Have had really limited Forum time the last couple of days ....feel pretty much caught up now so I'll share my bit of news Took Dexter for his kennel cough booster yesterday and asked my vet to check his ears,he hasn't been scratching but he's been shaking his head more than usual ( he shakes his head quite a bit for eg he sticks it on a bush ...he shakes when he comes out ) anyway she had a look and the right ear is quite badly congested deep in the canal with as she described it 'muck' I looked down the instrument she used and it looked like the secretions he had when he had the yeast infection...she said it's not wax,it's a darker colour than wax ?anyway she then terrified me by putting an earbud down to try and get some out...it's too deep to even reach with an ear bud so I've got drops that will hopefully soften it and lift it up a bit and best case it will come out naturally,she said look for him getting dirty ears in the next couple of days.....hopefully :-\ I asked if that doesn't happen what will we do and she said lets not get into that just yet but you can flush the ear under sedation.....Hang on a minute?....we seem to have got to that awfully quickly when I think about Chocolate Charlie's ear issues...hopefully there is some middle ground?any experiences on the Forum?she says she doesn't think it's any kind of infection but the drops are antibiotic,anti fungal,antiseptic....covers everything she said! Anyway hopefully the drops will work.I'm gutted,I keep his ears immaculate I can't see how I could ever have prevented this happening.....just going to the airport to pick 3 friends up who are here for the next few days. I'll keep an eye,if I haven't seen anything come out but tomorrow I'll go back on Thursday :'( keep your fingers crossed and four legged ones their paws ;D x
Re: Ears Don't panic, yet. All dogs get the occasional dodgy ear. If he's got a very dark waxy substance in them, chances are he has ear mites. Loads of dogs and cats get them. The drops she has prescribed will no doubt kill them off and get rid of any other potential problems to boot. When you say you keep his ears immaculate, what do you mean? Ears are meant to be self cleaning and not have anything poked or washed down them. Just incase you are cleaning them out regularly, you're probably best off stopping that, as you could end up causing problems, by upsetting the natural balance of the ear. If not, then it's no doubt just one of those things. I looked in my Poodles ears today and one has a minor ear infection. She's never had one before and after I've treated this, she may never do again. It's just one of the joys of dogs with floppy ears, I'm afraid. 8)
Re: Ears Ah thanks for your reply....we live in the desert so his ears get really sandy if he has a bit of a hoolie with one of his pals so I have got proper dog ear wipes that I clean the sand out with and any little waxy bits I see sometimes....I never stick my finger down the canal...it fills me with horror ( being a kid and being told that whole thing about not putting anything down your ear smaller than your elbow ) I do that after a particularly sandy romp or if not,once a week,I check then everyday though ??? The vet said she doesn't think it is ear mites as he isn't scratching.......I though dog ear wax looked a bit like brown shoe polish ....that's what I saw down his ear but she said it's too dark for wax? Anyway let's see,hopefully the drops are working their magic as I type !hes our first dog so I worry about everything and when anything happens to him that it's me not doing something ( or doing something : ) that's caused it x
Re: Ears I hope Dexter's ears are ok tomorrow. Hopefully the drops will work . Big tummy rubs from me and licks from Harley
Re: Ears Aw, poor man. Big pats from us! If he's a stoic kind of dog he won't necessarily scratch with ear mites. A spot-on treatment like Advocate would kill ear mites. Hope that he is all better soon. Don't worry too much As Jules says, it's not unusual for the floppy ear brigade
Re: Ears Thanks Rachael,he is stoic,he gets sand mites on his webbing between his toes ( really common here ) and doesn't scratch or bother...I did his spot on Advantix on Saturday.....mum brought it out from the UK and she unpacked it from the packaging to save space ....... : what? So I can't read the instructions .Anyway I've googled it and it mentions all kinds of mites but not ear mites......he's shaking his head even more since I've started the drops but can't see anything 'mucky' yet......I'll call the vet tomorrow and make an appointment for Thursday before our weekend starts x
Re: Ears Advantage and Advantix have the same active ingredient (Imidacloprid) so should both be effective against ear mites. So, if there were any mites, you should have taken care of them with the Advantix. Maybe just give the stuff the vet gave you a bit of time to work... It is so frustrating when you know there is something wrong, though, isn't it.
Re: Ears Bloomin' ear problems! Had my fair share. As you know, I got what I think was really rubbish service from the first opinion vet and ended up at a dermatologist - for the most simple problem of an over growth of yeast! I've had a bad experience with messing around with ineffective treatments! Maybe it's just a simple ear infection and it'll be gone before you know it. You'll see improvement quickly if so. But if it's what Charlie had, the "kill 'em all" oily drops from the first vet made it significantly worse (oil creating a damp environment) although gave the temporary impression it was getting better. Added: this post seems discouraging - I didn't mean it to be, but wrote stacks on ear problems and had trouble posting. Then posted just a fraction by mistake. Hope Dex's problems clear up quickly.
Re: Ears Thanks Rachael...I know im so impatient and unnerved because he's shaking his head more now....is this evidence of whatever it is getting worse or better ??? Ho hum! Julie ,having followed all of Charlie's woes from the first ear problem ...I would never expect you to write a lot....I know it's all there for me to read if I need to refer,thank goodness for your detail thankyou x There was so much excitement last night with my friends arrival....lots of barking and body wagging.....one naughty friend ( who loves dogs and had had had a few drinks on the flight :) wouldn't leave him to settle....I'd put him back to bed and all was quiet,turned my back and she blummin called him out over the child gate......twice!I don't want him knowing how easy that is to do...he leapt it like it was a puddle I took him out took him out at 3 am to do a toilet ,so glad I did ,he did the most awful runny poo again......twice in the space of a few mins :'( I've just got that right again ........everyone got a bit of a talking to ( frank lecture if I'm honest :-[) about boundaries and NOT feeding the dog ANY item of food whatsoever!!I got the look that Chris gives me when I go into Dog Warrior mode.... :-[ :-\ ;D
Re: Ears Hey don wry Dexter is gonna do great bcoz he has u as his companion i guess Advantix will work as Jules and Rachel mentioned don panic hope everything gets better with Dex.. tc
Re: Ears Oh rubbish, poor Dex I get that look from my in-laws all the time. I'm so mean Riley doesn't get gravy on his food. I'm so mean he doesn't get milk that is near it's use by date. I'm so mean I expect him to walk at heel......the list is endless. I do have a dog that doesn't need to stay on his lead in the house though and who doesn't steal and slobber over all of Lizzies toys(although he does steal them as gifts when you arrive home occasionally - he say nobodies perfect ) so I think I'll stick with the decisions I've made and they can keep their opinions to themselves! oooo that was a bit of a rant Seriously though....who is it that has to deal with the fallout and the vets visits to get these sensitive boys sorted out. Us! Plus the fact that it's actually no fun for the dogs either having a runny bum and being starved for 24 hours. Hang in there Xena
Re: Ears [quote author=Oberon link=topic=4741.msg58699#msg58699 date=1393976867] Advantage and Advantix have the same active ingredient (Imidacloprid) so should both be effective against ear mites. So, if there were any mites, you should have taken care of them with the Advantix. Maybe just give the stuff the vet gave you a bit of time to work... It is so frustrating when you know there is something wrong, though, isn't it. [/quote] Not quite true. Advantage, Advocate and Advantix all contain imidacloprid which is the flea/lice component. Advantix also has a permethrin which repels ticks/sand flies etc but not ear mites. Advocate contains moxidectin as well as imidacloprid hence does ear mites (and a few other mites) as well as fleas/ticks. Hence using either Advantage or Advantix will not cover for ear mites. Hope his ears settle soon. Like Julie says re. Charlie dark wax at the base of the ear canal tends to imply yeasts anyway, ear mites are quite big and can be seen walking about the ear canal with an ordinary otoscope so likely your vet would have picked it up if there were mites to worry about. Hope this helps.
Re: Ears [quote author=bbrown link=topic=4741.msg58745#msg58745 date=1394011385 I get that look from my in-laws all the time. I'm so mean Riley doesn't get gravy on his food. I'm so mean he doesn't get milk that is near it's use by date. I'm so mean I expect him to walk at heel......the list is endless. [/quote] Just wondering if my OH had a secret brother... I'd swear that's my in-laws you're describing there. Clare
Re: Ears Hope Dex feels better soon! Try not to worry so much, as others have said ear infections are just one of those hinge that happen without any specific cause most of the time. Chances are it will clear up with the drops you have, if not they should try a different type of ear drops. As you said the waxy substance is too far down to reach it probably won't make much difference but hen I've had dogs in my kennels with ear infections I've always been advised to clean their ears before applying the drops. Don't worry about him head shaking more now that he has the drops, this is good. It should hopefully mean that whatever gunk is in his ears is ring broken up by the drops and the shaking helps to get it out. Wishing him a speedy recovery!
Re: Ears I forgot to say its natural to worry so much, it's always worse with your own dog. We always worry about the worse case scenario when actually, it's something simple and routine.
Re: Ears [quote author=Lochan link=topic=4741.msg58763#msg58763 date=1394021343] [quote author=Oberon link=topic=4741.msg58699#msg58699 date=1393976867] Advantage and Advantix have the same active ingredient (Imidacloprid) so should both be effective against ear mites. So, if there were any mites, you should have taken care of them with the Advantix. Maybe just give the stuff the vet gave you a bit of time to work... It is so frustrating when you know there is something wrong, though, isn't it. [/quote] Not quite true. Advantage, Advocate and Advantix all contain imidacloprid which is the flea/lice component. Advantix also has a permethrin which repels ticks/sand flies etc but not ear mites. Advocate contains moxidectin as well as imidacloprid hence does ear mites (and a few other mites) as well as fleas/ticks. Hence using either Advantage or Advantix will not cover for ear mites. [/quote] Whoops, I was mixing up Advantage and Advocate
Re: Ears [quote author=Lochan link=topic=4741.msg58763#msg58763 date=1394021343] ear mites are quite big and can be seen walking about the ear canal [/quote] SO glad I'm not a vet
Re: Ears [quote author=Dexter link=topic=4741.msg58708#msg58708 date=1393988079] everyone got a bit of a talking to ( frank lecture if I'm honest :-[) about boundaries and NOT feeding the dog ANY item of food whatsoever!!I got the look that Chris gives me when I go into Dog Warrior mode.... :-[ :-\ ;D [/quote] Good for you! Some of my friends and family... honestly. I've started saying things like "pretend my dog is a child, if I say he can't have it, HE CAN'T HAVE IT". It's so strange, they behave like I've no right to say what they do with my dog. The worst was when I was in the vet's last visit. A lady approached to say hello. I said no (very politely, and explained that I was keeping him calm, and he had a bad injury). She ignored me, announcing to the world in general that "young labradors don't do calm", sat down opposite us and started slapping her knees and saying "c'mon, here boy, come say hello!". I made him sit and she gave me a really dirty look, as though I was guilty of dog abuse. I'm afraid she got put straight. I'm proud to say, very nearly politely.
