Our dog seems to be susceptible to getting sore / infected ears: they become inflamed, mucky and smelly. We have ear drops to treat it, but last time I found these very difficult to administer. Our poor dog’s ears were obviously very painful and he ran and hid every time he saw me with the bottle. The vet has not identified the cause, but told us that some dogs are just prone to ear infections (especially those that have ears that fold over). Today our dog has started rubbing his head on the ground. His ears look ok, but there is that distinct smell so I am guessing here we go again. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this with their dogs and may be able to offer some advice?
My late boy Sam was very prone to ear infections and , whilst never a nervous dog , he did exactly the same as yours , hid his head when I approached with the dreaded bottle ! I bought some very good ear cleaner from the Vets, it was expensive but lasted for a long time , I cleaned his ears thoroughly every few days , the theory being that we were getting rid of any debris lurking in there which could cause irritation and/or infection . It worked a treat and he did eventually resign himself to having his ears cleaned, the cleaning lotion was Virbac .
Thanks for the info @kateincornwall Is it this product? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Epi-Otic-E...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=6YF7X228FA9FHM4GMHNC
Thank you for such a quick response. I was wondering whether cleaning his ears might prevent an infection. He is usually very calm so this would not be a problem; it is just when they are infected we can’t get near them – understandably.
If your dog is getting repeated ear infections, I would ask for a referral to a specialist to determine if there's an underlying problem that isn't being resolved by use of the drops.
I would definitely be asking for a specialist referral if it is repeated ear infections; it really isn't much fun for either of you to have this recurring. If he isn't keen on having his ears touched when they are sore make sure you have a good supply of 'special treats' to help. I recently had to deal with an eye infection which needed eye drops twice a day. I have always had checking eyes as part of our daily routine handling - no problems until I needed to do the drops I managed by having a supply of small diced chicken breast and very small squares of parmesan and offered some chicken pieces, a few parmesan, some chicken, more parmesan, applied eye drops and then gave a big bonus of chicken and parmesan I hope you get the problem solved quickly
When Casper first started getting ear infections, the first thing the vet discussed was diet, (whilst treating the ears with antibiotic drops and a cleaning regime). Diet was excluded so we just focussed on getting to the root of the infection. The drops were effective, but didn't quite clear the infection completely. We then saw a specialist vet who prescribed a different antibiotic which is applied once weekly then the second dose which lasts for 2 weeks. This was far easier for Casper who hated the drops. These new drops worked a treat and he has been fine ever since.
Thanks, Beanwood. When you say 'diet was excluded' how did you determine this? Was it a case of removing certain things from his diet?
No problem. We were pretty sure his ear infection was not diet related because he was one an older dog and two being on a single source protein food anyway which didn't contain any ingredients commonly associated with allergens, such as chicken and beef and some grains to a lesser effect. It was, therefore, was fairly straightforward to switch to another food which excluded that particular protein. We also had no other symptoms that might also signpost to the ear infection being caused by his diet, such as smelly or itchy feet, copious gas or other anal/GI issues.
Tilly has had ear infections of and on all her life. Mostly yeast, but sometimes combined with bacteria. We treat with ear cleaner, which she really does not like, but it does help. We think it may be partly food allergy related since they problems have flared up after using different dog food a few times. Chicken and rice base seems to work pretty well for her. She has the ears that lay close to her head, unlike Cooper's that stand out.
Thanks as always for the advice. Our boy is raw feed. He doesn’t have any grain in his diet, but does have quite a bit of beef and chicken so perhaps that’s something to think about ...(although there are no signs of itchy feet and thankfully no copious gas either). We will certainly invest in some ear cleaner and arrange another trip to the vets.
I've no idea if this helps but a friend I walk with has a lab about 18 months who kept getting ear infections. She walks in the woods and the dog loves muddy puddles which she jumps and rolls in, we wondered if that contributed?
Tilly got her first ear infection after we took her to a Dock Dog practice when she was about a year old. The pond had kind of a clay mud in it, probably from being stirred up by all the dogs. We also know that there are some foods that seem to cause her to lick her feet to the point of having little hair between her toes. We stay away from those, but she still has ear issues. In addition at 12 yrs, she is just about deaf. Maybe as a result of the ear infections, but also could just be old age. She is aging faster than our first Lab did
Tilly got her first ear infection after we took her to a Dock Dog practice when she was about a year old. The pond had kind of a clay mud in it, probably from being stirred up by all the dogs. We also know that there are some foods that seem to cause her to lick her feet to the point of having little hair between her toes. We stay away from those, but she still has ear issues. In addition at 12 yrs, she is just about deaf. Maybe as a result of the ear infections, but also could just be old age. She is aging faster than our first Lab did
Wispa had these drops recently too when two weeks of a different treatment didn’t work. The vet took a sample of the gunge to look at under the microscope to see if the treatment would be suitable, then did the first application. I had to take her back in a week for a second dose, then a week later for a final check. There was no ear cleaning to do at all between visits, as the dose coats the ear and must not be disturbed. I think Wispa’s infection (in one ear) was the result of swimming in a river, so I need to dry her ears after future swimming.
That's interesting, Cassie has had smelly/irritated ears in the past, I put it down to often being wet. But reading this got me thinking, this seems to have stopped since changing her food a few months ago, I hadn't thought that it was diet related but perhaps it was.
Interestingly diet is one area that a trainer/behaviourist should always be discussing with a client as diet does have a huge impact on health and behaviour. Having said that in the UK only a vet, or a canine nutritionist can legally recommend a food/diet . Good to hear that Cassie's ears haven't been smelly/irritated since the diet change
I'm having the same problem. Just changed food from Wellness Core Original to Nutro Limited Diet, Salmon and Duck. Crossing my fingers. Also cleaning ears daily and giving a drop of otimax in each. Don't waste that stuff. Expensive. Our vet told us that OTC ear cleaners are fine, but to make sure they have something in them that dries/evaporates in the ear or it will fester the same as water.
