Ear issue/vet visit. This post is really long.
I cleaned Eddy's ears on Sunday... I clean them every, well, whenever I remember, probably 12 or more days. After this round, though, he seemed really bothered, shaking his head, itching, etc. etc. I'm like, "Great this'll be trip #3 to the vet for the month of June." Sigh.
I figured there was too much moisture in there, and he couldn't quite shake it out, so I tried sopping "it" up with a dry cotton ball as deep as I dared (I'm terrified of going too far), flexing his ears around to get "it" moving around, then left them alone. For a couple days. Well, today he was still shaking his head and shoving his toes in that right ear. The other ear's perfectly fine.
Soooo brought him into the vet, have to deal with everyone being like, "OMG corgi ahhh cuuute", and picking him up and freaking out, which I usually expect and don't mind in public, because he is so adorable and everyone is so jealous, but it's like, "Hello, I'm at the vet so there's probably something wrong with my dog, can you not see him shaking his head and acting all sad and itchy? What if he was really sick and puked or poo'd all over you??"
Anyways, the doc said his ear was "just red all the way down", but there was no blood or discharge. Eddy was really squirmy with her. So I held his head firmly for her, stretched open his ear myself, and pointed out the unusually massive flakes and gobs. She scraped out 3 Q-tips worth of some nasty wax and flakes, and wondered what cleanser I use, and wondered if he is allergic. $50 later, I leave with anti-inflammatory ear cream.
I called her back and recited, "Gold Metal Pets, Clean Ears with Soothing Aloe. Contains Dicotyl Sodium Sulfosuccinate. No other ingredients are listed on the bottle."
She said, "Ah some dogs are allergic to DSS. Don't use that cleanser anymore, get one that doesn't contain DSS."
We say good-bye. But of course, I'm thinking, "Why didn't the other ear flame up? And I've been using the same bottle since he was 12 weeks old. I clean him the same way every time, 2 slightly damp cotton balls per ear. Why is he now 'allergic to DSS'?" Gah. Well it's not like I'm going to disobey her orders.
I figured there was too much moisture in there, and he couldn't quite shake it out, so I tried sopping "it" up with a dry cotton ball as deep as I dared (I'm terrified of going too far), flexing his ears around to get "it" moving around, then left them alone. For a couple days. Well, today he was still shaking his head and shoving his toes in that right ear. The other ear's perfectly fine.
Soooo brought him into the vet, have to deal with everyone being like, "OMG corgi ahhh cuuute", and picking him up and freaking out, which I usually expect and don't mind in public, because he is so adorable and everyone is so jealous, but it's like, "Hello, I'm at the vet so there's probably something wrong with my dog, can you not see him shaking his head and acting all sad and itchy? What if he was really sick and puked or poo'd all over you??"
Anyways, the doc said his ear was "just red all the way down", but there was no blood or discharge. Eddy was really squirmy with her. So I held his head firmly for her, stretched open his ear myself, and pointed out the unusually massive flakes and gobs. She scraped out 3 Q-tips worth of some nasty wax and flakes, and wondered what cleanser I use, and wondered if he is allergic. $50 later, I leave with anti-inflammatory ear cream.
I called her back and recited, "Gold Metal Pets, Clean Ears with Soothing Aloe. Contains Dicotyl Sodium Sulfosuccinate. No other ingredients are listed on the bottle."
She said, "Ah some dogs are allergic to DSS. Don't use that cleanser anymore, get one that doesn't contain DSS."
We say good-bye. But of course, I'm thinking, "Why didn't the other ear flame up? And I've been using the same bottle since he was 12 weeks old. I clean him the same way every time, 2 slightly damp cotton balls per ear. Why is he now 'allergic to DSS'?" Gah. Well it's not like I'm going to disobey her orders.
Comment
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Comment by Melisse Fowler on June 17, 2009 at 8:37pm
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Poor baby! It's so annoying having itchy ears. Keep an eye on it, it could be just developing, and a bad infection can lead to hearing loss. Have you thought of insurance or a health plan to help cut the cost of frequent vet visits?
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Comment by Sunni A. on June 17, 2009 at 3:03pm
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Well he does get wax build up that I can see without having to pry his ear open. It builds back up every two weeks (or less) so I feel like I should be keeping up with the rate of the build up- maybe it is a geographical thing, humidity/pollen or something? I suppose I will switch to rubbing alcohol and clean them less often.
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Comment by Bev Levy on June 17, 2009 at 9:17am
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Gee, I have always just used a damp cloth! I have not noticed that their ears are especially dirty. Do they really need alcohol? Sparty is ten and he has had problems with many things but never his ears. I thought it was more of a problem with floppy eared dogs.
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Comment by Alice on June 17, 2009 at 12:33am
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We just use rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball to clean Finn's ears. Alcohol can be drying though so you don't want to use it daily. We clean his ears probably every two or three weeks (unless they look really dirty) and it works out great. Hope Eddy feels better soon!
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His ears don't stink, and his wax is the same color as always. The stuff the vet gave me, the anti-inflammatory, I looked it up online and it treats yeast too.
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Comment by Kari & Quin on June 16, 2009 at 8:28pm
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Sunni, does Eddy's ear smell bad and is the stuff in his ear a dark color? If so it might be a yeast infection.
I had a dog that had this, i took him to several vets before i found one that knew what it was and gave me some expensive stuff to put in his ears and it finally took care of it. also i just cleaned out his ear with a Q tip and just got out as much of the stuff as posible with out useing alcohol or any thing. My vet said that some times they get it if their ears get wet and are not dryed right away so after that i dryed his ears with a Q tip right away after his bath
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Comment by Nancy Geddes on June 16, 2009 at 7:26pm
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Dear Sunni: A most excellent breeder (of my third corgi, Linus) advised me to use nothing other than a alcohol prep pad to clean my dogs ears (you can get them by the box at any drug store). This advice has worked thus far (and three corgis later!) All the best from Williamsburg, VA: Nancy, Bear, Tasha and Linus
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