Recurring ear infection

[Wellhellothere101]

Hi all. Looking for advice-this is our first dog so I'm not hugely experienced. I have a 4 year old Australian labradoodle who is a dream dog and has kept really good health so far. However for the last year she has had a smelly, painful right ear on a few occasions. I've taken her to the vet each time who agreed it was infected and gave me antibiotic/anti fungal/steroid ear drops. These drops have worked each time but each visit and review at the vet costs £100.
The vet said if this continues she could carry out allergy testing to see if she is allergic to something but I don't feel she is (mostly because it's only one ear and its intermittent). Plus I can only guess how much this will cost.
I take the dog to the groomers regularly and she pulls the hair out of her ear which the vet recommended. However I wondered if anyone else's dog had this and if anything worked rather than me going to the vet every month! Thanks

[Wellhellothere101]

Thanks @Girlintheframe Yes she goes to the groomer every month and she gets rid of all the hair in her ears which I think helps. I gave her ears a good clean last night which really helped and they smell great now but think I'll start cleaning more regularly against the vet's advice. I'll clean twice a week for a while to see if that helps.

[Girlintheframe]

We have the same problem with our SWD.
Apologies if this has already been suggested but our vet has said to get ddog in, sedate him them shave the hair in the ear canal.
We cut a lot of the hair out but would never be able to get deep enough. Vet said the hair/wax is a breeding ground for bacteria. They also said to clean ears 2/3 times a week using a cleaner that breaks up ear wax

[steppemum]

by the way, once I was on repeat visits, I made sure I saw the same person each time, then I felt as if we had much more thought about the fact it was recurring and long term etc.

[BiteyShark]

You should consider whether all the incidents recently are the same as you can retrospectively claim depending on your provider.

I can submit claims up to 1 year after an incident and then for subsequent claims for the same 'illness' they are just submitted as a continuation. I claim for anything above my excess but I am with petplan who haven't hiked up my premiums despite my frequent claims.

[Wellhellothere101]

Thanks @steppemum I think I'll need to just bite the bullet and get her back to the vets. I can then discuss allergy testing too and chat about insurance. I've never claimed anything on her insurance so will need to find out the process.
I'll maybe switch her food to grain free too.

[Bookworm4]

*grain free

[Bookworm4]

One of dogs had recurring ear problems in one ear, it was found she had a very narrow ear canal, they were surgically flushed and we now clean 3 times per week, also on a grain diet, definitely all made a difference.

[steppemum]

oh and costs, unfortunately for us, ours is a rescue and it was a preexisting condition.
But vet said she could bundle them all together as the same recurring infection for our insurance if we wanted to try.

[steppemum]

ok, so I have springer spaniel who has had a recurring infection for a year and we have finally got rid of it.
this was the process:

ear cleaner, plus drops once a day for about 10 days.
return to vet
continue with cleaning and drops until the vert announced it clear.
she checked it each time and instead of one week with antibiotics, we ended up with 3 weeks, until it was clear.
continue to clean 3 times per week for a while
go back after month to check.
Then it recurred again.
after repeating the above (this was 3rd or 4th time he'd had it)
we then went to a long term steroid drops. once or twice a week, clean and steroids.
That stopped it recurring and now he doesn't need anything.

BUT early on they sent off a sample to the lab so that we had the correct antibiotics, and every time we go to the vet,she takes a smear from his ear and looks under the microscope, so she can see if there are still bacteria, or yeast.

floppy ears are prone to them, and also worse if your dog swims (our doesn't)

[MissShapesMissStakes]

Can you ask your vet about the costs? When my dog had an ear infection as a puppy the vet said that if he ended up getting recurring ear infections he would bundle up the costs of treatment and testing together so that the insurance would cover it once the excess was paid.

[OliviaBenson]

We had this with our dog and allergies were suggested. In the end I used a watered down white vinegar solution and washed them out every day for 2 weeks (lots of info on google about it). Turns out it was just a chronic infection that the expensive stuff wasn't fully clearing up.

[Veterinari]

Please don’t use thornit - powder should never be used in ears.

OP please simply try the cleanaural a couple of times a week. It’ll shift wax and help to ventilate her ears. It’s pH balanced and non-irritant.

If infections are still occurring then allergy testing is a good idea. Her insurance should cover it

[PrayingandHoping]

Hypoallergenic dog food needs to be taken with a pinch of salt!

Chicken is one of the most common allergens for a dog....

[Wellhellothere101]

Thanks everyone. She has been spayed and we have insurance for her. I give her Burn's dry chicken and brown rice food every day with some bran flakes. Her food says it's suitable for dogs with allergies and intolerance. She also gets treats though (dog treats and the odd bit of cheese ) so allergies may be coming from the treats. Good idea about the Piriton. I'll try that.
I've got Thornit powder at home as recommended by the breeder but I've never found it that great. Perhaps her ears weren't clean enough to begin with though!

[PrayingandHoping]

Mine had the same as @Dottierichardson it's very slightly more expensive but has better success rate

[Dottierichardson]

Also the fact that the food has been tolerated for a while doesn't necessarily mean not allergic, ours was fine for two or three years then became allergic.

[Dottierichardson]

I agree with other posters had this with one of mine – turned out to be allergies to dust mites, wheat, certain plants, as well as mites in kibble. The allergy testing can be expensive but think of how much that is offset by the later savings on meds/treatment for ear infections as well as discomfort avoided for the dog. Also may want to try different ear meds, ours responded well to the newer one Osurnia, the vet administers one dose, it’s left and about a week later you take the dog back and the nurses administer the second dose. Also watch out for hot spots, as recurring infections can also start to be accompanied by hot spots in the vicinity of the infection. I sorry you and your dog are going through this, it’s a pain for the dog and as you say can end up being quite expensive. Could also try Piriton see if it helps, can give a dog a standard one pill dose to help calm allergies down, the same one as for humans, BUT must be normal Piriton NOT Clarityn, Piriteze or any of the others.

[tabulahrasa]

“No it's not always food, but it's an easy place to start”

Oh aye... I just more meant with the OP saying she always eats the same food, food is an easy one to change to see what happens but it not being food wouldn’t rule out an allergy is what I meant.

[PeoniesarePink]

Grain free food is the first starting point.

Then get some good quality ear cleaner and Thornit's powder (around £8 off Amazon and it lasts years). Clean daily to get on top of it, then maintenance x2 a week. Then shave as much of your dogs hair as you can around the entrance to his ears so that there is better airflow - I often tie my dogs up with a hair band to let his ears breathe.

I've got a 6 year old cocker and he was plagued by them until we started doing the above.

[PrayingandHoping]

No it's not always food, but it's an easy place to start if you don't want to test by doing an elimination diet

[tabulahrasa]

Allergies aren’t always to food btw...

It was about £500 to do contact allergy tests on my dog at a dermatologist - but he was a large dog and it took 3 goes to sedate him properly, so that will have bumped it up a bit.

[Wolfiefan]

We are allergy testing. For dogs they can apparently cope then the system is overwhelmed and the allergy manifests. I suspect chicken.
My girl it’s yeast. It always is.
It also seems to be affected by her hormones. Is your girl spayed?

[PrayingandHoping]

I got lucky. It could have been something else....

Allergy testing isn't cheap. Is the dog insured? Otherwise try changing his food recipe and see if it improves. Obv at the same time as treating the infection

[Wellhellothere101]

Yes that's exactly what the vets have suggested to me @PrayingandHoping. However my dog seems not to have any other symptoms of an allergy and she always eats the same food. If I knew how much allergy testing might cost I'd give it a try. My vet is bloody expensive!

[PrayingandHoping]

You shouldn't need to regularly clean your dogs ears.....

My oldest I have hardly ever had to clean. My youngest repeatedly had dirty ears.
Mentioned to vet, they diagnosed infection and treated and suggested it was an allergy. I was already suspecting he was allergic to wheat as he'd get rashes when he came into contact. So eliminated all wheat (which was only then treats as his food was already grain free) and I have literally never had to clean his ears since. 3 years on!

So that's why vets say allergy. It often is