ear infections

[solares412]

This is what one vet said to use for persistent ear infections:

Dennis W. Thomas, DVM - "As a pet owner, it is important to know that persistent or recurring ear infections in a dog commonly are manifestations of other concurring disease processes. Allergies and hypothyroidism are good examples. Systemic allergies often cause dermatitis and itching in the ear canal, which predispose self-trauma and subsequent ear infection. Hypothyroidism may manifest itself as increased thickness of the skin and continual release of exudate in the ear canal, which favors an environment for otitis externa. It is not wise to use cotton tip applicators in the ear canal. This can be quite painful to the dog. Also, I don't recommend using alcohol in a dog's ear. Alcohol will dry the ear, but if there is inflammation or small scratches in the canal, the alcohol will burn and cause tremendous pain and further inflammation. If you must use a product from the shelf at home, use white vinegar diluted 50:50 with water. "

Some people, after that, put in a couple of drops of Grapefruit Seed Extract (diluted in a little water) because it kills all sorts of bacteria, fungus and yeast and is safe for pets. Health food stores sell it.

[pnance]

Update - I took Hunter to the vet Friday (a different one in the office) and got much better answers. He believed his is allergy, which I'd started to expect since he was showing signs of conjectivitis as well. He gave me otimax, some antinflammatory drops and told me to give him an antihistimine for a few days and it should clear up. It's already helping so I'm guessing he'll be fine in a couple more days.

I'd also taken Nikka with me to recheck. Her ears were better but still not great. He didn't believe Nikka's was allergy. According to him the problem comes from having extremely narrow ear canals. Apparently if a dog gets chronic ear infections they get a buildup of calcium in the canal that could eventually close off the canal. It's made worse if the infections aren't treated (which considering the condition of her ears when we originally adopted her I'm guessing that was the case). By the time we got her a lot of the damage had been done. He gave me some nolvasan (sp??) cleaner and additional otamax, and did a ear flush on her there. He wants to recheck her in 2-3 wks to see how it's going. If it still hasn't cleared up apparently the next step is surgery to try to widen the ear canals, unfortunately it's $1100, (I guess I have to start the Nikka savings account). The other problem is he can't say if that will stop the infections or not. She may get the surgery and still have the same problems, I'm not sure it's worth it??