[MajesticSadiesMom]

Hello Everyone,

It has been quite awhile since I've been here. Sadie will be 1 year on Dec. 25 and we couldn't have picked an more amazing dog.

The only problem we have had with her is that she gets ear infections quite frequently. I clean her ears all the time but if I even go a few days without doing it the get quite gross. My vet has had me putting Surolan in her ears and that clears it up but then a few weeks later we have the same problem.

Does anyone else have this problem? How often should I be cleaning her ears? Any advise?

Here are a few updated pics of my beautiful girl.

 

[LibertyME]

Are you trimming the fur in, on. and around her ears to increase airflow?

 

[Willow52]

We went through this during Maggie's first year, turned out to be a sensitivity to corn. Took her off all corn and ear infections stopped.

 

[MajesticSadiesMom]

No I haven't been trimming the hair around or in the ears. It only gets down when I take her to get groomed. So should I take the long hair around the ears right down?

 

[MGMF]

What are you feeding her?

 

[MajesticSadiesMom]

She is on Nutro Max puppy but we are about to start transitioning her to the adult food

 

[Dallas Gold]

Like LibertyME suggested, try to trim the inner ear fur to cool things down inside the ear flap. Ask your veterinarian to show you how to do it. It works!

How are you cleaning the ear? Are you doing a flush? That means squirting some of the cleaning fluid in the ear canal, squishing it around by closing the ear flap and rubbing the ears, then using cotton balls (not Q tips) to sop up the wet stuff and dry out the ear. I asked my vet to show me how to do this with our problematic ear dog--turns out I was being too mild doing the cleaning.

If it's not the diet, if it's not the environmental pollens, then it may be your vet will suggest a deep ear cleaning under sedation.

 

[THE HONEY WOLVES]

We have alot of experience in this -

If you can get the ears clean and dry with baby wipes or a good ear wash - then the KEY! ingredient is the R7 powder - it works great just make sure the ear is dry first.

http://www.dog.com/item/r-7-ear-powder-dog-and-cat/210104/

 

[MajesticSadiesMom]

Thank you everyone. First thing I did was trim in and around her ears so here's hoping that works. I am going to look for the R7 powder when I am at the pet store later this week.

 

[Sally's Mom]

And other than allergies to who knows what, it can be a sign of an underactive thyroid. My dogs don't get ear infections and the only ear cleaning I use is a tissue. I believe that if it is not broken, don't fix it. My theory is if you use a wash as "routine" cleaning, then you clean out the bad as well as the bugs that keep that bad bugs at bay. It works in this household.

 

[Ninde'Gold]

Tucker used to get ear infections that seemed like NON-STOP.

Turns out it was allergies. We changed his food and he's been fine since!

 

[Gwen]

The only dog I ever had who had chronic ear infections had thyroid issues.

My guys are in the water all the time including when the ice is going out & right up until the ice is solid & we don't have any issues with ear infections. We also take them camping for 10 days and they're in the water or sleeping.

I do carry an ear cleaning flush that I use regularly and that seems to work.

 

[Kristin]

I agree with the other posters on checking the thyroid.

As soon as my Golden went hypothyroid (around the age of 7 yrs old), he had chronic ear infections. I've used Surolan but actually prefer another antibiotic (I think it's called Baytril?). It's more of a white, creamy liquid while the surolan is more of a clear yellowish fluid. Your vet will know. I always had it in stock.

You will want to be careful with keeping his ears clean or he might end up with an ear hematoma or cauliflower ear (requiring a surgical resection of the inner ear called a Zepp procedure). Not fun.

I would have your vet check for thyroid... especially if you find your dog is of the low-energy, prone to gaining weight variety. A lot of thyroid dogs also easily develop skin allergies.

Hope you have a better outcome though. A lot has been said about food allergies with wheat and corn with Goldens, so maybe check out his diet or do allergy testing if his thyroid is clear.

Good luck!

 

[Dallas Gold]

Low thyroid was also the case for our Barkley, though his was also environmental allergies.

What really worked best for him was acupuncture. I didn't even realize it at first. We took him for treatments for hip dysplasia and about a year into it I mentioned to the acupuncture vet his ears seemed to be so much better this year and she smiled and told me she'd been putting needles in for his allergies and all her hip dogs allergies and ears improved!

Sally's Mom is right--we only flushed the ear with cleaning solution when he had an active infection of some sort going on or if he'd been swimming and it was hot and humid outside.

Our Toby doesn't have ear issues (thank goodness!!). We use the kleenex technique on him. Every once in a while I will use an ear cleaning pad I got from Drs. Foster and Smith.

 

[Looni2ns]

Grace had ear infections, and it turned out to be food allergies.

 

[bonacker]

I hate to over-simplify the problem, but my allergy prone boy Hunter showed amazing results with Wellness Lamb/Salmon (anything but chicken!). His constant yeast infections in his ears cleared up after he was on that food for a while. As a maintenance after a vet visit and prescription drops, I also use the pet store brand ear cleaning pads, drain out the liquid out of the jar and pour in a little white vinegar to keep the pads moistened. I wipe out the ear area with this solution after gently wiping them out with a cotton ball dabbed in mineral oil, which is good at dissolving and cleaning out the gunk.

 

[Maggies mom]

Cruiser was chronic with ear infections for 4 years.... to the point his ears were closing up. Thyroid was good..his are environmental allergies. 36 things out 52 he was allergic to.. NO food allergies....

 

[Charliethree]

My boy spent his first year fighting constant ear infections. A change of vet, to one who wanted help prevent the problem, not just treat the symptoms was very successful. Our first step was to switch to a grain free and chicken free diet and ...no more ear issues, he is 4 now. Not to say this is the issue with your dog, but worth considering.

 

[Noey]

my Noah was food allergies, so it could be the food.

 

[samchu_mammy]

Sam is having ear infection, been going to the vet for the past 2 months!!!

It was getting better, then he returned from boarding, and it seems worse now...

Will be going to the vet this weekend, but I wonder if it could be food related which we recently switch to Blue Buffalo Wild. In order to find out if it is food related, should I ask my vet if a blood test is needed?? Is it going to cost me a fortune?