My Sister has an ongoing problem with her G.S.D., Zeb. She has taken him so many time to the vet we have lost count. They gave him anti-biotics and a course of steroid treatments but to no avail. She has bathed the outside of his ear and given the drops into the ear as described by the vet. For a short time he looks a lot better but then it is back again just as bad. He now finds it a struggle to get up on his own and cannot walk straight. This must have an affect on his balance. His back legs look so thin and spindly. Can anyone suggest any other form of treatment. Her vet refuses to consider operating on his ear. She is very upset watching her beloved friend suffer like this.
Any ideas, anyone?
Thanks
cal

How old is Zeb? Has the vet thoroughly examined his ear to make sure there's no foreign body deep down? This is best done under sedation or anaesthetic because it can be painful.

Oooh!  Poor chap.  When I saw the title of this thread Thornit came to mind as a recommendation for helping to improve the health of ears.  It's a powder that goes into the ear and keeps it clean and healthy.  However, what you have described reminds me of how my dog was when he got a grass seed in his ear - nasty.

I would think JG is spot on!

My sister's dog suffered from recurring ear infections for a couple years. They were getting more and more frequent. Her vet did a deep cleaning of the ear under sedation and put him on a length course of very powerful antibiotics. If this didn't work they were going to do surgery. The deep cleaning and new drugs seem to have done the job. I might ask another vet in the area, or a cutting edge teaching hospital. If you want me to find out the name of the drug PM me and I'll contact my sister. She's in the US but the product would probably be available here in some form. Poor Zeb.

Does she carefully clean the ear inside? If not it will come back easier, just cleaning at the top of the outer ear will leave a lot of gunk inside. :) She needs to go right down and clear it all out once a day for say a week BEFORE putting the drops in, there is no risk of hurting the eardrum as the ear canal makes a sharp bend before it which you cannot get past.

Hi I use which hazel to clean my dogs ears, I just soak a cotton wool pad with it and then gently wipe out all of the ear that you can see just as much as the dog is happy with without poking in it at all.
I t might be worth a try before putting the drops in, I have a sneaky feeling JG may be right about the foreign body though have you tried asking another vet for a second opinion?

Maybe it will be a good idea to check on the dogs T3 and T4 levels as thyroid problems can be first detected by ear problems !

Ask for a second opinion, or referral to an ear specialist if you're not happy (as I wouldn't be either!)
Kat

I am continually amazed at how often Thyroid problems are undiagnosed in dogs.  Have suggested this to a number of people I know and the dogs turned out to have a problem.