What the hell is wrong with my dog...
Discussion
As above really if anyone can suggest anything we'll try it providing its not brutal.
He is a 5/6ish(rescue dog) year old lab / mongrel. medium in size .
We have had him roughly 4years.
year one : no problems lovely dog
year two: ear infection in the summer , we took him to the vets clean it out daily drops . 2 weeks all done no more notice he sneezes a lot when the grass has been cut .
year 3 : Major ear problems . just had the recipts out and he was at the vets 10+ times for his ears
he's clearly in pain yelps when you little more than touch them wince's and run away when you try to clean/ look in them . he had several different types of drops and was eventually diagnosed with doggy hayfever and we were told to give him 1/2 a kids piriton and it was a condition he'll have forever and to 'live with it.
he even had an overnight stay and a brain scan type thing all showing nothing.
we even changed vets because it got to the point were i felt we were being fobbed off by him .
winter they 'eased off' a little but were still a problem
this year so far:
not been at the vets yet but i cant see it being long as he is in a great amount of discomfort.
The ears (both not just one) are gunged up with wax and they get cleaned every other day we've used all different kind of recomended ear cleaners all for animals and have used tea tree for a while which didn't help. ointments and ear drops are flowing out of our cupboards.
This is really getting us down now as he is in pain and just looks depressed(i am not mad i promise )
Can any Vet PH'ers give any advice? or anyone with any doggy advice give any suggestions.
Year by year its getting worse and its not nice for him.
thanks in advance
johny
oh and sorry if this is in the wrong section
He is a 5/6ish(rescue dog) year old lab / mongrel. medium in size .
We have had him roughly 4years.
year one : no problems lovely dog
year two: ear infection in the summer , we took him to the vets clean it out daily drops . 2 weeks all done no more notice he sneezes a lot when the grass has been cut .
year 3 : Major ear problems . just had the recipts out and he was at the vets 10+ times for his ears
he's clearly in pain yelps when you little more than touch them wince's and run away when you try to clean/ look in them . he had several different types of drops and was eventually diagnosed with doggy hayfever and we were told to give him 1/2 a kids piriton and it was a condition he'll have forever and to 'live with it.
he even had an overnight stay and a brain scan type thing all showing nothing.
we even changed vets because it got to the point were i felt we were being fobbed off by him .
winter they 'eased off' a little but were still a problem
this year so far:
not been at the vets yet but i cant see it being long as he is in a great amount of discomfort.
The ears (both not just one) are gunged up with wax and they get cleaned every other day we've used all different kind of recomended ear cleaners all for animals and have used tea tree for a while which didn't help. ointments and ear drops are flowing out of our cupboards.
This is really getting us down now as he is in pain and just looks depressed(i am not mad i promise )
Can any Vet PH'ers give any advice? or anyone with any doggy advice give any suggestions.
Year by year its getting worse and its not nice for him.
thanks in advance
johny
oh and sorry if this is in the wrong section
Hi johnny, sorry to hear about your dog's probs, don't panic or give up hope, and if you feel let down by your vets, tell them andif not response, change or ask for referral to specialist or vet school. One of my dogs regularly needs her ears cleaning with drops and I doubt will ever have clean ears, sometimes she can be sore, but being a lab she's maybe daft enough to be stoical. Anyway, pain on touching the ears is not acceptable for your dog or you, so, as you have no answers so far, it obviously is not a straightforward case, maybe needing a specialist dermatologist, maybe just a sensible case work up. I haven't read your profile to see where you are in the country, so if you have lost faith in your vets, email me and I will see if I can find you a local-ish vet who knows what they are doing. I can't do much at a distance for your dog as it needs proper investigation, so that is what should be aimed for. Regards Tim
Can't add much more than what Thevet has said.
Incorrect tx/ care of ear infections leads easily to chronic long term problems sometimes leading to bacterial infections that can become resisitant to drops due to incorrect use. Your dog may have all sorts of potential problems such as
allergies causing chronic inflammation thus excess wax
infection that is recurring or never been cleared properly
narrow ear canals causing easier wax build up etc
Your dog needs to see a vet again but one who will do a complete 'work up' pain relief should be px aswell Ears can be hard to clear up but with a good vet who does everything thoroughly (swabs, proper exam etc) it should be controlled. A Swab should be done before antibiotics started, this may need to be done under GA and they can give them a proper clean whilst he is asleep and not feeling it. Dogs become ear phobic very quickly. If it is bacterial inf he may be better off with oral antibiotics than drops but that can only be decided by your case vet once they know what they're dealing with.
Over the counter ear preps not likely to be good enough (some may actually be to harsh and make the problem worse, such as tea tree oil)
I hope he starts feeling better soon, ear pain is no fun
Incorrect tx/ care of ear infections leads easily to chronic long term problems sometimes leading to bacterial infections that can become resisitant to drops due to incorrect use. Your dog may have all sorts of potential problems such as
allergies causing chronic inflammation thus excess wax
infection that is recurring or never been cleared properly
narrow ear canals causing easier wax build up etc
Your dog needs to see a vet again but one who will do a complete 'work up' pain relief should be px aswell Ears can be hard to clear up but with a good vet who does everything thoroughly (swabs, proper exam etc) it should be controlled. A Swab should be done before antibiotics started, this may need to be done under GA and they can give them a proper clean whilst he is asleep and not feeling it. Dogs become ear phobic very quickly. If it is bacterial inf he may be better off with oral antibiotics than drops but that can only be decided by your case vet once they know what they're dealing with.
Over the counter ear preps not likely to be good enough (some may actually be to harsh and make the problem worse, such as tea tree oil)
I hope he starts feeling better soon, ear pain is no fun
Edited by becksW on Wednesday 28th April 22:30
Edited by becksW on Wednesday 28th April 22:34
cheers for those 2 very informing replies , The issue is definetly worse when the grass has been cut and he is very 'daft' so doesn't learn that fresh cut grass = pain and suffering even though its nice to wipe his chops on.
He is going to have to go to the vet very soon. So i shall when i'm not happy (as usual) ask for a moe in depth examination and a 'swab' taking.
thankyou so far.
do you know of anything that can take the pain away maybe something herbal?
cheers johny & bruno
He is going to have to go to the vet very soon. So i shall when i'm not happy (as usual) ask for a moe in depth examination and a 'swab' taking.
thankyou so far.
do you know of anything that can take the pain away maybe something herbal?
cheers johny & bruno
johny105 said:
cheers for those 2 very informing replies , The issue is definetly worse when the grass has been cut and he is very 'daft' so doesn't learn that fresh cut grass = pain and suffering even though its nice to wipe his chops on.
He is going to have to go to the vet very soon. So i shall when i'm not happy (as usual) ask for a moe in depth examination and a 'swab' taking.
thankyou so far.
do you know of anything that can take the pain away maybe something herbal?
cheers johny & bruno
You will have to excuse my disbelief of herbal remedies, they may work or not, but are unlikely to do any harm. Antihistamines do not seem to be particularly effective in dogs, so piriton probably won't work, even if they work well for people with allergies. It can be very difficult to manage grass allergies which probably has a part to play in this case. Short term steroids are great but have consequences/side-effects. He is going to have to go to the vet very soon. So i shall when i'm not happy (as usual) ask for a moe in depth examination and a 'swab' taking.
thankyou so far.
do you know of anything that can take the pain away maybe something herbal?
cheers johny & bruno
Swabbing may not be required, as it would be used to rule out infections like malassezia, whereas it would seem to be that there is at least some degree of allergy to grass, but if you are at a new vet, they may ask for it, but make sure if you change vets that any history is passed on to the new vet, at the very least it could save you money by not repeating tests. If you don't feel confident of what is going on, tell your vets, I appreciate my clients telling me when they feel it's going wrong for them.
If you find something herbal or alternative that works, all well and good but I would advise you to not to rely on them to provide a cure, and to pursue a proper diagnosis and cure.
HTH even if biased against herbal/alternative stuff, just seen so many cases where patients can't have x, y or z because they have been treated with alternative medicines.
Cleaning the ears regularly will help the ears but what about the "grass allergy"? There is surely an allergic component to your problem, which must be investigated as it could easily cause all the ear problems. Will have a look tomorrow for skin specialists in your area, and send some recommendations on.
My old dog (sadly departed now) used to have chronic ear problems. After a lot of years of problems it was finally discovered that he had perforated both ear drums (which was only discovered after a small op to completely clean out all the wax) and an infection had set up camp in both inner ears (I think that right?). No amount of antibiotics, remedies or regular cleaning would stop it. In the end the vet suggested seeing a specialist with the suggestion of an op to patch up both perforations. Then I believe they were going to put long pieces of gauze in while they healed.
Does the wax get runny? and does it get worse in warm weather? You might connect it to grass cutting, but could it be that those days are warmer days as that's typically when folk mow their lawns?
Unfortunately he died from something totally unrelated before the op was even scheduled. Which is unfortunate, but the vet seemed confident it could be fixed.
Does the wax get runny? and does it get worse in warm weather? You might connect it to grass cutting, but could it be that those days are warmer days as that's typically when folk mow their lawns?
Unfortunately he died from something totally unrelated before the op was even scheduled. Which is unfortunate, but the vet seemed confident it could be fixed.
K87 said:
Shuvi said:
This is your Problem.
Go to bed you dick, typical pisshead trying to be funny and failing spectacularly.johny105 said:
lab / mongrel.
Pure mongrels fine - cross 'em, troubles. Lab's are the the worst of all, it's the scienceWhy are you so angry?
One other yes,
Not angry, just mildly irritated that you feel the need to post pointless, irrelevant, and rude replies to people seeking help with a genuine problem. I find it difficult to comprehend why people feel the need to post responses which are only going to succeed in upsetting the OP. I appreciate this is the internet and should not be taken too seriously but has there really been any need or justification for some of your responses this evening?
Not angry, just mildly irritated that you feel the need to post pointless, irrelevant, and rude replies to people seeking help with a genuine problem. I find it difficult to comprehend why people feel the need to post responses which are only going to succeed in upsetting the OP. I appreciate this is the internet and should not be taken too seriously but has there really been any need or justification for some of your responses this evening?
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