Help: Possible Ear Infection

[luvdbyselene]

Hi everyone,

Thought I'd give the 'health' forum a try now, as I'm so lost I don't know what else to do. Sorry if it's long.

My dog has (what I think) an ear infection. It is a yellow mucous (spelling??)discharge from the ear canal with a horrid smell (spaniel breed by the way with the hanging ears) which started off in one ear.

Went to the vet who put him on $100 worth of antibiotics, antibacterial ear wash & anti inflamatory's and said it was a yeast infection. Didn't make any difference after a week, not even the slightest as his ear started to become extremely swollen, red and even strated to have open sores in his ear canal from the discharge so I decided to take him back (obviously it's not a yeast infection because one would think it would have heeled with the treatment the first vet diagnosed!!<grrr> wasn't impressed that my dog was still in pain).

Requested a different vet in the same practice who has more experience. We tried Panalog Ear oitnment & a dose of clavulox antibiotics. First application went in that night after we returned home from the vet; next morning I expected the worst again with the discharge oozing out of his ear (as all it took was a night after the evening clean to return to it's horrid self...but this time after one application his ear was FINE! Yippee!!

Well, I thought so anyway....kept up the treatment everything was going smoothly until the treatment course ended and WALLA, it was BACK! <grrrr!> But this time in BOTH ears!

Returned to the vet who said he wants to do a culture (which I had requested initially) but he said we shouldn't get a sample of the discharge until he's been off treatment for at least a week as the medication can alter the diagnoses.

So went home and was told to keep up the antifungal ear cleaning and gradually reduce the cleaning before I take him back for the culture.

I had been cleaning his ears 2-3 times a day and it hasn't been going away. I figured we need that culture soon so I reduced the cleaning too twice a day (morning & then late at night) then it went bizurk and out of control. I put him back on panalog (because he was in so much pain & discomfort) and it started to control it again but it seemed like the infection immuned itself to the ointment and it inflammed again. I've been alternating treatments to keep this darn thing under control, even treated him for earmites despiute the vet saying he couldn't see any at the time of consult...when you finally think you've distroyed the sucker it comes back! I've seen canker before and I know this isn't canker.

What should I do now??? where can I go from here??? Does this sound familiar to anyone out there? What did you try that worked?

Any advice or even websites describing ear infections would be extremely helpful.

Luvbug

Edited April 11, 2005 by Luvbug

[blacklabrador]

I don't know anything about ear infections.... but I know about skin integrity. If you use Lucas's Pawpaw ointment on the skin outside the ear it will stop it breaking into sores from the discharge oozing out onto it.

[shelly]

I'd seriously consider changing your vet. When I got Jedda from the pound she had chronic yeast infections in both ears. The vet knew this because he took a swab and examined it under the microscope BEFORE prescribing treatment.

It took about a month to clear up with oral antibiotics and drops (Surolan). I now clean her ears about once a fortnight with Leo.

[Bundyburger]

Yep, I'd change your vet. I'd also look at changing the diet to a food that doesnt have yeast/glucose in it just to be on the safe side

[kobnko]

Hi

I have been all through this with one of my dogs who is constantly in water.

We had endless drops including panalog and the ear poured with yellow opaque goo and smelt like a dead animal.

We finally went the 7 days without any drops and got a swab done and have some new drops look like water Tricacillin and it has cleared up.I think going for the swab is the only way and you cant put anything in the ear or have them on drugs prior to Swab as it does not give a clear reading.All you can do is wipe the ear gently daily with water and cloth.

If you dont get it fixed the ear drum will get damaged so best to do the swab.

If you change vets your going to have to start the same process as before with antibiotics etc. I dont know if your vet is likely to offer you the drug we go for our dog without doing the swab but you could ask. I would say it has some penicillin type drug in the drops from the sounds of the name

If you have no luck at the end of this your dog might need a ear resection which is a painful operation but allows the ear juice to flow out and a smaller hole for less to get fluid like water down inside. GOOD LUCK

Trish

Kobnko GWPs

[luvdbyselene]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to everyone who has replied so far.

The last thing I want for him to have is a damaged ear drum! ;)

I'll be taking him back to my vet after a week (possibly just 5 days as it's really terrible after missing one day despite any type of cleaning) and will have a culture done to determine treatment.

I wanted to avoid him not having treatment for fear it may get rediculously out of control; but I guess it has to be done in order to nip this festation in the butt! I doubt my vet will perscribe any perscription meds without a swab.

Kobnko wrote:

I have been all through this with one of my dogs who is constantly in water.

While my boy isn't a water finatic; I can possibly see some relation with what you've mentioned as he's been going for the occasional dip in the dam while on his last night poop trip...comes back wet up to his belly or completely drenched!! I think he thinks I have nothing better to do than to blow dry him late at night every once in a while. :D Damn ducks probably sit on the dam laughing at me!!

Will let you know how it all goes.

Thanks again

Luvbug

[Lablover]

Sometimes a change of antibiotics is necessary.

[Rappie]

I've been working with a specialist dermatologist for the last couple of weeks.....

The easiest thing for the vet to do would be to take a swab, stain it and have a look at it under the microscope. That will tell them at least which "class" of infection they are dealing with bacterial (rods or cocci) or yeast or a mixed infection and let them modify the treatment regime. A culture will probably only tell them what they could already find out - and antibiotic sensitivity in a lab doesn't neccessarily reflect the sensitivity of organisms in the ear.

Ear cleaning is important whilever there is still goop in the ears, but it is important to let the ear dry for at least 15 mins before you put the medication in it. It's also useful to choose the right "base" for the medication - there isn't a lot of use using an oil based product in an ear producing watery discharge as the medication will just float on top.

At this point, perhaps after you have the ear under control it would be worth considering underlying causes - ear canal conformation, swimming, underlying food allergy (of which an allergy to beef, lamb or chicken is most likely), atopy etc etc.

[WreckitWhippet]

Did the vet suggest putting a human scrunchy ( human hair band pretty coloured material around elastic) around both ears on top of the head to help the ears dry out a little. Spaniel ears provide a great warm, damp environment for any nasty organism to survive in.

Speak with the vet and ask if you can put the ears up for a few hours a day, or as much as the dog can tolerate.

[stand. poodle fan]

Spaniels usually have very thick hair so shaving the ears completely will assist air flow and decrease that warm humid environemt that someone else mentioned. Use a 10 blade.

[Guest Dianne]

on top of all the great suggestions here already, AND YES I'D CHANGE VETS!!, has anyone checked out the "throat" area of the E.N.T. Area?

Chronic ears sometimes have another underlying problem. Chronic Tonsillitis.

we had a bitch some years back with a similar problem, Tonsillectomy and no more ear problems.

Good Luck,

Dianne

[shelly]

Spaniels usually have very thick hair so shaving the ears completely will assist air flow and decrease that warm humid environemt that someone else mentioned. Use a 10 blade.

Almost forgot that bit! Jedda has the inside of her ear flaps clipped and the hairs trimmed/plucked from inside. This is done every couple of months when she gets groomed. Makes a huge difference!

[Leenie]

LuvBug - this is like deja vu! Everything you have written is what I did a consultation for about a few months ago. Black Lab, ear probs, prescription after prescription of antibiotics, ear drops, cultures, swabs, under anaesthetic ear clean, etc. etc.

This is what has 99.9% fixed it.

- we removed beef from his diet

- owner crushed 2-3 cloves of garlic and let them soak in olive oil over night - drain garlic from oil, use oil to clean the ear, allowing some of it to dribble right down into the ear canal, give a good rub, stand back and let doggie shake his head

- after a detailed description of ear colour, smell, temperature, etc. I prescribed Hepar Sulph homeopathic remedy

You don't need to change your vet if you are otherwise happy with them... the owner of the black lab had been to 3 or 4 different clinics and they all did the same things.

[luvdbyselene]

Hey everyone,

Just an update on how things have gone with my boys ears.

Have had a rough time trying to keep his ears under some sort of control without using medication in order to have a more accurate culture done; but we FINALLY got there!!

Results came back in today and yep; it's a REALLY nasty bug in both ears!!

Report said 'Heavy growth of... org 1: Beta-haem. Streptococcus; Org 2: Pseudomonas aeruginosa...". Apparently these 'bugs' immune themselves if the antibiotic isn't strong enough to hit it on the head quickly. Which is what's been happening with the Clavulox, Panolog, Malaseb Anti fungal ear cleaner, Epi-otic earcleaners, etc...

The ONLY drug that this bacterial infection isn't suseptable to is BAYTRIL antibiotics because is has Enrofloxacin in it. I've been told that this is a pretty strong drug and if this doesn't work we'll be all scratching our heads!!

So with having been perscribed an ear drops liquid (milky substance that reminds me of tree sap ) to be placed in his ears twice a day and a BAYTRIL tablet as well over 10 days which is double the normal recommended time periods.

My vet said I should see some noticeable improvement by day 5 if not a considerable change by day 10 then he'll probably perscribe him to go on another 10 day course as he's had this 'bug' for a while and the last thing he want's is it to become immune to the BAYTRIL.

Fingers crossed!!

Luvbug

P.S. Edited for spelling errors.

Edited March 24, 2005 by Luvbug

[Rappie]

Triz-EDTA ear cleaner by DermaPet works well in conjunction with Baytril for particularly "manky" ears involving Psuedomonas. The idea is to use it to clean the ear before dosing with antibiotics as the TrizEDTA starts to breakdown the bacterial cell wall.

[luvdbyselene]

Some great news....the treatment has worked!!!

It took 12 days of the prescribed BAYTRIL antibiotics and ear drops to do the trick and since treatment ceased there has been no further discharge at ALL! WOO HOO!

All is back to normal.

Thank you everyone for your advice, reply's and suggestions of alternate treatments, they were all appreciated! ;)

Luvbug

[Silverblue]

LUVBUG,

Reading your posts was like listening to myself describing what I went through with my girl.

Baytril, Surolan, Otomax & Rimadil, unfortuanately nothing worked for my girl, she also had a ruptured ear drum, so putting all this gunk in her ear was doing more harm than good.

It was a nighmare, we had the ear resection talk, not an option.

We had our beautiful girl pts to ease her suffering

[luvdbyselene]

Hi Silverblue,

I'm so sorry to hear the outcome of your little girl.

While it may have been the more kinder option in the long run for her; I can just imagine how heart breaking it would have been to go through that when it started out being an ear infection. They're serious and nasty things aren't they!

I guess I was just lucky as the vet did say it may also lead to a ruptured ear drum. I'm really thankful that the treatment worked in my boys case; and he's thank ful too and so much more happier. ;)

Thinking of you.

Luvbug