction is completely removed. Of course you can't remove all things they react to, as some of it can be environmental....grass pollen, etc.
I never clean my dogs ears out as they are rarely, if ever dirty and to be honest, I do wonder if cleaning them out when they don't need it, with some strong ear cleaners, can cause a problem in the first place. I was always led to believe, like human ears, they are self cleaning.
Obviously if there is already a problem there, then chances are the ear canal will need cleaning out, so that any medication has a chance to reach the surface of the skin. I would look at using the mildest of ear cleaners to do the job though, as some contain alcohol and that must really sting an already sore ear.
Well ive managed to get some photos to show you the extent to her head. I honestly thought she had had the dog equivalent to a stroke by the way she looked!!!
her normally
her when i first noticed when I got home (when i left and came back an hour later this is what had happened!)
Indi this evening. Much better facially but the ear is still quite drooped.
Ive now put the cone on as she was sliding her head across the floor rubbing her bad ear and scratching it with her foot so out comes the cone when I cant keep an eye on her!!! She looks very sad for herself!!!
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because hes had 2 already.She said all we can do is clean his ears out regularly to look for the early signs so he isnt in too much discomfort.She did mention allergies too but so far there have been no signs at all,im just glad hes not a swimmer,i imagine itd be even worse x
Hope you can sort this out for Indi. 
