Psuedomonis In Lab And Ear Canal Widening Op

[mollymoomoo]

Hi,

I am new to the forum and this is my first post.I have a 4year old labrador who has had psuedomonis ongoing for nearly 12 months.She has been treated by yet this whole time and has cost us over $3000 now.

The vet said an ear canal widening op should be our next step but has said it will be about $1500 and may not fix the problem.

In the past two weeks we have had to put our 13 year old lab to sleep(old age) and my husband suggested puting our 4 year old to sleep also,due to not being able to get on top of things,her pain and the cost etc

We stop treatment on her and within two days she has black gunk coming out herears(right ear is the worst and always has been).

She yelps,shakes her head and also has burst ear drums from shaking her head.

Is there anyone out there that has had this operation done and would you recommend it?

And should i just have it on the right ear first?

Also any one else had reoccuring psuedomonis?

How did you treat it?

She has had in house swab tests(each time)

Sent away tests to see what anti biotics are not resistant to it

been under General 3 times and had ear cleaning

so we have given it our best shot but can not continue doing this,cleaning 3 times a day with 3 different things,drops etc

Some advvice urgently required please

[Staranais]

I have not seen these done, but we've talked about them in class. Hopefully someone with practical experience can help you more.

But if it's a total ear canal ablation/bulla osteotomy you're talking about, I have been told they are a very good final option for dogs with uncontrollable ear canal disease. Our lecturer (specialist surgeon) said he had seen it give many dogs a new lease on life, as they were no longer living in constant misery, and that owners were generally very satisfied with the surgery. But they are also an expensive, and sometimes risky, piece of surgery. I would definitely do one for my dog if the other option was PTS, but only when we had exhausted all the medical options.

If it's a lateral wall resection or vertical ear canal ablation, my lecturer didn't like those as much, and didn't think they helped much for most dogs, especially if the horizontal ear canal was damaged (which is often the case with chronic ear infections). He said they made it easier for owners to put medicine into the ear, but rarely solved the problem by themselves. He said he would only consider doing them if the horizontal canal was completely normal still.

Hopefully someone with practical experience of these surgeries can help you more, since mine is only theoretical.

ETA a picture, in case you're not sure what I'm going on about with the vertical & horizontal parts of the canal:

Edited November 23, 2010 by Staranais

[OSoSwift]

I haven't seen that surgery done have have seen success with a total ablation. Dogs responded very well and had a good recovery. I feel for you it can be very frustrating having to deal with ear problems especially Pseudemonus(sp).

From memory Westie Lover had a little dog with chronic ear issues and ended up with a total ear ablation, they may have some helpful hints or ideas and info

[mollymoomoo]

what a quick response,thank you so much.I am in desperate need of advice.

It is not total ablation only the lateral wall to let more air in.

the thing i dont agree on what the vet said was that we have the bacteria in our yard for her to be geting it all the time.

Because he said it was clear on the in house and then two days after she gets it again after i have stopped meds because i have been given the all clear.

I think it is still hiding right down deep and its just that the swab can not reach into that area,due to the right angle of the canal.

what do you think?

Otherwise wouldnt my other lab have got it also,if it was in the yard?

[_PL_]

We had a dog come into care with similar problems Silver Boy Album - surgery was not an immediate option. The damage to his ear canals had extended all the way down and was oozing.

Using a combination of drugs, flushes and swabs was our best option but I don't think it would have been nearly as effective without a complete diet change. The minute we put him on Prescription Z/D only he made a marked improvement.

Once most of the infections had cleared (From memory he started with 3 colonies in ear and two in the other) - we hit the last of the nasties with a different drop, oral antibiotics and prednisolone.

It takes time, his ears will never be absolutely 'normal' because he was untreated for god knows how long but he's much much happier (and adopted) .

[Staranais]

Pretty sure Pseudomonas doesn't normally live in a healthy dog's ear, so she has to be catching it from somewhere. But I'd think you were right that it's a possibility that it simply wasn't cleared between treatments. I'd also wonder if there are some factors predisposing her to infection by Pseudomonas - hypothyroid, allergies, atopy, diet problems, poor ear conformation, foreign body?

[mollymoomoo]

how it happened to start with was my husband encouring her when she dived into our inground pool.She would dive down to the bottom and then she started jumping the fence to get in all the time even at midnight.

She stopped being able to jump the fence by puting on 5 kilos.

And she hasnt hopped in the pool for 12 months now,before her hopping in the pool she never had any ear problems,has always been on the same diet etc.

My vet said when i asked about changing her diet not to worry because she was fine before that.

[_PL_]

My vet said when i asked about changing her diet not to worry because she was fine before that.

Definitely try it in conjunction with the medication they've recommended. Can't hurt but it will basically have to be only the ZD: excluding all other food for you to know if her trouble shaking her ear infections has anything to do with food sensitivity.

[mollymoomoo]

I will try anything just to get her better.

thanks

[mollymoomoo]

Is there a cheap online supplier of Z/D ?

[Mason_Gibbs]

HI there, I take my dog to a dermatologist who specializes in ears and skin, I was wondering if your dog has seen a specialist? Not saying that your vet has misdiagnosed etc but sometimes the specialists pic things up or have suggestions that the vets dont think of. My lab has a lot of ear probs due to allergies.

[mollymoomoo]

No dermatologists here,but i would definately consider it and do it if there were,as i want to get to the bottom of this.

I have owned 3 labs and never had a problem with the others,they used to swim in the ocean etc and were fine but since this dog started swimming in the salt water pool she has had bad ears.

[Staranais]

Giving the z/d a go before surgery is a good idea, IMO. Make sure you feed the z/d, and only the z/d, for 6 weeks.

[Mason_Gibbs]

Giving the z/d a go before surgery is a good idea, IMO. Make sure you feed the z/d, and only the z/d, for 6 weeks.

I always thought my dog did not have food allergies but when we did the elimination diet with the dermatologist ( roo and sweet potato for 6 weeks only) we found that he is allergic to yeast, gluten, chicken, turkey and beef. He basically lives on roo, goat and lamb, with some sardines and eggs. He can also have pumpkin and sweet potatoes and some other veg.

Since we have been on food that he is not allergic to his ears are a lot better than before, he used to cry and scratch his ears but he hardly does it anymore.

[mollymoomoo]

Funny you say roo meat as that is what i have been giving her and only just stopped it and also sweet potato sometimes and egg

Dont know if it made a difference because her ears clear up with the medication within a week and its just that each time we stop it(and she may have been on it for 6 weeks at a time) within two days we are back to square one.

I will see if i can find a dermatologist in Brisbane next week,someone on here may know of one.(hopefully)

[Monah]

I have no experience of this operatin but have heard good outcomes from it.

My dog had similar for over 3 months , huge expense, massive ear canals, flushes, tests, etc etc.

We took her to a dermatologist,

Never looked back

she had prick tests done that day, discovered what her allergies were immediately, she was put on a course of vaccs, that ended up being one every 3 weeks after a few months. Best thing I have EVER done.

I had no idea the ear problem was to do with allergies. My vet suggested a derm. so we travelled nearly 4 hours to see him and it was a revelation.

I have to keep an eye on the ears, where we live has about the highest allergies in humans and animals in the country... she was fine elsewhere.

She also likes ot swim.. and needs to.

I'm not sure but I think when there is bad damage you do need the op. :p

EIther way, I'd be going to a specialist.

we did an elimination diet to see if that helped before going to the derm, no good, she's not even allergic to any food at ALL!!!!

There only needs to be a minute amount of infection and the ear will flare up again. WIth large canals it's practically impossible to get rid of infection unless they are flushed.

If our dog needed the ear op, she would have had it.

I'm so sorry about your old dog :p xxxxx

The young one has a lot of years left yet,

I dont want to appear horrible, sorry, but I'm quite surprised the current vet allowed the ear thing to go on for so long, bad damage was a definite with this timeframe,

I really hope you are able to get on top of this, it's awful to see the dog is so much pain and so uncomfortable. Good luck and lots of love .xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Monah]

No dermatologists here,but i would definately consider it and do it if there were,as i want to get to the bottom of this.

I have owned 3 labs and never had a problem with the others,they used to swim in the ocean etc and were fine but since this dog started swimming in the salt water pool she has had bad ears.

where in QLD are you? PM me if you need the name of my derm.

[Monah]

Funny you say roo meat as that is what i have been giving her and only just stopped it and also sweet potato sometimes and egg

Dont know if it made a difference because her ears clear up with the medication within a week and its just that each time we stop it(and she may have been on it for 6 weeks at a time) within two days we are back to square one.

I will see if i can find a dermatologist in Brisbane next week,someone on here may know of one.(hopefully)

Just read this bit, yep Im a twit,,,

OK Mike Shipstone is FANTASTIC, hes at 263 Appleby Rd, stafford heights, phone 33590777. xxx