Ear Ideas

[t-time]

I am about to "housesit" a Great Dane with terrible ear problems.

A lovely rescue boy and the owners have only had him a short time but they have to go to NZ for a month. I am going over to their place every third day to properly clean out his ears (there is a proper house sitter there to look after the animals, I'm only doing his ears)

They've had vet treatment for his ears several types of drops antibiotic ones included but none have worked so far. His poor ears stink and are so sore and when I looked inside - they are full of pus - ugh - that's what I'm cleaning out every third day. He's currently got new drops, can't remember what right now.

As he also has a weepy, pus eye my thoughts are that he should in fact be on a systemic antibiotic rather than just having his ears cleaned out with cleaner. Also rather than putting liquid in his ears, maybe something to dry them out instead?

Poor darling keeps shaking his head so his ear flaps are damaged and bleeding too.

I'm not in a position to take him to another vet (I know the vet they take him to and not much of a dog vet unfortunately). It'll have to wait until they return from NZ.

Just wondering if anyone else had any thoughts/ideas on this problem.

Oh yeah, the owners have been in touch with the original breeder (she's thrilled to know where he is now - 6 years on!) and also Great Dane Rescue (obviously) as well as other breeders. So I just want you all to know he is in a very kind and loving home with people who have no qualms about spending money on vets for him. I just think they need a new vet...

[ellz]

Given his symptoms, I'd possibly look at his diet too. Some foods are notoriously bad for allergy type symptoms, meaning the weepy eyes and ears. I'm sure this has probably been discussed before if you did a search on the archives.

Something else might be a digestive enzyme deficiency...an old American Cocker of mine came to Australia from the USA with disgustingly rotten ears, so bad that the constant infection had caused scar tissue build up and a narrowing of the ear canal. We had him tested for all kinds of things and it wasn't until he was put on an enzyme replacement that we were able to get on top of the problem in his ears.

I'd give serious consideration to trying the Blue Power ear treatment. It is VERY effective and was the only thing that helped my poor old "Yank".

http://www.itsfortheanimals.com/BLUE.HTM

[KOE]

I had a vizsla with a chronic ear problem was at the vet every second day cost a fortune with all these different ear cleaners drops etc I even went as far as to have his ears cleaned out under anesthetic all to no avail. A friend of mine said to wash his ears out with malaseb which I did daily for a week then 2nd day for a week and guess what, it cleared it nearly all up, he still had a slight problem but no where as bad as what it was. I used to do it fortnightly then and until he passed no more stick or shaking the head crying. I also put him on Eukanuba.

Oliver had pussy eyes and a hot spot I took advice from this forum and washed eye with salty water, and betadine on the hot spot cleaned it up for a few days, but I then put him back on eukanuba and now his eyes are clear again, no more hot spots and has stopped scratching, so maybe it may also have a lot to do with his diet.

[cavNrott]

.

Edited March 14, 2009 by cavNrott

[persephone]

With ears/eyes THAT bad..he needs to see a GOOD vet!!

As you have found out..all the cleaning in the world isn't going to help rectify the original problem

Has a culture of the discharge been done?This will help in a diagnosis. He could have yeast probs,or other resistant "bug".

please find a Vet you trust, and get this poor boy some relief His owners would get a lovely surprise to find him happy & healthy

[espinay2]

Do you know if they have done a culture on the ear to determine what type of bacteria and/or yeast is present and had a good look down it (probably under a GA if the dog finds it painful) to make sure there is no foreign body or ulcerated eardrum?

If not, this is probably what I would be seeking out a vet to do.

Also if the dog is to get eardrops, every 3 days may not be enough. Most would probably need to be administered twice a day IMO, especially if they are that bad.

[schnauzer]

My rescue dog has also had chronic ear infection. She had a culture done - yeast infection. She was on drops twice a day - more importantly, one bottle for left ear, one bottle for right ear - so as not to spread the infection. It is long term treatment with chronic ear problems. I would recommend seeing another vet if there is still pus in ears.

[becks]

Possibly consider the old fashioned remedy for canker in cockers - thornit powder, not sure if you can get it in oz, but it's very good for drying out the ear. Biogroom ear powder also has the same active ingredient in it. If you can get it the genuine stuff is best, it's cured dogs who have had persistant ear problems.

[cavNrott]

.

Edited March 14, 2009 by cavNrott

[t-time]

Thanks all.

His ears are done with malaseb which the owners have said has improved but not cured the situation...IMHO it's done nothing becasue I am still looking at pus But if you are going to be cleaning them out anyway, malaseb is as good as any.

There were cultures done - to a point...like I said, the vet isn't great. He apparently looked at the muck on a slide under a microscope and pronounced that the dog had ULCERS in his ears - I mean - no sh%# sherlock - I could have told you that!!!

I'm in agreeance that I should perhaps take him to another vet but as they only left yesterday, I don't want them to think I am being underhanded - they are trusting me with this dog after all - another vet visit is probably in order and maybe he will be better by the time they get back....

There are a lot of very useful suggestions offered here but I think you are right Anne, nothing else should go in his ears until a good vet (mine :rolleyes: ) can tell what it actually is.

I'll keep you updated.

[ellz]

Good on you. :rolleyes:

But please, DO check out the website I suggested and the Blue Power remedy. There are some real miracle success stories attributed to the formula and I swear by it myself as well.

[cowanbree]

Definitely try the blue powder remedy recommended by ellz. After trying everything it was the only thing that helped our poodle many years ago and I have heard many other rave about it as well

[cavNrott]

.

Edited March 14, 2009 by cavNrott

[ellz]

Hello...did anybody say NOT to? Did you not read my other post where I agreed with everything everybody else said but just asked that the site at least be LOOKED at??

Sheesh! Must be a long way to the ground from some of the high horses on this forum!

[cavNrott]

.

Edited March 14, 2009 by cavNrott

[ellz]

ellz: My reply was not specificallly directed at you though I have noticed you did not suggest a vet should be consulted before using anything at all on the ears.

No, but if you had read ALL of my posts you would see where I replied directly to the OP who stated that they were going to consult THEIR vet with a :rolleyes: ! Why re-invent the wheel? Perhaps I should have used the quote system, but rather than cut and paste pretty much the entire post, I chose to just respond to it. My bad, obviously.

I do wish to say that your particular emphasis on words and the manner in which it was written did give me the impression that you were being somewhat "lordy" (a term my 7 year old uses frequently). Given that you used no punctuation other than bolding and "shouting" (ie capital letters) that could give one this impression, I feel my reply is justified. I honestly did feel that you were "talking down" and as you had responded to the subject of my post, I also feel justified in thinking that it WAS me you were responding to!

Now back to the subject at hand....I too have had dogs with ulcerated ears, hence my reply to the initial post. I also suggested that people read the ENTIRE website at the URL given. There are some VERY good ideas there (and some excellent links as well) in addition to the Blue Power which I STILL swear by and which in fact one of my vets tried as a "last resort" on a rescue dog and saw incredible results. And yes, the site DOES instruct consulting with a vet so again, why re-invent the wheel?

A couple of things I would like to say about the Blue Power treatment is that firstly, the gentian violet is not easily obtained here but can be readily obtained in other parts of the world very inexpensively. I do have a "recipe" for the product which a chemist should be able to whip up for a fee and that is readily obtained by doing a search for Australian websites and "gentian violet". Secondly, to bad ears, alcohol stings no worse than ANY other product which is one of the reasons it is also suggested to warm ANY product that is put in the ear. Sometimes, the treatment can be worse than the affliction (ask any person who has undergone chemotherapy or radiation therapy) but the short sharp results given by the treatment can often outweigh the initial discomfort (and my vet has long lectured me on this subject as well).

The beauty of alcohol is that it has a drying effect as it evaporates and can therefore help to dry ears which have become constantly sodden with infection OR product. And in "novice" hands, alcohol can ultimately cause far less damage if placed in the ears and not cleaned out properly, especially in the long-coated, long-eared varieties of dog.

The alcohol can be exchanged for witchhazel which funnily enough, although supposedly calming, stings just as much!

There is no right or wrong way, it is the end result which matters. And I would STILL be evaluating the dogs diet and even the living quarters. Sometimes, things which make our world comfortable, pretty and clean for us are just not compatible with the needs of animals which are intolerant to them. Foods, synthetic fabrics for bedding, things which make the air smell nice, things which help to clean surfaces and even an environment which is too warm can all contribute to allergies and intolerances.

[cavNrott]

.

Edited March 14, 2009 by cavNrott

[ellz]

Blue power ear treatment is excellent BUT IT SHOULD NOT BE USED until a vet thoroughly examines the ears.

Here you go Anne...just for you...see...capital letters!!

[cavNrott]

.

Edited March 14, 2009 by cavNrott

[ellz]

Oh I thought you meant bold and capitals used together...and the punctuation???

No mention of punctuation from me, but yes, you did use bold and capitals together...in the same sentence anyway but it didn't come across as being bolded in the quote. I may use capitals for the occasional word as emphasis but any more than that could conceviably be seen as shouting.

Whatever.

Do you believe that the OP should just go ahead and use the Blue Power treatment or see a veterinary surgeon prior to treating this dog?

Yes, as I have already agreed....(you really should try and read other people's posts Anne, you never know you might learn something!)....they should see a vet with the dog prior to commencing Blue Power or any OTHER treatment. Many vets have not heard of Blue Power so it is sometimes even worth printing it out and taking it with you. Some will not agree with it, some will. Veterinary Science, like many others is not an exact science.

I shall refrain from responding any futher to any personal criticism.

With all due respect, people are ENTITLED to respond to what they might see as criticism, especially when it is not clear to whom another party is replying.

Whatever the case, what I AM seeing is a) someone who doesn't read all contributions to a thread, so is unable to see where somebody has responded in a certain manner and then makes unfair comment incorrectly and b) someone who is obviously passionate about what they do but doesn't perhaps wish to admit that there are other equally passionate people out there who may perhaps know what they are talking about as well, even if it is different.

I could go a lot further, but I won't. Contact me privately if you would like to pursue the "debate" any further. I've never backed down from defending myself yet. ;)