Ear infections

[Stacy]

I have a constant battle with Katie's ears. They get yeasty and red and itchy. We have treated over and over again with mometamax (sometimes called mometavet.) Antifungal, antibiotic, and steroid. It works, but no matter how much I try to keep them clean or try not to mess with them it feels like a losing battle. Very frequent recurrence. I'm kind of at a loss and the vet hasn't suggested anything else. Her ears aren't horrible, but they're not great either. 

I just read this article from Whole Dog Journal. They recommend putting a little boric acid in the ears and then filling the ear canal with Pellitol and leaving it untouched for a week.  That just sounds wrong to me, but I wondered if this was something that sounded like valuable information at all. 

I feel like there has to be a better solution than just medicating her ears all the time, or even a better medication. But I have no idea what it is. 

https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/7_6/features/Canine-Ear-In...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I have found the health information/advice in The Whole Dog Journal to be very poor, and i would never follow any of it. It is almost always the most extremely alternative/holistic/homeppathic unproven stuff. 

Some dogs have chronic ears issues because of the size and shape of their ears canals. The canal can be narrower or more twisted in some individuals than others, and that can cause these kinds of constant infections. Sometimes the only solution is to do ablation surgery. :(

What are you doing to clean and maintain her ears between infections? Are you having the hair properly removed from the canals? Are you cleaning weekly? With what? 
FYI in advance for those who tell you not to have the hair (correctly and gently) removing from the canals. 
Here's a picture of what was taken out of the ears of a miniature ALD who was relinquished to DRC. I don't think anyone would argue that the hair must be removed.:

[Stacy]

I leave ear plucking to the groomer. I know Jana pulled it. One time she told me not to cut it because she needed something to grab. I have never cut her ear hair, but I think it breaks off when she scratches. I do see some (not a ton) of hair in there. I'm just not sure if I irritate them more by pulling the hair out. The same thing with cleaning. I don't do it weekly, I'm not sure if it's better or worse to get them wet. I use pro ear and a q-tip. And sometimes I get a ton of stinky wax. I know the pro ear is mostly alcohol, so it should evaporate, but being wet and dark just seems to beg for yeast to grow. 

Then there is Maggie. The vet looks in her ears and says, "this is what dog ears are supposed to look like." They are beautiful, and I don't do anything with them. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Jack's ear canals were one of the very few things that were physically perfect about him. His vet used to say "Nice big wide open ear canals" every time he looked at them. It was always nice to hear that something was right about him, lol. 
Pulling the hair improperly can cause irritation, which is one reason I asked. A groomer once gouged my Poodle's ear canal with the hemostat and she had an infection within three days. :( 
I don;t know how often Katie is groomed, but I think I'd be taking her in to the vet once a month to check and pull out anything that's there. 
I always used Epi-Otic once a week to clean my Poodle's ears. That's the best one I have found. It does contain a drying agent, which is part of why you want to use it weekly. Soak a cotton ball in the solution, drop it into the ear, and then smush it around from the outside by massaging around the dog's ears. That's how I was taught to do it by a vet. Then use cotton to wipe around the inside of the ear flap, and only use a Q-tip gently to get anything that you can still see in the ear. 

[Stacy]

Having the vet do the routine management of her ears is a great idea, and one I didn't think of. And this is why I bring these questions here! 

Katie is being groomed every 6 weeks with this new groomer. It's more frequently than she ever has been before, but we're still working out Maggie's hair so Katie goes too. I think Maggie is doing better. She grudgingly lets me comb her tail now. And she's moderately fluffy and not matted, but I think the new groomer and I disagree about how long she should be. I'm still not completely sold on the new groomer, and I have a little daydream about moving to Arkansas to be close to the old one. I had no idea how dependent I could become on the person who cuts my dogs hair! I wish I had kept better track... I wonder if her ears have been worse since the new groomer started. It would be interesting to see if there was a correlation there.

I'll have to get some Epi Otic and see if that makes a difference. I know a lot of it is just structure, and they're never going to be perfect ears, but it would be nice if I could get them more well controlled. I know it bothers her sometimes, and it makes me crazy when she scratches at them. 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

When I was looking up poodle ear maintenance recently I read that some people say plucking at the groomer's can irritate the canal and cause more infections than if it were left alone since some of them go a little crazy with the plucking.

Have you tried just the weekly cleaning with a solution and just gently pulling at the surface hairs on the outside of the canal (with your fingers)?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I know you read that, and yes, if a groomer doesn't do it correctly, it can irritate the the canal and cause an infection. It happened to my last Poodle; the groomer wasn't careful with the hemostat and gouged the skin. 
But...look at that picture I posted. In wooly coated dogs, that hair is growing deep, deep into the canals. Those long "tails" of hair is what was not visible. And that's where the ear infections originate...deep in the canal. It's dark and moist and greasy, and then you have this hair trapping the dirt and oils and moisture and making the perfect growing medium. You have to get that out of the canal so that you can keep it clean and dry. 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Yeah for sure, which is why I was sure that Riley's ear needed plucking but I guess not since the deeper parts are clear.

It was just a thought - maybe to take a look at the ears after next grooming and see if they look irritated?  If so then a more gentle plucking might be better.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Or, just have the vet do it once a month and tell the groomer to leave them alone, lol. 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Probably the safest option :p  

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Luna had amazing ears.  Completely clear, almost no hair, never had to clean them.

Riley looks like she has a ton of hair in her ears but the vet had a good look and so far the hair is only by the opening and doesn't go deep into the canal (thank goodness).

She recommended a once a week cleaning with a good ear solution (using the same method you mentioned) and cotton swabs to sweep around the outer area you can see but no plucking since the hair doesn't go that deep.  

My Bichon growing up however needed routine cleaning and plucking (using ear powder) she had a TON of hair in her tiny ear canals.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

OH, (again in advance for those who are going to start talking about diet) THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH FOOD.

[Stacy]

I completely agree it doesn't have anything to do with food. But I do wonder if there is an allergy component. She's been chewing at her feet some for the last several months, and we know that her mother had horrible allergies. I have been putting off taking her for allergy testing because of the cancer. But she's doing so well otherwise I may have to start her on allergy shots too. Do you think that would contribute to the ear issues?