Spaniel Ears - Update last post, vet thinks they look ok. Thanks everyone!

[weixiao]

I left a message with the vet and they are going to call me back but I’m feeling bad for my girl so asking here as well anyway.

I have a 2 year old ESS that just had her first ear infection. I try and be really careful with her ears and we’ve done well, but I guess not well enough. I took her in because she was shaking her head a bit a couple of weeks ago and they prescribed 14 days of Malmetazone, which ended yesterday. She isn’t shaking her head or scratching them and doesn’t seem like they bother her but they look VERY red to me still. The vet did a culture (?) before prescribing the Malmetazone, but could we be dealing with something that needs a different treatment? Does it just take time for the redness to subside even if the infection is gone? Is there anything I can do or should be doing to help soothe them?

Obviously, I’ll see what my vet says, but I’m worried about her and so would love other input and advice as well while I wait!

Also, other than keeping them clean and dry, is there anything I can do to help prevent future ear infections? I know it is a problem with the breed and I have read about using drops weekly and things like that, but I have also read that can be a bad thing. Anyone have any tried and true methods to keep them under control? I am afraid of it becoming a chronic problem and I don’t want it to bother her.

[Marla_100]

My son’s Husky mix was continually having problems because she swam a lot in various places,
lakes, ocean etc. and if he didn’t totally dry her ears after each swim, she’d get infections.
I bought her some Veterycin Ear treatment and he started using it after each swim and it worked.
You might want to try that, it really was good stuff. Not sure my spelling is correct, could be Vetericyn.

[Go_Fish]

My mother raised Cocker Spaniels. You have to keep the hair around the inside of the ears clipped. And I don’t mean scissored. Use regular clippers.

My Mom used a Q-tip dipped in mineral oil to clean the inside of the ear. Next vet visit, have him or her show you how to do it. You’d be shocked how much gunk can come out of those ears in a week.

[weixiao]

The groomer clips out her ears when I take her, which definitely makes it easier to keep her ears clean.

Is a q-tip safe? I know you aren’t supposed to use them in people ears because you can push the wax and debris further down the ear canal. Isn’t it the same with dogs?

Taking her in tomorrow. Wondering if we have something else going on. The ear canal doesn’t look red, it is just the underside of the flap of the ear, so I wonder if it is a skin thing now, rather than an infection in the inner ear. Poor thing!

[Go_Fish]

Have your vet show you how to clean out her ears. It’s not dangerous if you know what you’re doing.

Good luck!

[S1969]

@weixiao

The groomer clips out her ears when I take her, which definitely makes it easier to keep her ears clean.

Is a q-tip safe? I know you aren’t supposed to use them in people ears because you can push the wax and debris further down the ear canal. Isn’t it the same with dogs?

Taking her in tomorrow. Wondering if we have something else going on. The ear canal doesn’t look red, it is just the underside of the flap of the ear, so I wonder if it is a skin thing now, rather than an infection in the inner ear. Poor thing!

I think you have to be more diligent with cleaning than only when groomed - e.g. every 4-6 weeks. I would ask the vet how often you can clean safely, without overdoing it. But probably weekly would be ok.

I feel like I’ve seen some kind of head snood for holding ears open but I couldn’t find one online. I think after cleaning you want to be sure that the ears are completely dry so it might be possible to train the dog to accept some kind of snood that will do that.

Agree about clipping the hair under the ear and around the ear canal. I also know some people use tweezers to pull out the hair inside the ear - ask your vet about that. It must hurt and might also cause ingrown hairs/irritation - it could be one of those things that is still done by groomers but frowned on by vets.

Lastly - ear infections are also a sign of food allergies, and for dogs with heavy drop ears - that might get overlooked. I know a breeder that struggled with his Vizsla’s ears until he switched food. In their case, it was legumes that was the allergen. So consider food but don’t just randomly experiment or it may make things worse (and offer no useful information).

Good luck!

[weixiao]

Thanks. I clean her ears very regularly with ear wipes recommended by the vet. The groomer clips her ears, I clean them.

We have discussed it possibly being allergies but it is unlikely to be food. She has had stomach issues and is on a hydrolyzed protein diet and has been for a year and she has only just had this one ear infection after I moved, so if it is an allergy I’m guessing it is something else and not the food.

[weixiao]

Update: ears look much better today but saw the vet anyway. He said absolutely no to the q-tip cleaning but recommended a different product than I have been using to clean her ears. Ear canal looks good and he thinks that we don’t need to worry about this being a chronic problem yet and it is more likely just from her and her “brother” taking an unsanctioned dip in the river.

Thanks for the info everyone! I am going to look into the plucking vs clipping of her ears, and we are going to keep an eye on there being any other signs of an allergy problem.