Recessed Vulva (this is a new one) and an ear infection

[Stacy]

Willow went to the vet yesterday with an ear infection, and Karen you should be pleased to hear I do finally have a vet who cultures ear infection goo. We treated it with a medication I hadn't heard of before called Claro. It's still a combination of antibiotic, anti-fungal, and anti-inflammatory. But the nice thing about this drug is it's a one time treatment that is supposed to work continuously for 30 days, so I don't have to squirt anything in there. She has an appointment for a recheck in 2 weeks. The vet said as an isolated event it's not a big deal, but if it becomes a chronic problem it's often associated with food allergies and we should do a food trial. I have mixed emotions about that. Right now I'm hoping it isn't a recurrent problem so we don't even have to go there. 

The other thing I brought up to him is that Willow always seems to pee on herself. The hair surrounding her vulva is always dirty. And she had that UTI a while ago. He looked at her and said she has a recessed vulva, and if it's a problem they can do a vulvoplasty to resect the skin folds there so the vulva protrudes more. Or if it seems to be more minor we can just keep the fur clipped from around that area - something I knew needed to be done but clippers, delicate skin, wiggly puppy and I have not been able to accomplish that on our own.

This issue is something I haven't experienced before but I had been reading about it and I couldn't figure it out. The trick is, she looks normal when you look at her lying on her back with her belly up. But if you look at her from behind when she's standing you can see that her vulva is surrounded by skin folds and does look different than the other girls. I had heard that they usually grow out of it, but that's not really what I'm reading in the veterinary articles. But I'm still hoping that if she grows a little more she might grow into her skin folds. He also mentioned that slightly delayed spaying may help with this. We are doing slightly delayed spaying already so I hope one of these things will help. 

The concern is that it can make them more prone to UTIs and skin irritation in that area. And obviously the peeing on her fur issue that we're already having. I would love to hear if someone else has experienced this. I do have a friend at work whose doodle had a vulvoplasty with good success. I don't think it's something that would need to be done with spaying. But I always feel better having more information on a subject.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I have no knowledge or experience with the recessed vulva, but I'm disappointed in your vet's comment about the ear infection. Chronic ear infections are extremely common in Poodles and Poodle mixes, so much so that the condition is called "Poodle Ear." It has absolutely nothing to do with food allergies. AND...when dogs do have ear infections due to allergies, to food or anything else, there are always other significant symptoms before and besides ear infections. That's just a fact. Never will you find food allergies to be the cause of ear infections when there are no other symptoms. besides which, she is too young to have already developed a food allergy, especially given the fact that as a rehome, she hasn't been eating the same food exclusively for months or years. 

Maybe you should remind your vet that Willow is part Poodle, lol, and ear infections are often part of that package.
Start cleaning her ears regularly once this treatment is over. You don;t have to squirt anything in there. You saturate a cotton ball with the ear cleaner, place it in the ear, and gently massge the base of the ear. Then you remove the cotton ball. I had to do that weekly with my last Poodle for most of her life, and it looks like Jasper is going to need it too. 
I will be following for info on the vulva issue. 

[Stacy]

I was disappointed in the food conversation too. And I wanted to say poodle ear, but sometimes he isn't the best at giving me a chance to talk! He has so much to say. But he did acknowledge that a single unilateral ear infection in an otherwise asymptomatic dog isn't a reason to jump into food allergies. He just tends to go off on esoteric tangents.

Willow isn't itchy at all. (at least so far) I didn't even see her scratch her ear - I just do frequent assessments of them. We all know I'm neurotic. That ear infection had just started. I think it barely had any time to bother her before I realized that it was red and inflamed. I'm pretty sure it's not the food. She was eating chicken before but right now she's eating fish and I don't think she's been eating fish long enough to develop any sort of allergy. These ears can be such a struggle though. I've battled Katie's since she was a puppy. Maggie on the other hand has the most gorgeous ears. I'm hoping that once we take care of this one with Willow we can keep them clean and under control. The ears are not my favorite thing about these dogs.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Mine either. I had a wonderful reprieve for almost 12 years between Poodles; Jackdoodle never had a single ear infection, and he had wonderful "wide open" (vet's description) ear canals. Of course, his straight, silky, shedding, non-wooly coat had a lot to do with it, too. :)

[Bertie Vanettes]

Mavis has a recessed vulva, she was spayed too young & I'm sure that is the cause. She was having issues with UTI's and crystals in her urine. Vet recommended we put her on special diet. We didn't & spoke to owner of where we buy our food. Who sells holistic options. She said to get as much moisture in her diet. We added canned food to her kibble & started on a supplement with cranberry. We also wipe her with wet wipe then dry her everytime she pees. I'm home and my doodles are both inside most of the time so it's doable but a lot of work. It's been over a year with no UTI's or urinary issues. Thank God!

[ginny]

My neighbor just found out her dog is going to need vulvoplasty surgery.  She's hoping pet insurance will cover it.  Does anyone know if this is something insurance would cover?

[Stacy]

I would be really interested to hear if you find out the answer to this. Willow has Healthy Paws insurance. If she ends up needing this procedure and it covers it, it would be amazing! I can somehow see them calling it elective and not covering it though...

[ginny]

Not sure.  I'll have to find out when she has it done.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

If the vet says it's medically necessary, I think they do have to cover it. 

[ginny]

And recurring UTI problems would probably make it necessary.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

PetPlan covered Jasper's dental surgery to remove retained deciduous teeth, and that could also be considered elective, I guess.

[Denise, Winnie, and AngelAbby]

I have had 2 doodle girls with this problem. My first girl had no issues...after 1 UTI and finding out this issue she had I did keep the hair there trimmed close and would occasionally clean her with a baby wipe.  No problems after that. Our second girl who is a2 1/2 now,  same thing. I noticed right away that she had this problem so knew what to do. Keep her trimmed and clean and she has had no issues with anything. Both my girls were spayed before their first heat, but they do say that waiting til after a heat helps that issue, and having a litter of pups pretty much fixes the problem all together.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I certainly hope you are not suggesting that people breed their pet dogs for this reason. I know the OP wouldn't dream of such a thing, but for those who are not aware of responsible breeding practices, no dog who is not at least two years old and had about $2000 worth of genetic health testing should ever be bred.