Flushing the Ears

[Heather Madden]

I have read some of the posts regarding ear infections. My doodle, Beau has had ongoing ear infections and after trying numerous medications, and also changing his diet to help allergies- he is still having them and is in pain. My vet has told me that he is not yet a candidate for the ablation. However, she suggests flushing his ears out to drain the infection. Has anyone had any experience with this procedure and if so, has it worked? Apparently it is not a cure for the infections, but it does make them more manageable. Would appreciate any input.

 

Thanks,

 

Heather

[Linda, Webber and Seda]

I just went through the ear infection thing. When I got Seda she had bilateral ear infections. The vet took a sample of the g*** deep in each ear, separately, and looked at it under the microscope. Once it was determined that it was yeast, and not bacteria or a mixture of both, she put her on miconazole drops, six drops twice a day for two weeks. I was to also rinse her ears with Epi-Otic once a week. I filled the ears with the Epi-O, rubbed the base of the ears and let her shake the rest out. Also took a tissue and wiped the debris out of the external ear. Follow up in 3 weeks and another sample from each ear to see if the infection was gone. It was. Now I am supposed to wash her ears out 2X a week for a month and then once a month from then on. We are in the third week of the 2X per week. I changed her from the food the breeder had her on to Orijen puppy, grain free and add wild salmon oil to the food. So far so good. It is early--this was her first infection that I know of.
I think the take home message, is what is the organism in the ears? Bacteria or yeast and is Beau getting the right medication for the organism. Have you shaved the flap under his ears and from ear to neck on both sides. Does he have a lot of fine hare in his ear canals? There is controversy regarding whether it is good to pluck out the hairs. I did. My understanding is that the flushing is to maintain the uninfected ear, rather than the flushing out of infection.

Moisture in the ear combined with the nice warm darkness is the problem. It's the perfect medium for growth of bugs. What ever you use to flush the ear needs to have some kind of surfactant in it. That is just about everything I know about ears, except that after a bath or swimming the ears have to be rinsed out. Hope some of that address your question.

[Lee Seidman]

Go to the following site and try this product before your baby has any more pain. You can search Doodlekisses for others that believe in this product as much as I do. It is incredible ,,,,,,,can't hurt to try it. I have two Doodles and it has been a lifesaver ever since we were told to try it.....no ear aches, no infections. We live in Florida, Billy swims at least five times a day, we can't keep him out of the pool.....never had an ear problem. Lexi is not a great swimmer but has had several painful ear problems until we found Thornit....... Please watch this video and try it. We also use it as an aid to help pull the hair from her ears and do use a drier that the vet suggested.......MUCH less expensive then vet bills!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5OAkSgXpCQ

[Heather Madden]

Thank you! I started using a product that is probably similar to it called TEP Canker Ear Powder a few months ago from the UK. Beau is a swimmer too, and I have been keeping him from swimming lately which he hates. In fact I think that if I had used this product a lot earlier it would have helped him more. It really does dry out his ears and makes them smell better. However, the vet said that there is so much liquid and inflammation in his ears that nothing is penetrating it. So she suggested this procedure and they put him under to do it. I have tried all the antibiotics, ear washes, steroids etc...which have only seemed to make it worse. If we do this, I will let you all know how it works! Appreciate all the feedback!

[Linda, Webber and Seda]

I just looked at the video for Thornit. It looks like the ear canker powder made by Happy Jack that can be purchased at Southern States a feed/supply store. It has Zinc oxide and Iodoform in it. It smells like sulfa. The label says it is for dogs and horses. I used it on another dog I had and it did clear up her ears. I rinsed the ears with vinegar/alcohol wash first.

[F, Calla & Luca]

The key ingredient in Thornit, I think, is gentian violet.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

And if it is, that won't do a single thing for bacterial infections...only yeast. Sometimes, a bad yeast infection can turn into a bacterial infection as well, from scratching.

[Sally, Echo and Emmi]

There isn't any gentian violet in Thornit. The key ingredient is iodoform. It works great!

[Adrienne Shapiro]

Hello,
My vet told me to wash my Shayna's ears with vinegar and water and that would dry up all the water that is inside, then we got to chatting and she never explained how to do that....here it is the weekend...Anyone,,know how???Shayna and I would love you help....smelly ears....here....
Thanks....DKer's

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I think Heather's reference to 'flushing' is a procedure done by the vet, rather than any of these products that we may use at home for maintenance purposes. From Heather's post above: "she suggests flushing his ears out to drain the infection. Has anyone had any experience with this procedure"
So if I understand the question correctly, the dog already has a diagnosed ear infection, and the vet wants to do this "flushng" procedure. Heather is not asking us for product suggestions, she is asking if anyone has ever had this done, and if so, did it help?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Okay, I just looked it up, and what Heather's vet is recommending is a "full ear flush" done at the vet's office under sedation. This would be one step in the treatment of chronic otitis externa and might help avoid a resection or ablation surgery.
"Most ear infections are cleared up simply with professional cleaning followed by medication at home. If only mild debris is present in the ear canals, simple disinfection and washing of the ear is adequate; however, in many cases, a full ear flush is needed to even examine the eardrum. For patient comfort, we recommend sedation for this procedure as the ears are sore and the instruments can be damaging if the pet jumps at the wrong time. A sample of ear discharge is commonly examined under the microscope so as to assist in selecting medications for home use. After a couple of weeks of home treatment, the ear canals are rechecked to be sure the infection is gone. In most cases this completes treatment but for stubborn cases, we must proceed to the next step."
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_ear_infections.html

[Heather Madden]

Thank you so much, yes you are right! I was just wondering if anyone has heard of any dogs undergoing this? They are suggesting if this does not work, to go to a dermatologist. So we shall see!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Well, I hope the procedure does work; but if it doesn't, my dog is under the care of a veterinary dermatology specialist for Atopic Dermatitis, which may be what they suspect is causing Beau's problems as well. Jack doesn't have ear issues, but we have a private group here on DK for dogs with atopy who are under a specialist's care, and you are very welcome to join.
Good luck to you & Beau!