recurring ear infections

[guffaw]

our staffie cross suffers from these, has to have regular courses of ear drops etc, and we keep her on a yeast free diet, any ideas on homely remedies to decrease the trauma of vet exams? last time she went it was so bad (ended up with excrement all over the exam room !!)plus her screaming during the exam. vets wont prescribe without seeing her. its homely remedy or sedation, which we want to avoid.

when do they happen? (what time of year?), are your dog's ears all brown gooey insied? Our dog used to suffer alot starting from about March/April time and it turned out to be hay fever!!!!! we gave our dog half a hay fever tablet in its food during the spring months and it helped alot. it may be worth a try

Google Thornit, I've been using it for years for every form of ear problem our dogs have and never been disappointed.

Are you finishing the course of ABs? My JRT was having recurring infections so we gave him a double course and it seems to have kicked it. You could buy some ear cleaner but be careful as they can be quite astringent.

Ear infections in dogs are notoriously difficult co clear up so it might be a case of keeping a close eye. If this continues ask your vet if she feels your dog has a particularly long ear canal as there is surgery available to shorten.

What are you feeding her? How much and how often?

she gets them at different times of the year.

ears not 'gooey', though brown muck comes off on cotton wool ball used to clean them - I've been told that this may be ear mite poo (hurl )

she has had around 7 courses variously of Canaural, steroid cream, Surulan,combined with ab's, we always finish the course, plus we've used sterile ear cleaner from vets, and cooled salt water, as advised from vets. She improved after injection of AB's and steroids, but that was after a really bad outbreak, during which she also got crusty sores around her muzzle folds.

we keep her diet restricted to IAMS (recommended amount for small dog breeds) webbox 'chomping chews' (wheat/gluten free) again on vets advice, in case she has a yeast allergy. - probably 5 sticks per day during training and reinforcement.

will check out thornit , thanks.

I'd recommend getting her off IAMS, which although quite pricey is very poor quality. It contains both wheat and brewers yeast which you're trying to avoid and is full of poor quality ingredients and common allergens.

Try her on a potato based diet for a couple of months - fish4dogs, Burns pork and potato, or Wainwrights (pets at home own brand) pork or salmon and potato.

I expect it'll make quite a difference to her - but really, really ditch the IAMS.

looked into daisy's advice, many thanks.

have ordered thornit - our local shops dont carry it, fingers crossed for success. She's due her annual boosters soon, so hopefully her ears will be ok by then.

cheers everyone.

I also use thornit for my springer spaniel. His breed is prone to ear problems because they are long, warm and perfect breeding grounds for germs.