Chronic Ear Problems

[westiemum]

Hi Everyone,

As many of you know I have a 9 year old rescue westie who is the light of my life. With the help of many others including great DOLers I've rehabbed him back to brilliant health - he is quite the most amazing little dog. With only one problem - he has chronic left ear infection.

According to the vet his left ear canal is very narrow because of untreated chronic ear infections when he was in the pf - the fur on the left side of his face was stained through seeping chronic infection when I got him. The ear canal has narrowed through scar tissue and maybe even calcification over the years from chronic untreated infection. Its narrow, poorly aerated and chronically moist and so often smells very yeasty - I know when he's having a bout as apart from the smell he scratches it which doesn't help. I treat it with ear drops from the vet which help a lot but the problem seems to constantly recur. I'm wondering if the problem is that it never seems to dry out properly (bit like swimmers ear in humans).

I'd really like to do something for him rather than constantly pour drops down his ear. Would anyone have any ideas about what I might do differently to help my old boy? Any different drops or treatment? Anyone have any experience with this??

Thanks tons - any advice really appreciated.

Cheers

Westiemum

[Clyde]

You can buy ear dryers for dogs. Maybe this might help somewhat??

[cowanbree]

What diet are you feeding him? Often ears can clear up witha change of diet

[Cavandra]

In my experience these things usually clear up when the dog is detoxed off of grains & corn "fillers"......a completely raw diet should see it gone if it is yeast.

There is a home remedy that many breeders use on chronic problems, but some ingredients are hard to get these days (

[Golden Rules]

I agree with Cavandra about the raw food diet.

Here is the recipe for an excellent ear cleaner - I used this on an old Goldie who had chronic ear infections from a previous life of neglect, it was better than anything the vets prescribed.

I have copied the info from another site.

"The mixture which has worked is as follows, and is an adaption of one

posted earlier on this site, and modified with the assistance of the

chemist at Porirua Supachem who said he used to make a mixture

himself, and supply it to Vets. So he knew about dog's ears.

The mixture is inexpensive, and the ingedients are readily available

at a chemist. It cost about $11.00 for the two items.

Isopropyl alcohol (this comes in a small bottle)

Water

Betadine liquid

Mix 30% Isopropyl Alcohol and 70% water. Add a few drops of Betadine.

Use a dropper to insert into the ear. Massage and wipe out gently

with a cotton pad. Insert another lot and leave. I did this morning

and night for a week, then just the mornings for a couple of weeks,

then reduced to just one application and massage in the morning for a

week."

Good luck

[westiemum]

Thanks everyone so much for your quick replies.

Thanks for the diet tip - he is already on a completely raw/prey diet - no grains and corn fillers here - but thanks for the reminder that this is the absolutely right way to go.

And thanks ArtyFarty for going to the trouble of putting up the recipe - the alcohol is probably the drying agent and is probably just what I'm looking for - so off to the Chemists...

And Clyde I've never heard of ear dryers - I have a hunch that the chronic moisture because of the narrow, almost occluded canal is the problem so this might help too - what exactly is it and do you know where to get them by any chance??

Thanks a lot everyone - keep it coming!

Cheers,

Westiemum

[laffi]

My golden had heaps of ear problems as well. She is on raw diet now and is much better but this really helped as well:

http://www.herbal-treatments.com/dog_funga..._infection.html

if it's a fungal infection you are dealing with (which was our case)

or:

http://www.herbal-treatments.com/dog_chron..._infection.html

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

I've just been through this for 2.5 years with an old Westie cross foster dog from Doggie Rescue, sadly she just passed away aged 14 but I was warned her ears could be the cause of her passing away. It wasn't them in the end, it was her age.

Anyhow, she arrived with blown eardrums through years of neglect, she screamed the whole of the first night at my house, it was terrible to hear, she was in so much pain. Ear drops can make things worse. My vets were fantastic with doing all they could, she did have two surgeries to clean them out in the first 2 years.

Her skin was also bad. I bought her different foods but my vet was very impressed with her overall condition, inc her ears with the following regime;

* Fortnightly/weekly baths - very careful not to get water in the ear but keeping her clean generally

*Only good quality food, the bulk of it was from www.pricelesspets.com - the dried food, specially formulated for problem ears/skin, no treats with anything like cheese or yeast in

*Ear drops every other day - the ear drops were permanent and needed to be changed every few months when she became resistant to them

[westiemum]

Hey thanks so much Laffi and Dogmad - much appreciated. Yes a good quality diet for any doggie is really important and will certainly have a look at those links Laffi - thank you.

Dog mad its wonderful to hear of your old westie x - she certainly reached a good age and thanks for your regime. Thats basically what I do at the moment too - I suppose I was hoping for a 'magic cure' where I didn't have to put him through the ear drops regime quite so often - but as you say, the ear drops regime might also be the safest in the long term.

Thanks so much for your help and replies.

Cheers

Westiemum

[Cavandra]

The modified blue ear powder is

2oz white vinegar

6 oz alcohol

1/2 TBLS Boracic Acid Powder

16 drops of Betadine

[Rappie]

What type of infection is in the ears? If it's a chronic yeast infection from the environment and anatomy of the ear then regular, life long cleaning with malaseb would be an option to consider.

However, it really does depend on what's actually growing down there whether or not continued as to which treatment is most appropriate.

[bingo]

I've just been through this for 2.5 years with an old Westie cross foster dog from Doggie Rescue, sadly she just passed away aged 14 but I was warned her ears could be the cause of her passing away. It wasn't them in the end, it was her age.

Anyhow, she arrived with blown eardrums through years of neglect, she screamed the whole of the first night at my house, it was terrible to hear, she was in so much pain. Ear drops can make things worse. My vets were fantastic with doing all they could, she did have two surgeries to clean them out in the first 2 years.

Her skin was also bad. I bought her different foods but my vet was very impressed with her overall condition, inc her ears with the following regime;

* Fortnightly/weekly baths - very careful not to get water in the ear but keeping her clean generally

*Only good quality food, the bulk of it was from www.pricelesspets.com - the dried food, specially formulated for problem ears/skin, no treats with anything like cheese or yeast in

*Ear drops every other day - the ear drops were permanent and needed to be changed every few months when she became resistant to them

I'd use some antibiotic drops from the vet to get them back to normal then when they are looking better leave them a couple of days then flush them with a 1:30 solution of warm malaseb shampoo it must be warm or it can cause stigmatism. Do not rinse the soultion out afterwards with straight water or it will wash away the protective barrier the malaseb creates. Just gently cotton ball dry their ears. My dogs had a stint of ears problems untill I tried the above process and I haven't had a problem yet touch wood. Now every couple of weeks or when I notice them a bit smelly and red I given them a flush with the malaseb solution. I have read so many success stories of malaseb as a ear cleaner really it's a wonder Malaseb hasn't made a ear cleaning specific solution it would save the hassle of mixing it up all the time. There used to be more detailed directions on how to do it and why malaseb is such an effective ear cleaner on the Balgownie Vet site but since it has been updated it seems to have disappeared. If you need more info you may have to google it or I'm sure theres more info about it in this forum just search it in the search box

Good luck

Bingo

[Rappie]

The current advice for dilution of Malaseb is 1:50 in luke warm water. It was previously 1:30 but that has been revised.

[westiemum]

Thank you Cavandra - i wondered if there might be a powder recipe out there - thanks

Thanks both Rappie and bingo - Rappie I was afraid someone would say this is likely to be life-long - but I think you are right - I think my poor boys almost occluded canal is a big part of the problem - which as you suggests, short of a surgical solution, means ongoing management - thank you. And thanks for the revised Malaseb recipe - the one I remembered was the 1:30 dilution.

Thanks so much everyone - much to try and consider here.

Cheers,

Westiemum ;)

[Rappie]

You're welcome.

Once a canal has become stenoic and calcified there isn't a lot we can do to change the physical state of it without surgery. Occasionally in the short term I'll use steroids to open the ear canals as much as possible (by reducing inflammation) because it will make the treatment more effective.

If there is an infection that can be treated adequately with malaseb (ie. cocci or yeast) then creating an *environment* that is resistant to infection (through the residual action of the active ingredients) is far preferable to creating a resistant infection through continued medication. I would be careful of putting "other" things in the ear - if the infection has been going on for a long time it's quite likely that the ear drum is long gone so we need to be careful about what sort of irritants go down there.

[Clyde]

And Clyde I've never heard of ear dryers - I have a hunch that the chronic moisture because of the narrow, almost occluded canal is the problem so this might help too - what exactly is it and do you know where to get them by any chance??

Sorry Westiemum I just stumbled across them one day when doing some research for my friends Springer who also suffers chronic ear infections. I was pretty amazed but it makes sense. I just googled Dog Ear Dryer then and a few came up.

Edited August 17, 2008 by Clyde

[westiemum]

Thanks again Clyde and Rappie - think I'll take him back to the vet again before we embark on any of these and get him to have another look see to double check the canal and drum and maybe do a swab if he thinks thats needed. Thank goodness he's a great bloke who adores my boy and who's very used to my asking 20 questions!!! Then we'll go from there.

Thanks tons everyone - very helpful - as usual!! Any other advice still welcome.

Cheers,

Westiemum ;)

[Bully]

There are some great ideas for ear cleaners ;) I'm going to add them to my "Dog Health" file, hopefully never to be needed

The alternatives for the "Blue Ear Cleaner" is great, as I tried to find the Gentian Blue for it with my previous Bull Terrier without any luck.

Another ear cleaner that I've used is -

Equal parts

Vodka

Witch Hazel (alcohol free if you can find it)

Aloe Vera

A small amount of Apple Cider Vinegar can be added as well as a few drops of essential oils such as Lavender, chamomile or tea tree oil.

Don't ask me why alcohol free Witch Hazel (couldn't find it any way) and then adding Vodka ;) I'd much rather drink the Vodka than put it in the doggie's ears I used Lavender Oil in my mix. Also you can buy a tube of 97% Aloe Vera at the Health Shop or Supermarket for around $7. I've got several pots of Aloe Vera growing, but the tube is much easier and quite cheap :p

I'm glad to hear that you use a raw diet with no grains. Grains can be a major problem. I've got this website bookmarked if you haven't found it ARF4Westies

Good luck ;)

[westiemum]

Thanks Bully - I hadn't come across the website - thanks very much for posting it and the ear cleaner recipe - and I hope you never need the other recipes either!

Cheers

Westiemum :p

There are some great ideas for ear cleaners ;) I'm going to add them to my "Dog Health" file, hopefully never to be needed

The alternatives for the "Blue Ear Cleaner" is great, as I tried to find the Gentian Blue for it with my previous Bull Terrier without any luck.

Another ear cleaner that I've used is -

Equal parts

Vodka

Witch Hazel (alcohol free if you can find it)

Aloe Vera

A small amount of Apple Cider Vinegar can be added as well as a few drops of essential oils such as Lavender, chamomile or tea tree oil.

Don't ask me why alcohol free Witch Hazel (couldn't find it any way) and then adding Vodka ;) I'd much rather drink the Vodka than put it in the doggie's ears I used Lavender Oil in my mix. Also you can buy a tube of 97% Aloe Vera at the Health Shop or Supermarket for around $7. I've got several pots of Aloe Vera growing, but the tube is much easier and quite cheap ;)

I'm glad to hear that you use a raw diet with no grains. Grains can be a major problem. I've got this website bookmarked if you haven't found it ARF4Westies

Good luck ;)

[kamuzz]

We had a rescue Cocker who had repeat ear infections. The vet mentioned if they didn't clear up, he might need surgery to open up the ear canal. As a consequence of this he would be deaf in that ear but he was pretty hard of hearing anyway from the ear infections by then.

Anyhow they put him under GA and gave his ears a really good flush. Then we had drops etc every day for three or four weeks to be 100% sure the infection was gone. Finally as a preventative measure, we had to clean his ears out twice a week with (i think) epi otic

He also benefited from a change in diet.

However it was "deep cleanse" that made the difference for Elliot.