[magicre]

so.....we took the dogs to the vet....

they had not been checked since malia had giardia and bubba had had his eyes fixed...

we also wanted them to have a check up to see how they were doing.

of course, no surprise....and no we did not do blood work..nor did we feel it necessary...

the dogs are in magnificent shape...neither one needs a dental....last time, bubba did....

which is when i told my vet whom i really like that we were feeding raw...and he did not scold or preach or anything and praised us for caring so much about our dogs that we would take such good care of them....blah blah.

on the other hand.....back in september when we first got bubba, his ears were so yeasty that the doc could not see his ear canal...on his right ear....

we would use the flush every other day and clean out the brown gunk....keep in mind he had been on pedigree and was a rescue...

now, he's been on raw for four months....he has a very very narrow ear canal on the right side and there is wax between the blocking the ear drum and probably has been since we got him.

my feeling is that the raw will take care of it because in the beginning, the vet couldn't even see down the ear canal...and now he can at least see the little wax blockage...

the only way to get rid of it is anaesthesia and several flushes and the con is that the eardrum could rupture if we went that route.

the other way is to try the oily flushes to try and break it up at home...

my thinking is that raw will eventually take care of the problem...

i know there are some very knowledgeable people here....

i don't want him to go through yet another surgery...he's already has his balls removed, his eyelids reshaped, his eyelids turned outward, his nostrils widened....

he's been through so much as a rescue....we saved 85% of his eyesight and i think the worst that can happen now is he won't hear so well out of his right ear....

is there a prayer in hell that i could be right? that the diet will eventually clear out the rest of the wax in his ear?

the other ear is clear now.

PLUS...second part..

how can i now take my dog to a vet who doesn't understand the relationship between what these guys are eating and their health?

because when i said i wanted to give it time for the diet to do its job, he didn't 'get' it.

 

[DaneMama]

Well, it's hard to say. There is natural wax in a dogs ear that even on a raw diet won't change that fact. My guess is that since he had such a bad yeasty build up that it prevented the ear from naturally flushing the wax, which is why it's built up a plug. Once that plug is gone and he stays on a natural diet he shouldn't have the yeasty buildup again to cause another waxy plug. Based on my experience and knowledge that waxy plug probably won't take care of itself. The yeast was taken care of by the change in diet because it's not natural for dogs to have yeast in their ears but it is natural for them to have wax. Does this make sense?

I would say that the plug would have to be flushed out manually and won't go away on it's own.

It's always better to have a vet that understands raw than one that doesn't. Tell him to join up here and learn :wink:

 

[chowder]

We don't feed raw but we did have the terrible ear problems with Chelsy on her old food and then we switched her to a grain free diet. The vet didn't believe it was her diet causing her ear problems and actually thought the large clump in her ear might be a tumor.

After switching her to grain free and doing the multiple ear washes, she has been totally free of ear infections ever since. And the large lump turned out to be a big clump of wax, like with your boy. I would say for you to stick with the good diet and try the at home ear washes as best you can. That is what I did with Chelsy. I did her ears every day and the stuff came out slowly but surely. She is a little Lhasa with a squished face and eye troubles too. If the wax doesn't come out in pieces at home, you can always opt for doing it at the vets at a later date.

And you can always look for a new vet. Right now I am going to find another one because they won't believe me that her eye troubles are allergy related to the pollen in the grass and seasonal and that they went away when we were out west. They are sure it is dry eye even though the tests say otherwise.......you just can't convince some vets that you know your dog better then they do!

 

[magicre]

We don't feed raw but we did have the terrible ear problems with Chelsy on her old food and then we switched her to a grain free diet. The vet didn't believe it was her diet causing her ear problems and actually thought the large clump in her ear might be a tumor.

After switching her to grain free and doing the multiple ear washes, she has been totally free of ear infections ever since. And the large lump turned out to be a big clump of wax, like with your boy. I would say for you to stick with the good diet and try the at home ear washes as best you can. That is what I did with Chelsy. I did her ears every day and the stuff came out slowly but surely. She is a little Lhasa with a squished face and eye troubles too. If the wax doesn't come out in pieces at home, you can always opt for doing it at the vets at a later date.

And you can always look for a new vet. Right now I am going to find another one because they won't believe me that her eye troubles are allergy related to the pollen in the grass and seasonal and that they went away when we were out west. They are sure it is dry eye even though the tests say otherwise.......you just can't convince some vets that you know your dog better then they do!

what kind of ear washes did you use?

he wants me to use the oily ones and i have the flushes that are not...which is what i use every other week anyway...

this poor boy has been through enough sedation....i think.

either that, or i'm just being mistrustful because this is a guy who went to veterinary school to study animal medicine and doesn't understand the relationship between food and a dog's gastric system....because food left in the fridge for more than three days is unfit to feed?

 

[3RingCircus]

what kind of ear washes did you use?

he wants me to use the oily ones and i have the flushes that are not...which is what i use every other week anyway...

this poor boy has been through enough sedation....i think.

either that, or i'm just being mistrustful because this is a guy who went to veterinary school to study animal medicine and doesn't understand the relationship between food and a dog's gastric system....because food left in the fridge for more than three days is unfit to feed?

I have both kinds plus pads. My pups ears get cleaned about once a week. I'm not exact on that though. I usually do a full grooming - trim hair around nail, nails, brushing, and ears cleaned - every ten to fourteen days.

Previously, I bought my products at healthypets. However, I found better prices at wallyworld for essentially the same product. Healthypets has a product called Wax-O-Sol and there's Cerulytic Ear Cleanser both for wax removal.

When Barnum started on raw he was prone to repeat yeast infections. He hasn't had one since June 1, 2010 when we started raw.

 

[cprcheetah]

My 12 year old standard poodle has always had a TON of ear wax/ black debris in her ears. I went to a grooming seminar in Denver last month and heard about a product called "Ear Magic" it is a natural cleanser with natural 'antibiotic' type properties. I have been using it on her about 3x a week (she lives with my dad so I do it when I see her at work), and her ears are starting to look better. She has had 'plugs' before. but we've been able to eliminate them by twice daily flushing. I've never seen anything like her ears, very dry black crustiness, she's always had it, despite all efforts to clean. I just squirt it in, hold it in her ear for about a minute, squish it around at the base, then let her shake and wipe out her ears with cotton balls or a baby wipe.

E-Z Groom - Ear Magic, All Natural Medicated Ear Cleaner, Veternarian Recommended

At the vet's I work at, we are currently having one of our clients who has a labrador with chronic ear infections use it, nothing else has worked on this dog, she's even had surgery and the Ear Magic, has really helped her ears, not 100% better yet, but they've just been using it for a couple weeks now, and this dogs has the moist/wet discharge and cauliflower ear from so many ear infections over the years.

 

[magicre]

I have both kinds plus pads. My pups ears get cleaned about once a week. I'm not exact on that though. I usually do a full grooming - trim hair around nail, nails, brushing, and ears cleaned - every ten to fourteen days.

Previously, I bought my products at healthypets. However, I found better prices at wallyworld for essentially the same product. Healthypets has a product called Wax-O-Sol and there's Cerulytic Ear Cleanser both for wax removal.

When Barnum started on raw he was prone to repeat yeast infections. He hasn't had one since June 1, 2010 when we started raw.

the same is true with bubba. he has no more yeasty infections and stinky ears...this is way way down the canal blocking the ear drum, like a little cap..

do you use both of these products?

 

[magicre]

My 12 year old standard poodle has always had a TON of ear wax/ black debris in her ears. I went to a grooming seminar in Denver last month and heard about a product called "Ear Magic" it is a natural cleanser with natural 'antibiotic' type properties. I have been using it on her about 3x a week (she lives with my dad so I do it when I see her at work), and her ears are starting to look better. She has had 'plugs' before. but we've been able to eliminate them by twice daily flushing. I've never seen anything like her ears, very dry black crustiness, she's always had it, despite all efforts to clean. I just squirt it in, hold it in her ear for about a minute, squish it around at the base, then let her shake and wipe out her ears with cotton balls or a baby wipe.

E-Z Groom - Ear Magic, All Natural Medicated Ear Cleaner, Veternarian Recommended

At the vet's I work at, we are currently having one of our clients who has a labrador with chronic ear infections use it, nothing else has worked on this dog, she's even had surgery and the Ear Magic, has really helped her ears, not 100% better yet, but they've just been using it for a couple weeks now, and this dogs has the moist/wet discharge and cauliflower ear from so many ear infections over the years.

so you believe, too, that surgery may not be necessary?

i'll look this product up, also...thanks

 

[chowder]

I have a bottle of Epi-otic that I got from the vets. It works pretty good and is non-oily. It is mainly salycylic acid (sp) and has a mild citrus smell so it makes the ears smell better. I used it yesterday in Rocky's ear and it cleaned it right up with one application.

I never use the oily stuff because it makes a mess of their hair and ears and I hate putting more gunk down in their ears.

 

[Eurobox]

There was some good info on this thread regarding the same issues...

http://dogfoodchat.com/forum/dog-health-issues-question/3883-ear-cleaning-any-suggestion.html

Corgipaws posted a good recipe for some ear cleaner that worked well. Good luck!

 

[magicre]

I have a bottle of Epi-otic that I got from the vets. It works pretty good and is non-oily. It is mainly salycylic acid (sp) and has a mild citrus smell so it makes the ears smell better. I used it yesterday in Rocky's ear and it cleaned it right up with one application.

I never use the oily stuff because it makes a mess of their hair and ears and I hate putting more gunk down in their ears.

prophylactically, i already use an ear cleaner....non oily.

what he wants me to do is use the oily stuff...and i'm simply not a great believer in the oily stuff...

i don't mind the mess...i can always bathe him..but oil in an ear canal that is so so so narrow already?

sigh. i have to think about this one.

i guess the real question is...what dissoves a wax cap that is covering the ear drum..without surgically going in?

 

[whiteleo]

Vinegar! If it were my dog, and my female has had her share of being under anesthesia I definitely would try to do it on my own with the flushs for awhile first. Good Luck

 

[chowder]

prophylactically, i already use an ear cleaner....non oily.

what he wants me to do is use the oily stuff...and i'm simply not a great believer in the oily stuff...

i don't mind the mess...i can always bathe him..but oil in an ear canal that is so so so narrow already?

sigh. i have to think about this one.

i guess the real question is...what dissoves a wax cap that is covering the ear drum..without surgically going in?

My human son has massive problems with ear wax build up....enough so that he ends up not being able to hear. The pediatrician just uses really warm water and a long tipped syringe and flushes out his ears. Here is an excerp I found about cleaning human ear wax that may pertain to your dog:

"Some home remedies are safe and effective. A vinegar-water-peroxide solution (1:1:2) can be warmed to body temperature and applied to the ear canal to soften wax. A drop of baby oil can be placed in each ear canal on a regular basis (typically, once or twice per week) to soften hard, painful wax. People who have a history of middle ear infections, swimmer's ear, or a hole in the ear drum should NOT try these remedies, nor should they allow a physician to irrigate their ears, as such methods can lead to a painful and/or dangerous ear infection. As a rule, people with a history of any ear disease should go to an ENT for wax problems and not try treating the problem themselves."