# SECOND EAR INFECTION



## rt625 (Nov 7, 2013)

YESTERDAY I TOOK MY KOBE TO THE VET BECAUSE OF A BAD ODOR COMING FROM HIS LEFT EAR. IT TURNED OUT TO BE AN EAR INFECTION. THE VET SUGGESTED THAT KOBE CAN POSSIBLY HAVE A SLIGHT ALLERGY TO HIS FOOD. HIS LAST EAR INFECTION WAS IN AUGUST AND THE VET AT THAT TIME THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE A SEASONAL ALLERGY PROBLEM. HE ALSO DID HAVE A RASH ON HIS BELLY AND BOTH EARS WERE INFECTED. THIS TIME AROUND IT WAS ONLY IN ONE EAR AND NO RASH. HE DOESNT SCRATCH OR NIBBLE ON HIS PAWS, I KNOW THAT IS ALSO A SIGN OF A FOOD ALLERGY. ALSO, IF IT WAS A FOOD ALLERGY WOULD SO MUCH TIME PASS BETWEEN EAR INFECTIONS. 

I DID JUST ORDER AN EAR CLEANER -VIRBAC EPI OTIC. I KNOW SOME DOGS ARE PRONE TO GETTING EAR INFECTIONS MORE THAN OTHERS. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE IN CLEANING YOUR DOGS EARS AND HOW OFTEN IT SHOULD BE DONE? I GIVE MY KOBE A BATH EVERY 10 DAYS AND WAS WONDERING IF THIS SHOULD BE PART OF HIS ROUTINE ON BATH DAY.


----------



## whimsy (Apr 3, 2010)

Your vet or a vet tech should be able to give you a demonstration on how to clean a dog's ear and how often. Each dog is different as far as ear infections go...the cause and the frequency varies. Did he prescribe the Epi otic?? Most Vets carry it...it's a good one .If he did prescribe it he should tell you how often to do it and show you how it's done. He should also be giving you some guidance on food allergies etc.and follow up appointment to check on that ear infection. They can be hard to get rid of. Were any antibiotics given to Kobe..either oral or an ointment or drops for the ear?? I would call your vet back and ask some more questions....Hope things get better quickly!!


----------



## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

I had a 3-4 ear infection (pretty significant) shortly after moving to my forever home. Mi Vet gave mi Popi a bottle of Epi-Otic to use daily for 7 days (plus some antibiotic ear drops). He then wants mi Popi to irrigate both ears with Epi-Otic on a monthly basis.....forever. I have had no ear infections since. The trick is to massage the liquid down into the inner ear. Mi Popi does this by grasping the inner ear tube between his thumb and forefinger through the outer skin below the ear opening. He then squeezes and massages that area and you can hear a "squish, squish" sound. It doesn't hurt and it feels good. It takes about 30 seconds to do each ear and I am good for another month. 

Mi Vet also wants mi Popi to trim the hair at the opening to mi inner ear on a regular basis. He says that this hair can irritate that area, if left to grow long, and cause an infection.

besos, Ricky Ricardo


----------



## rt625 (Nov 7, 2013)

My vet prescribed Tri-Otic ointment for 5-7 days, but did not say anything about using 
epi otic. I did some research myself and ordered it today from Chewy. 
As for the food allergies, she told me to hold off in switching foods until we see if he gets another ear infection. He is currently eating Orijen dry mixed with Core Wellness wet. He loves it so much, I really hope I dont have to switch his food.


----------



## rt625 (Nov 7, 2013)

Ricky Ricardo - I just want to start off by saying thats what I was going to name my dog, but got overruled by my children. Love it!!!!
Thanks for your detailed instructions. I looked it up on you tube and there is a doctor that showed the exact same thing you described. Do you also clean it out with a cotton ball?


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

rt625 said:


> YESTERDAY I TOOK MY KOBE TO THE VET BECAUSE OF A BAD ODOR COMING FROM HIS LEFT EAR. IT TURNED OUT TO BE AN EAR INFECTION. THE VET SUGGESTED THAT KOBE CAN POSSIBLY HAVE A SLIGHT ALLERGY TO HIS FOOD. HIS LAST EAR INFECTION WAS IN AUGUST AND THE VET AT THAT TIME THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE A SEASONAL ALLERGY PROBLEM. HE ALSO DID HAVE A RASH ON HIS BELLY AND BOTH EARS WERE INFECTED. THIS TIME AROUND IT WAS ONLY IN ONE EAR AND NO RASH. HE DOESNT SCRATCH OR NIBBLE ON HIS PAWS, I KNOW THAT IS ALSO A SIGN OF A FOOD ALLERGY. ALSO, IF IT WAS A FOOD ALLERGY WOULD SO MUCH TIME PASS BETWEEN EAR INFECTIONS.
> 
> I DID JUST ORDER AN EAR CLEANER -VIRBAC EPI OTIC. I KNOW SOME DOGS ARE PRONE TO GETTING EAR INFECTIONS MORE THAN OTHERS. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE IN CLEANING YOUR DOGS EARS AND HOW OFTEN IT SHOULD BE DONE? I GIVE MY KOBE A BATH EVERY 10 DAYS AND WAS WONDERING IF THIS SHOULD BE PART OF HIS ROUTINE ON BATH DAY.


Kodi had intermittent problems including ear infections quite a long time apart. The vet suggested doing the nutriscan testing. It came back with him being very sensitive to white fish, which I didn't understand AT ALL, because I have never (knowingly) fed him fish. It turns out that MANY foods and treats contain "fish oil" which is often from white fish (cod, mainly). When I started reading every package, and avoiding things with fish oil, we stopped having trouble.

We had another dog living with us for a while who eats a fish-based kibble. I tried to make sure the other dog got fed in his crate, so Kodi wouldn't get any of it. But a couple of times, someone left the crate door open and Kodi went in and found just a COUPLE of the other dog's pieces of kibble. He immediately got itchy from it. Now that I know the cause, the connection is very clear.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

rt625 said:


> My vet prescribed Tri-Otic ointment for 5-7 days, but did not say anything about using
> epi otic. I did some research myself and ordered it today from Chewy.
> As for the food allergies, she told me to hold off in switching foods until we see if he gets another ear infection. He is currently eating Orijen dry mixed with Core Wellness wet. He loves it so much, I really hope I dont have to switch his food.


I wouldn't blindly switch foods without knowing what it is that's causing the problem. If it's a case like Kodi's, it could be a minor ingredient, and could be in the new food too, if you don't know to avoid it.


----------



## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Scout and Truffles have never had a ear infection. Their groomer plucks the hair out of the ear canal to keep it clean. Scout especially has alot of hair in his ears. I would ask the vet if that might help.


----------



## equi11frnd (Dec 21, 2014)

We were also just at the vet yesterday for Darlin's first ear infection (she is almost 8 years old) I am not sure what triggered it- she has been playing with the new puppy, but I also switched her food a short while back to one that does have fish oil so I am going to look into that. I have been plucking her interior ear hair. My vet encouraged me to pluck more-he said to get as much of the hair out of the canal as possible because it holds dirt and moisture. We have oral antibiotics, antibiotic drops and the Epi Otic to clean what may come out with infection. He said once we get the ears back to normal not to use any product in her ear as long as they are clean and healthy.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Heather Glen said:


> Scout and Truffles have never had a ear infection. Their groomer plucks the hair out of the ear canal to keep it clean. Scout especially has alot of hair in his ears. I would ask the vet if that might help.


That depends on the particular dog too. Some dogs have more ear hair than others, and some have more trouble with ear infections if the pluck the ears, while for other dogs it's opposite. In Kodi's case, the vet says he actually has very LITTLE hair inside his ears, and that plucking it is just a chance to irritate the skin and allow bacteria a point of entry.


----------



## equi11frnd (Dec 21, 2014)

I wanted to add every dog has its individual needs and if Epi Otic works once a month that is great. It is a new issue for us so if we can get this cleared up and not use a product we will go that route. I am going to look into the food-we switched to the Wellness Complete. which food did you find without fish oils?


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

equi11frnd said:


> We were also just at the vet yesterday for Darlin's first ear infection (she is almost 8 years old) I am not sure what triggered it- she has been playing with the new puppy, but I also switched her food a short while back to one that does have fish oil so I am going to look into that. I have been plucking her interior ear hair. My vet encouraged me to pluck more-he said to get as much of the hair out of the canal as possible because it holds dirt and moisture. We have oral antibiotics, antibiotic drops and the Epi Otic to clean what may come out with infection. He said once we get the ears back to normal not to use any product in her ear as long as they are clean and healthy.


Oh! Don't assume that your dog is sensitive to fish oil just because Kodi is!!! Just like people, food sensitivities vary WIDELY. Many dogs do great on fish based foods.

A single ear infection doesn't really mean anything either. It is when the are recurring, and particularly when there are also other symptoms that it can make sense to do the testing, so you know exactly what to avoid, rather than just guessing.


----------



## rt625 (Nov 7, 2013)

I am going to definetly look into the nutriscan testing if this continues. He does seem to have a lot of hair growing out of ihis ear. I'm wondering if that could be the issue. I've never plucked his hair out of his ears and don't even know how I would do it without hurting him. It sounds painful.


----------



## MarinaGirl (Mar 25, 2012)

Emmie's vet recommended that I don't let groomers (or myself) pluck her ear hairs, which works well for her. Thankfully she has never had an ear infection. 

Good luck!


----------



## equi11frnd (Dec 21, 2014)

Very interesting to hear different lines of thought on the interior hair ear plucking. Darlin has a ton of hair inside of her ears and I noticed before we started plucking the hair out that she was scratching her ears and rolling and rubbing them on the ground. I can tell if she starts doing that I am past due on plucking. The hair that begins its growth down inside the ear does not seem to hurt her for us to pull, the hair that grows further to the out side does and we don't pull that. I am going to have to see what we do with the Taz the new puppy, right now he does not have much hairs inside of his ears so it would make sense to leave that alone if it doesn't bother him. My niece's dog had a severe reaction to the beginning of her gradual switch to a food containing fish. So it is something I had forgotten to even think about that I will check into if we have a continued problem. Thank you for bringing it up.


----------



## equi11frnd (Dec 21, 2014)

I would absolutely stick to what each vet recommends for each individual dog. I didn't even think that one could have such profuse hair as Kodi does on the outside and not have lots of hair inside his ears as my Darlin. They are certainly all individuals inside and out!


----------



## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Scout ears are like a forest. Truffles has very little hair in her ears.


----------



## SJ1998 (Feb 4, 2013)

Has the dog had shots or heartworm medication recently?


----------



## rt625 (Nov 7, 2013)

No shots or heartworm medication.


----------



## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

rt625 said:


> HE DOESNT SCRATCH OR NIBBLE ON HIS PAWS, I KNOW THAT IS ALSO A SIGN OF A FOOD ALLERGY.


Where does that information come from?



> I just want to start off by saying thats what I was going to name my dog, but got overruled by my children.


So Kobe Bryant won out! My legs are a little short for basketball, so ARFing "babaloo" will have to do.



> Do you also clean it out with a cotton ball?


Yes, clean out the underside of the ear flaps as needed, which is seldom.

besos, Ricky Ricardo


----------

