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Hoping for help with sensitive ears

Simba

I have a 7 year old Rhodesian ridgeback. He has had many health issues and not so great luck with vets. He has very sensitive ears, and has had problems with them before, however now they are oozing a smelly yellow pink liquid and I need a fix to help him they are obviously bothering him, but I just dont have a great vet to go to to get some help. Is there anything you can suggest to help get him better

Symptoms: Head Tilt, Itching & Scratching, Pain, Wounds, Ears

• Experienced Advisor Stacey Crompton says:

  February 11th, 2008 at 06:57 PM

   would recommend another check by your veterinary surgeon and possibly increase the ear cleaning to every week. Please also check that you are getting the ear cleaning ointment right to the base of the ear canal.

  It sounds like he has a ear infection right at the base of his ear canal causing the head tilt. He would definatley benefit from a long course aof antibiotics and possibily a swab of the ear sent to a laboratory to see ehat type of infection this is incase it reoccurs again. Certian antibiotiucs only kill certain bacterial infections

  Please see the attached document for informatrion re ear cleaning. Please ignore the part about Lollys nurse (thats just a leaflet i devised to give to clients in practice )

   

  Ear mites can sometimes be easily missed when examing ears are they are very small but a cotton bud used to clean the ear should be smeared onto a microscope slide and looked at under the microscope to rule out or confirm ear mites. Ear mites cause (make) ear wax, and if a dog has very waxy ears then 9/10 the dog has ear mite!

   

  Hope this helps

   

   

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

  Ear cleaning can be tricky and is probably a 2 person job. Please do not use cotton buds as it is very easy to damage the ear drum if you are unsure how far to intrude.

  
  

  Pour a good quality ear cleaner in to the ear canal and massage the base of the ear so it travels right to the inner ear canal. You may notice that this releases ear wax and dirt and will start to rise to the top of the ear. With cotton wool wipe the ear clean including slight entry into the ear canal and the pinnae, more commonly know as the ear flap. Try not to leave any of the ear cleaner in the ear and if necessary cotton buds can be used just to soak up the remaining ear cleaning liquid.

  
  

  Ear hygiene is important especially in long eared breeds of dog such as beagles, cocker’s and boxers. This is due to air unable to circulate into the ear canal keeping it fresh and clean. Because of the shape a sizes of the ear flap it traps in heat, dirt and ear wax and becomes a perfect breeding area for bacterial cells.

  
  

  It is recommended that ears are cleaned once a week to prevent ear infections and mites becoming a problem.

  
  

  Please call for a appointment and Lolly’s Nurse can exam your pets ears with a aureoscope to check for ear wax or ear mites and if necessary clean them.

  
  

  Ear cleaning.

   

   

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• Stacey says:

  February 11th, 2008 at 09:29 PM

  I am wondering if there is anything else I can try. He has been on 2 different antibiotics from 2 different vets, and I clean his ears out mor than 1 a week. I clean them everytime I see the oozing liquid. Before the infection we cleaned his ears weekly because he seems to have issues with his ears.

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• Experienced Advisor Stacey Crompton says:

  February 12th, 2008 at 06:41 PM

  There is a surgical option called a total ear canal ablation  -this is where they remove the ear canal . This would be drastic treatment at this stage and would continue with antibiotics . Please ask your vet to take a swab from the ear ,at least then you know what bacteria you are trying to fight making the antibiotic choice easier and better.

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