Hiya everyone,
could I pick some brains please? My lab Kobi has never really had a problem with his ears but our vet insists he does, as some of you may know I am a microbiologist and Kobi' s ears have never (up until now) been infected, inflammed smelly or bothersome. I almost had an argument with the vet last time I saw him as he claimed he had identifed a specific yeast (in 3 minutes flat) that was causing the problem and tried to get us to buy a load of medication.

Anyway to cut a long story short, Kobi went in for the chop in August and the vet cleaned his ears while he was under, when he got back his ears were scraped raw and since then we have been having problems. They are infected now and we are going to the vet this afternoon and I don't want to be told I've been neglectful, I also don't want to be ripped off. From the smell and look I would guess the infection is a yeast so I was wondering if anyone knows what medication I should be walking away with this afternoon?

Also how do you all clean your dogs ears, I just put the drops down his ear and rub until the gunk comes up, the nurse I spoke to at the vets told me to put my finger right down his ear to shift everything but this doesnt seem like a good idea to me.

Any thoughts?

Sarah

Don't know what medication but i personally would change vets excpecially if they are telling you to put your finger down your dogs ears. Also if he never had problems and then came back with sore ears and then it started from then. Personally i wouldn't trust your vet with my dogs.

I never stick fingers down my dogs ears...it just pushes debri further in. In humans one of the biggest problems in ENT clinics is people cleaning their ears out with cotton wool buds, pushing stuff deep into the ear.
I have been given canaural for my dogs ears before now, and that is an antibiotic...I think it contains nystatin, which is antifungal. I have previously been given LEO ear cleaner, but I am not impressed with it.
Once your dog has had its ear  infection cleared with antibiotics, I heartily recommend routine ear hygeine with sodium bicarbonate eardrops. These are recommended for human ear hygeine too, and do not contain  bleach like some over the counter ear solutions.  P.S. I have always politely made a point at my vets of being "price aware". If I know that I can buy the same medication more cheaply than at the practise, I am not too embarrassed to sy I am going to buy it elsewhere. Another way is to ask the vet for a prescription(you pay a set price) and you can obtain the medication at a human pharmacy, or from an animal pharmacy.
I still have a good relationship with my vets, but they understand that although my dogs health is paramount, I am  prepared to shop around.

On the whole your vet sounds unsatisfactory, and I would change...you need to be able to trust your vet.

do you make your own eardrops with sodium bicarb If so what strenth do you use please

You can buy the sodium bicarbonate ear drops very cheaply at any pharmacy......about £1.50. ?They tend to be behind the counter not out on the shelves. Just ask the staff for them. I use it in dogs ears and my own:) I just checked the bottle and it doesnt state what strength the mixture is.

Sarah
when we picked up are cav bitch she had horrible black smelly ears I got Cannural and put it in gave it ten minutes then as you said massaged the ear and cleared away the gunk my vet was very specific about not pushing anything in to the ear.  Cindys got better just fine like that.

Thanks for the replies guys,
Well the vet said that the infection was really bad and that Kobi will have to go in to be sedated and his ears cleaned tomorrow. I know the infection is fairly bad (it has got alot worse in the last couple of days) I wish I had time to do a swab myself.

I am definatley going to swap vets after this, you are right I don't trust him. And I am sick of being treated like an idiot or someone who doesn't care about their dog everytime I go there.

I will go and get some of the bicarb drops when he has had his ears cleaned, thankyou for that.

Sarah

If its the same vet that cleaned them red raw last time I'd be tempted to change vets *before* he cleans them if I were you.

Thanks,
it's a different vet in the same practice and I will be having a word with him before to make sure he doesn't overdo it. Then I shall start researching a decent vet in our area.

Sarah

Why is he sedating your dog to clean its ears.  If you have been seeing them regularly they can't have got that bad surely.  I would be doing the cleaning myself with cotton wool balls and going to a different vet now.  I have seen ears that have been messed up with overenthusiastic cleaning resulting in burst blood vessels and the ears crimping up - not a pretty sight.