Itchy ear

[WufWuf]

Honey has ear trouble that seems to be mainly her left ear. The vet clinic I go to has several vets so you don't always see the same one, there's one that is good and the other two that I've seen are not so good. The one I saw with her yesterday left me feeling like I knew more than she did .

The vet who I liked suspected a pollen allergy and put Honey one antihistamines and it looked like that was helping but the problem flared up again and I took her back to good vet. She said her ears were nice and clean and there was no sign of redness or infection. She put her on pred tabs and it helped but shortly after she finished them the ear was at her again.

I took her back yesterday evening and saw a vet I hadn't seen before (she seemed really young so I'd guess not long qualified) and she said Honey might have to have the pred for the rest of her life but at low does it "wouldn't do too much damange", to me any damage is unacceptable and I want to get to the bottom of it not just medicate her and say job done. I asked if it was an allergy issue would that not be a systemic problem and should she be itchy in both ears if that was the case? She looked stumped and said "ah it's just one of those things" . She also suggested crumbling wheatabix over her food for her gland problems even after I told her that Honey's poos were excellent and I didn't think they were too soft to clear the glands.

So she's on the pred again but it's bugging me that it's only one ear that she seems to be bothered by, poor girl the ear is twitching and she keeps shaking her head and it looks to me like she's trying to keep the ear straight (though it is her "up" ear). I am so broke that I can't really afford to go to a holistic vet and as I have plenty of free time I'd be happy to do the research to find the best treatment if only I knew where to start.

She did say that they could do bloods and I will do this if I can't get any further without them but I just can't wrap my head around the problem myself and don't want to put Honey through the bloods if it's not likely to really be an allergy. I'll be doing some more dog sitting in a couple of weeks so I could use that money for the bloods but they want to do a vaccince against the allergin and then she'd be getting that on a periodic basis, it's just not sitting right with me though.

To give you an idea of how on the ball the vet was yesterday here's the instructions she wrote on Honey's meds word for word

"half a tablet with half a tablet every other day there after"

it's lucky I know what she ment

So any ideas, if it's really an allergy could it just be showing up in one ear and if it's not an allergy what are the other reasons she would be so bothered by her ear? I could go back to good vet but my experience of other vets with the cats and my own experience with doctors leads me to beleive that I need to know more myself before I do and also that the odds are she will say meds.

Sorry if this is all over the place I'm very run down at the moment and the fatigue makes my brain a bit useless (Mr. Wuf is sick for weeks now so I'm having to do more than I can manage)

[JudyN]

No real advice, but just want to give you a (((((hug))))).

Have any tests been done for mites, yeast, etc? I've heard wonderful reviews of Thornit powder http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thornit-Ear-Pow ... nit+powder It might be worth a try - but not being a vet I can't say whether sticking anything in the ear of a dog with undiagnosed ear problems could be harmful so I wouldn't do it without the go-ahead of your vet or one of the experts on here.

[gwd]

again, i'm going to suggest quercetin. I can't tell you how much this has helped boydog with his seasonal allergies!

if a vet suggested a lifelong dose of pred i'd be looking for about any other alternative.

[Nettle]

Good advice from both.

Has anybody actually looked in the affected ear lately? As my vet says - common things are common. And because of Honey's allergies and general history, wouldn't it be easy for a vet to forget to look inside the ear to see if there is a foreign body this time.........or a sinus infection.......

[WufWuf]

Thanks everyone.

or a sinus infection

Hmmm I wonder if it could be this she has been rubbing the left side of her face with her paw and I feel like she's in pain but the vet said that there was no inflammation in the ear and therefore should would not be in pain but if it is a sinus infection then she could be in a good deal of pain.

Nettle they did look in her ear with an otoscope, no sign of mites, left ear was a "little dirty" but not bad, right ear was very clean. The last time both ears were very clean.

gwd I will definitley get some quercetin and give it a shot, I'd forgotten the name and was going to go looking for the post you mentioned it in .

I don't want to wait until her pred are over to go back if it is a sinus infection, do you think if I rang in the morning they'd give me some antibiotics? How would I convince them it might be a sinus infection or would they need to see her again? I won't be around tomorrow as I'm going to the trick dog workshop but Mr. Wuf might be able to pick up the tablets if I can arrange it.

[Nettle]

Ear, nose and throat. All linked and all share conditions.

If you can't get the ABs, gently put a few drops of lavender oil on the place where she is sore. It won't do any harm and if there IS infection, it will help. There is a specific sinus infection common in terriers but not all that commonly diagnosed, which is fungal. I'm sorry I can't remember its posh medical name but I've seen a fair bit of it.

Tea tree oil will do if you don't have lavender oil but it's megastrong stuff so I'd suggest warm water with 2 or 3 drops in it, then apply with a soft cloth.

[Nettle]

its posh medical name

Aspergillosis. And having read up on it, I don't think this is applicable in Honey's case - but she could still have sinus problems given the symptoms you describe. I'm relieved that they checked her ears properly.

Poor little dog. Give her a gentle smooth from me.

[WufWuf]

Oh thanks Nettle Honey sends you a polite careful nose lick.

I have both tea tree and lavender (and Honey doesn't like the smell of either ) I'm not sure if the lavender is French or English (it's the Holland and Barrett one and it says it's manufactured in the U.S).

Should I go belt and braces approach and use a drop of both diluted or just use the lavender?

[Nettle]

One or the other. I'd say use the lavender.

[WufWuf]

Thanks again Nettle, I think I'll be bringing her back to the vet tomorrow as I really feel that she is in pain, there's a tension on her face that makes me think pain and she's been a little cranky and out of sorts. She's also doing some wicked farts (though she was alone with Mr. Wuf for the day yesterday and may have had some eh... extras I'm not sure, her poop was quite soft this morning and she would tend towards hard not soft) she's not normally a stinky girl.

Is it ok if I put the lavender on my hand and then rub it over her muzzle? I used tissue yesterday but felt that it aborbed the oil and not much went on her face.

I've been giving her some manuka honey and organic natural yogurt just to see if I can boost her a little.

Gwd I haven't been able to get the quercetin around here so far but will try some more places tomorrow it sounds great and I may have to try it myself .

[Nettle]

Yes, it's okay to put a few drops on a finger and stroke it over the affected area.

[WufWuf]

Thanks again

[WufWuf]

So I took Honey back to the vet and her eyes are inflamed on the inside of her lids (left more than right) the vet examined them and said that there was congestion in the blood vessels of the eyes, she used the stain to check for any scratches but found none. There's been no discharge from her eyes at all.

She put her on Synulox tabs and Maxitrol drops twice a day and I've to bring her back in a week.

It was a different vet than the one we saw last week.

[JudyN]

It was a different vet than the one we saw last week.

I'm so glad she's getting the right treatment now I always ask for a specific vet (not possible if it's an emergency and/or they're not there that often of course) and use the excuse that Jasper is better with him (though the truth is that he's better with Jasper)

[WufWuf]

Thanks Judy, I think the vet I like is the owner of the practice but it wasn't her today either it was another one that I had problems with before about the RAW feeding, we seem to get on ok once we don't talk about diet .

I would like to see the same vet every time but all the vets around here seem to operate in the same way where they have several clincs and the vets work at all of them. I've asked in the past at a different clinic I used with my cats but no longer use as their prices went way up and was told "all our vets are very good this was not the case and one vet in particular was not very good at all.

Honey is very forgiving of vets doing nasty things to her and will still give them a wiggle after the do all the mean things to her if she's met them a few times, if I have to take her back and it's not urgent I will ask if I can see the vet I liked and see how it goes, I think I'll try the "she's more familer with her allergy problems" excuse...