ear infection woes
The really distressing thing about it, was that when I asked the vet about preventing more infections in the future (cleaning, hair removal, etc) He shook his head and said: "this is so deep in, you couldnt reach it to clean if you tried...and I wouldnt want you to try!" He then proceeded to SHOW us the inside of Berts ear, using a scope with a camera and a screen (very cool actually) and we could see that there was matted hair, wax, blood etc. way, way deep down inside. The vet couldnt even FIND my poor baby's eardrum! My question is, is there anything I can do to prevent a reoccurance? He goes in on monday to be sedated by the vet, and all the debris and hair removed.  |
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| Maybe a weekly cleaning (cotton ball soaked in ear cleaning mixture) can prevent it building up and getting so far down his ear? My maltese is having ear problems here too. Well, I took her in last month... |
| Hopefully the vet can get this cleaned out...and then regular cleanings in the future can prevent infections this bad.
I started using Malaseb wash a couple months ago...as suggested in a previous thread by Elissa...and Izzie's ears seem to be much better and stay better longer than with other cleaners. http://forum.oes.org/viewtopic.php?t=11266 |
We do all that already  ....The hair didnt FALL down in, it was GROWING (and matting) all the way down in there!  |
| One thing you can do to keep it dry is use an ear powder after cleaning. That will help keep it cleaner longer, and prevent infection by keeping it dry. It won't prevent the hair from growing though.
Tucker and Panda have an extreme amount of hair in their ears, I have to pluck every week, and use hemostats to get down deep (carefully). |
I experienced the same problem with my boy, Ollie. Two years of treating ear infections with no success  Finally, I was refered to a specialist where they found the same problem. Hair, wax, and dirt had turned into a ball of Yuck and slammed up against his eardrum.
With all that said, we had a very happy ending. Ollie's ear was scoped and cleaned and he never suffered from another ear infection. We wiped his ears twice a week and used a teensy bit of power to keep it dry. Our groomer paid close attention to plucking. Sounds like you have a great vet, finding the problem so quickly  |
| Here is the latest thinking by some vets:
Put the ear cleaning solution in and then allow your dog to shake his/her head to clear it. this may hel to dislodge some deep waxes. |
| Yep I agree with that too ron, that way you are not pushing the wax and hair back down the canal.
I just got some new natural ear drops call "Vet's All Natural" and it finally cleared up bries one goopy ear that she has had on and off flare ups with. It say's on the instructions, apply 1-2 dropper full of solution in the ear canal, gently massage, do not attempt to clean ears, simply allow pet to shake out excess. Repeat cleaning daily till ear canals are clean, then once weekly for maintenance. After spending lots over the years on special ear drops to help with her flare up, this one has finally cleared and has her ear back to nice and pink and nice smelling finally. 
And it is all Natural too.  |
| What I use sounds real similar to yours, Lisa. I use it the same - put in the drops, massage gently, them let them shake! I use a soft cloth to wipe the outer part of the ear after they shake. My dogs love it and stand in front of me waiting their turn . |
| Sometimes I think that after it clears up, doing as little as possible and keeping the canal dry works better than using drops or any wet cleaners that go in the canal. I check Clyde's ears every day and normally he has nothing. Only when I see any residue do I use a cleaner and if it looks like a little dirt on the outside, I just use a cotton pad to clean outside of the canal. He had one infection before I started doing, well, doing nothing. When I cleaned more often I had more wax and goo. |
Amanda P wrote: Hopefully the vet can get this cleaned out...and then regular cleanings in the future can prevent infections this bad.
I started using Malaseb wash a couple months ago...as suggested in a previous thread by Elissa...and Izzie's ears seem to be much better and stay better longer than with other cleaners. http://forum.oes.org/viewtopic.php?t=11266 Amanda, I am so glad that the Malaseb is working well for Izzie!
Laurel, You might want to try a ear powder which works great at loosening the dead hairs in the ear canal. You might also want to try it in combination with Malaseb because it is an ear flush and also drys out the inner ear and it prevents infection. |
| Yucky - we use Malaseb weekly for Bingley and if he ever gets his ears wet swimming or in the rain we use Oti-swim which is like a gel that dries out the interior of his ears. |
| Hi,
Sorry to hear of Eggberts troubles..I suspect Merlin may have the same thing and will be bringing him in soon. Panda, my other boy had horrible infections when he arrived at my home, hematoma and very deep ear infection which sounds like what Eggbert had. It took about a year to clear up (this was a bit long as Panda was a traumatized rescue and ears were a trigger with him.) Still, I wanted to give you encouragement as since he had the deep cleaning, I've not had a bit of problem with his ears in almost 2 years. Crossing my fingers it will be the same for your boy. Sending belly rubs his way and give us an update. Marianne and the boys |
| Kinda funny...several folks recomended malaseb, and I was going to go on line to look for it...till looked at one of the bottles my vet sent us home with (for use after the deep-cleaning), and saw that thats what it was! |
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| Hope the deep cleaning works and he doesn't have a problem anymore. I find my dogs do better the less I mess with their ears.
When there was a lot of discussion about ear cleaning, I was more diligent and that's when Hannah got a yeast infection. Now I just pluck hairs when I think about it and she does great. I never even touch Copper' ears and he's fine. Very low maintenance. Knock on wood. |
| Fred had some ear infection issues too. Once the infection cleared, I found that aside from plucking the hair out of his ears, some of the cleansers the vet sent home actually irritated his ears more. I think we used three all together(Epi-Otic,Corium and something else) and we needed to go through two types of medication to clear the infection. A friend of mine is a vet and when I told her about my predicament, she recommended dilluting vinegar with water. It has been a bit gentler on Mr. F's ears.
I feel for you Laurel and your woof too. He's uncomfortable and something as little as an ear infection can get expensive. |
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