hi there, can anybody give me any advice on ears ??
my 6 year old german shepherd has got a real bad ear infection and doesnt seem able to shake it off, he has had lotsa antibiotics/painkillers and has also had his ear drained under general anasthetic, these attempts all lasted for just a short time and the dog is now suffering lotsa discomfort, the vet seems at a loss of what to try next but suggested an operation to remove his inner ear , he states this is a horrible op and is a last resort- has anybody else had anything like this or can you give me any advice on the matter- all help will be really appreciated
regards
nick lamb

e-mail-; grilly666@aol.com

My puppy had a nasty ear infection, and was put on antibiotics and anti inflammatory drops for 2 - 3 weeks which did not clear it up. I took advice from others and have been using Thornit powder, which is a traditional remedy used by vets before conventional medicine. I used it for 3 days and his nasty ear cleared completely. This is purely my experience (worked for me) and I would actually like to hear the experiences of others with this treatment. Removing the inner ear sounds pretty drastic to me. I sympathise with how worried you must be, and hope for your dog gets better very soon.

Julia

I dont know if this is of any help, but my friends rottie had a terrible ear problem like this and it turned out he had a food allergy, to wheat and cereals and stuff. Since cutting these out of his diet, his ear has been fine. However, over christmas he got hold of the other dogs treats ewhich had cereals in and he got a problem again. It may be worth going to a more natural diet.

Hi Nick,

A little cross breed exercised locally to me had this op recently :(  - it was a last resort for her owners too but fortunately she seemed to make a complete recovery (& she was quite elderly too) although her head was wrapped in bandages for a few weeks if I remember correctly.

As another poster suggested, this may be caused by an allergic reaction to something in her diet.  The most commmon ingredients to cause itching like this are dairy products and/or grains.  You may already have eliminated dietary causes with your vet but if he hasn't investigated these with you I think I'd be inclined to go that way first.  Remember, even when selecting foods freed of these ingredients you also have to ensure that the dog doesn't get any dog treats, table scraps or titbits containing them either.  A friend went to great lengths to remove dairy products previously freely given to her dog such as saucers of milk and pieces of cheese as treats but continued to let her pet have a slice of toast and butter with her in the morning :rolleyes:  Easy done I guess.

Hopefully an op won't be necessary.  Keep us posted,
Regards, Teri :)

As others have said, I would be inclined to firmly rule out any food allergy before considering such a drastic operation. I know of a GSD who had awful problems in both ears. All wheat, dairy, and beef products, plus any type of colouring agent or preservative were eliminated from her diet. She slowly improved and after about three months her ears were quite ok. She is still on her diet and her owner is scrupulous about treats.