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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

At my wits end with my poor dog and her endless ear problem , any advice would be so gratefully received

16 replies

Debris · 09/06/2013 14:27

My 11 year old Border Terrier has had a recurring ear problem for over 3 years. I literally dont know what else to try. We have spent hundreds of pounds at the vets. Ive lost count of the antibiotics she has had , all different types and anti inflammatories. She has had swaps taken 3 times , been sedated and had it flushed out several times. The inside if her ear is so swollen that there is no hole to the ear canal. The last time we took her the vet said that all that could be done now was an operation to remove the entire inner ear and then sew up the hole. £1600 ! The things that I have tried myself for her are bathing it with warm water and a drop of teatree or lavender oil. Calendula cream ,garlic capsules added to her food and omega fish oil added to her food to try and boost her immunity.
She scratches her ear until it bleeds , often shakes her head and it smells awful , in fact all of her smells pretty awful. I feel so sorry for her . If anyone comes up with anything I will be so grateful. TIA.

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mrslaughan · 09/06/2013 14:35

what about diet? No experience of this in dogs, but DS had re-occuring ear problems....actually diet didn't help him, but it solved my nephews chronic ear infections. The solution for DS chronic ear infections was a nasal spray daily - its a antihistamine. (obviously we have bad ears as a family...)

lurcherlover · 09/06/2013 14:43

Do you pluck the hairs out of her ears? You have to pluck them, not cut them, or they still block the ear canal. I used to use tweezers. Some dogs don't mind, but with one of my hairy-eared chaps I had to hold him down with him on his side and my arm on his shoulder. If there's a lot, do a few each day until they're gone.

Floralnomad · 09/06/2013 14:44

Have you asked for a referral to a specialist ?

lurcherlover · 09/06/2013 14:44

And a buster collar to stop the scratching whilst it heals?

CheerfulYank · 09/06/2013 14:52

My golden retriever mix gets recurring yeast infections in his ears...is that what it is? It smells awful and he scratches it bloody.and whimpers. :(

He gets an ointment that clears it up. It does come back eventually, but the ointment always takes care of it.

CheerfulYank · 09/06/2013 14:56

Apparently if it IS a yeast infection you can clear it up yourself with a 50/50 solution of water and white vinegar, but I've never tried.

Irate · 09/06/2013 14:58

Juliette de barracli levy recommended lemon juice and warm water to gently flush the ear out but I have no personal experience
www.mountainroseherbs.com/newsletter/10/march/petremedies.php

Debris · 09/06/2013 16:47

Thanks everyone, I have tried changing her diet over the years , but have to be a bit careful because she has got a bit of a sensitive tummy and anything different seems to set it off. Her ears arent actually very hairy inside. I did try a buster collar a few weeks ago , but we have a one year old border terrier as well and she chewed her out of it ! Im a bit scared to try the ear flushing thing , because there isnt a hole at all as her ear is so thickened inside , so I would have to poke the syringe in , and Im not sure any would be able to come out again. That website is really interesting Irate. Thanks everyone and keep em coming !

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PipkinsPal · 09/06/2013 16:53

Has she got folded over ears? I read somewhere that spaniels have ear problems and to allow air to get at them use a peg to hold them up. Makes the dog look ridiculous but it could work. Perhaps you could adapt something for your dog as I understand Border Terrier ears fold over and there is not enough fur for pegs to be applied which don't cause pain.

moosemama · 09/06/2013 17:21

Our oldgirl had chronic ear problems due to malassezia pachydermatis which is basically an overgrowth of yeast.

Like you we tried everything, spent ££££s on vet fees. The only thing that helped was putting her on a bones and raw food diet, avoiding all grains - but even then it didn't completely go and she would have regular flare ups and infections. In the end it was managed by the vet keeping us stocked with Surolan to use at the first sign of an ear flare up.

She was also atopic so had multiple allergies that we had to try and identify and manage, as if an allergy flared up, it inflamed the MP.

She was a shepherd cross collie with stand-up ears, but ended up with an aural haematoma from shaking and scratching and had to have it operated on, resulting in her having one ear up/one ear down from then on.

She also had MP around her toes and back end and just before she died we discovered Organic Neem oil. I was really sceptical, having been told about so many different natural remedies over the years and in fact put off trying it for the longest time, but when I did we were amazed. It absolutely stinks - worse than the yeast to be honest, but from the second application she stopped scratching and within a fortnight the fur was starting to grow back on her paws. It also gradually reduced the black greasy patch on her lower abdomen and drastically improved her external ear canal, although I was never brave enough to try drops actually in her ear and we lost her to cancer not long after we discovered the treatment.

You can buy it online, but need to make sure it's high quality and preferably organic neem. We bought some cream for her feet, pinna and abdomen, plus some concentrated drops to add to the cream for a boost and to use neat on particularly bad areas. We bought from here and got this this and this. The neat oil stinks, but the cream and shampoo don't.

Other than that, I have read several studies about systemic veterinary treatment of chronic fungal infections using 'azoles' - basically the group of medicines we would use for thrush or athletes foot. The dogs are given it orally to clear the whole system of the yeast. I mentioned it to my vet and he poo-poed the idea, but there are lots of peer reviewed research studies available online, so it might be worth discussing with your vet - or asking for a referral to somewhere that will be more open. Iirc you need to have cultures done to check which type of azole your dog's yeast infection is most likely to respond to.

Just a quick Google threw up this, which is an easy read.

idirdog · 09/06/2013 17:45

Thornit worth a try

Vibbe · 09/06/2013 18:50

Allergies, for instance grain allergy, dust allergy, perfume allergy (including natural oils such as lavender and lemon which are known for causing allergies) and so on can cause that kind of ear problems.

I would try feeding just cooked rice and chicken to see if it could be an allergy to something the dogs is being fed.

I would also cut out all perfumed products (shampoo, air freshener, washing powder) and instead use an allergy-friendly shampoo (I've heard good things about Dermocanis) and wash the dog's bedding and so on in perfume-free and allergy-friendly washing powder.

We have a cocker spaniel, and have been recommended not to clean the ears with anything but water to avoid causing irritation. We use a saline solution from the pharmacy - it's sold as being for nasal rinsing. Just spray some into the dog's ear and then let her shake her head until it's gone.

Lonecatwithkitten · 09/06/2013 19:00

If you want to try the exclusion diet I would steer clear of chicken and rice as both are very common in commercial dog foods so are actually very common allergens nowadays.
The Wafcol salmon and potato is an excellent commercial diet that can be used. The very best and the one that seems most successful is rabbit and porridge as both are novel in most dogs diets today.

Vibbe · 09/06/2013 19:44

Storage mites can also be a problem - and is found in most commercial dog food. I know a couple of dogs suffering from an allergy to these mites (AFAIK they are quite similar to house dust mites).

stationtostation · 09/06/2013 19:50

My Poodle suffered from recurrent ear infections and sometimes itchy toes. We tried everything that has been mentioned above over the course of years.
The thing that eventually cracked it for us was to swap to raw food, Natures Diet. We had tried loads of different allergy foods before. So I don't know whether it was the lack of grains or the lack of Storage mites, but he hasn't had any problems for 2 years now! I'm sure it would work just as well if you cooked the meat (if you don't like the thought of raw) but I'm too lazy.

Debris · 10/06/2013 14:17

Thank you everyone , lots of things to look at there. Im determined to get on top of it , I will try anything.

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