Our three German Wirehaired Pointers frequently shake their heads and scratch their ears. They have seen the Vet several times, both for this specific problem and for regular check-ups -- No mites. The vet usually doles out Panalog ointment which we apply as directed... only a temporary fix it appears as the problem is re-occurring. We're stumped.... dogs are miserable....

Could it be a food allergy as some friends have mentioned? We've tried switching brands, no relief.

We've also tried treating it as "swimmer's ear." Again that only seems a temporary measure.

HELP!!!

Mary

-- Mary (zoots25@hotmail.com), November 09, 2001

Answers

This could very well be an allergy. I had two cockers that had beef allergies [and other stuff]. I fed them a modified Pitcairn diet and regularly treated their ears with a homemade mixture of alcohol, boric acid and glycerin.

This worked for me..and them. If you want specifics let me know..

-- pc (jasper2@iname.com), November 09, 2001.

Dear Mary, I have five dogs, long hair, and floppy ears. I had lots of trouble, and after the last bout at vets, He felt sorry for me, and said to use two parts white vingar, to one part alcohol,dip cotton in and put in ear once a week. It seems to be working great, no new infections. and no ear mites. Irene

-- Irene texas (tkorsborn@cs.com), November 09, 2001.

I used to have a hound/shepard mix that had ear problem like you discribe I used a herbal treatment of dry rosemary leaves soaked in oil, mineral or vegetable, until the rosemary oil seeped out of the leaves, it was darker than the other oil,it had to set a few days in a warm place, then this was repeted to get alot of the rosemary oil, I think it was a ratio of 1 part rosemary oil to up to 5 parts other oil, if I remember right it sould not be heated or stored in sunlight. It was then shaken to mix and a few drops put in the ears, I was very suprized when he began to eagerly lay his head in my lap to have the drops put in, at first he hated it.

Someone else who knows herbal treatments should be able to fill in any thing I've forgotten about how to prepair it, I think it was anti- fungal. I also think that powdered rosemary would help until the oil was ready,

-- Thumper (slrldr@yahoo.com), November 09, 2001.

To rule out food allergies switch to an all chicken or lamb and rice food .No CORN or BEEF .Take a pair of forceps and pull all the hair from the ear canal. If the underside of the ears are hairy shave them down .You want to let the inner ear get as much air as possible.You may want to read the BARF thread .There are many preservatives that a dog can be allergic to also.

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), November 09, 2001.

Mary, usually allergies will evidence themselves in other areas ofs the body too, mpt just the ears. Have your Vet culture inside the ears. May be that you are fighting a yeast infection. Also there is a surgery that will open up the ear canal to let air in but with all three dogs having ear problems it doesn't sound like that is the problem. I am assuming that the Vet looked down inside the ears and that they are clear of any forign bodies and that all three dogs have had ear flushes with soap and water followed by the appropriate meds. I hope you can solve this, I know it makes you miserable seeing the dogs so uncomfortable. If your Vet is not persuing this agressively I'd be seeking a second opinion. LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), November 09, 2001.

I think I'll give the BARF diet a try. I've heard of it before, but was leery of trying. Our sporting dogs are high energy animals, and I've wondered if it will provide enough nutrients for them. Between what I've read here and on other forums I think I've learned enough to try it.

The dogs ears have been checked for yeast infection. Negative. It's really been a puzzle to me, and very bothersome for the dogs.

Thanks for the advice, I'll post an update after awhile.

-- Mary (zoots25@hotmail.com), November 10, 2001.

Should be fine .I have sporting and working dogs and have a kinda barf diet with them .If I get into rabbits like I have been thinking they will be getting mostly a barf diet.

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), November 10, 2001.

You might also try to tie their ears back as much as possible to get more air in there. A clothespin at night might do it. They do look silly though.

Patty, You were so right about the large breed dog food. I read the label at work. What are they thinking?

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), November 10, 2001.

Here is the best thing I have found for dogs who are prone to ear infections. Use betadine surgical scrub (found at any ag supply store or catalog) to wash the ear out. First I rinse out the ear with the hose, or a large syringe (no needle!) to wet it. Then I use the syringe to gently squirt a couple CC's of betadine scrub deeply into the ear. The rub it all around into a good lather, making sure to rub the area under the ear to work the suds deep into the ear canal. Finally rinse off with hose & use syringe to flush ears until all suds are out. You may find that large chunks of "crud" come out in the rinsing. Also, after you are done dry as best you can & tehn allow the dog to shake his ears out. You may even use a blow dryer on low heat to dry out the ears as long as you are VERY careful not to get it too hot. Betadine does not hurt the dog, altho if their ears are badly infected they may be quite tender & it may hurt a bit. The betadine kills most bacterial and fungal organisms and the clean ear canal reduces "junk" that the bacteria like to grow in. I learned this trick while working for a vet and use it regularly on my ear infection prone lab. Every friend that I have recommended it to has raved about the results. Of course, if your dogs problems stem from allergy this will not help other than to clear any secondary infections.

-- ellie (elnorams@aol.com), November 10, 2001.

Ellie,

How often do you use the betadine solution to clean the dog's ears? I can see the benefit of its use and would like to try that as well.

Mary

-- Mary (zoots25@hotmail.com), November 11, 2001.

Dee, I missed what Patty said about Large Breed dog food. Was it on another post? We use large breed food for our 3 German Shepherds! Thanks :^)

-- dee (ruby@isp360.net), November 11, 2001.

Just to put in my two cents..... worked at as a vet tech for many years and they recommended to all cocker spaniel owners and floppy ear dogs.... hydrogen peroxide diluted in a little water. Use a cotton ball and wash the inner ear flap and let some drip down into the ear canal. The dog will shake his head after doing this so watch out!! You should do this once a week or two to maintain and every other day for a week. Also, make sure you are not using any carpet fresh type products, they have affected dogs before.

-- Jackie in Northern New York (homefarm@webtv.net), November 11, 2001.

Cleaning out the dogs ears with stuff only takes care of part of the problem. The real problem comes with IN your dog...

After I switched to the Barf Diet, we had no more ear wax no more itchy ears, no more fowl breath. I recently moved and had to put my dogs on kibble for about a week while I was in transport and was waiting to get more raw meat.... All the stinky ears,breath and itchy came back! I am glad to have them back on raw meat and can once agian enjoy kisses with out passing out!

-- Ginny D (yehagirl@rockinredranch.com), November 11, 2001.