Inner ear infection..surgery, meds, options?

[Murph&Miss]

Hello,

Murphy and I are new to this discussion forum. We are having some ear issues. Murphy has had a chronic ear infection since November. She has been on two cycles of anitbiotics and they aren't working. The vet has tried to culture her ear twice with no results. He has consulted and they believe it is an inner ear infection that is resistent with the antibiotics that were given.

He has given us three options and I am wondering if anyone else has dealt with inner ear infections.

1. surgery-make a little slit in ear drum and try and drain infection to see exactly what it is
2. pump high dose antibiotics 6x a day and see if relieves and cures it
3. doggy dermatologist-see if we can get her into the University or a visiting derm and get his opinion on what is going on.

Has anyone dealt with inner ear infections. Murphy is 11, is eating, going for walks and acting okay. She had been down in out before her last round of meds end of Dec.

Thanks for all your help and input in advance.

Murph & Miss ;)

[johnwa]

Has the inner ear canal itself been cleaned, and are you continuing a regular cleaning procedure? It may sound like a stupid question on my part, but if not, it's unlikely that the medication will heal the infection.

Related threads:
<a href = "http://www.topgoldenretrieversites.net/forums/showthread.php?t=3041&highlight=infection">thread 1 </a><br>
<a href = "http://www.topgoldenretrieversites.net/forums/showthread.php?t=789&highlight=infection">thread 2 </a><br>

[Rusty-14]

Murph&Miss, Hi and welcome, I would feel a little strange about having the surgery.

I have dogs who have had ear infections and they took forever to clear up. I know they can go in and scrap that area but I would get another opinion. Cutting the ear drum scares me.

Sometimes they need to use other medicines. I don't know what they are giving her but this sounds kind of funny to me.

I wish you good luck but please get another opinion.

[Stac&Syd]

Hi Murph & Miss, you have my sympathy as I am going through the same thing with my Golden. We have been dealing with this for 18 months now, I would not opt for the surgery, Our Vet has us on a cleaning routine daily with Oti-Calm, it works real well and we have treated her ear infections with Baytril(worked great)drops and otimax. This always seemed to clear them up but eventually we would end up with them back. We are also new to this forum and I have got some very worth while advice. I would go with the recommendation of the dermatologist. The more research I do on our Sydney's problems I think she has allergies. We will find out tomorrow, we are visiting the vet. Good luck but avoid the surgery if possible. :dogbark

[goodtim'n]

To keep my dog's ears clean and Yeast free, I use white vinegar and water with a 10cc syringe, 1/2 vinegar, 1/2 warm water, if you don't have a syringe, then one of the baby booger things will work, I slowly release this into the ear and then hold the ear and massage and then, STAND BACK AND LET THE HEAD SHAKE, then I take cotton balls and clean out the ear and all the loose stuff, You will need 2 people for this, one to hold the dog's head, I do this every 2 weeks or more depending on the condition of the ear. I used otimax for a while once in a bad ear infection and all it did was accumulate in the ear, which the vet said created more problems. So we ended with the big entire under sedation ear flush. My vet is the one who recommended the vinegar and water. So far and many ears later, it's worked.