Lab with ear infections

E. Fudd

My lab appears to have constant ear infections. I've had her at the vets twice the last two months and both times was given antibiotic ointment and told to clean them out with "aural clean".

I'm still cleaning them out regularly but she's still shaking her head and scratching her yea along the grass and I can hear fluid in her ears if I rub them.

Has anybody got any suggestions for a treatment I could do for her from home? I also have access to a source of animal medications so if anybody has has any success with any of these their advice would be greatly appreciated.

EP90

Had the same with two lots of labs, seems to be ‘Lab thing’. Keep on with the ointments and “aural clear” is what I did. Used cotton wool to wipe the inside of the ear, but don’t poke around with cotton buds. I also got a powder from the vets which help to dry up the ear. Sorry no idea now of what it was called.
It seemed to be worse when the dogs swam a lot so I got into the habit of drying out the ears at the end of a day out and I think that helped reduce the reoccurrences.

Grizzly 45

Deffo a Lab problem alright.I had a few of them that suffered from it.
TBH ,you need to go back to your vet and tell them that they need to take swabs of the gunk in there to find out exactly what type of canker it is.. A lot of vet s ,just go .."Yeah Lab ,ear canker..Dose with the newest ointment being flogged...Next please!"
In one case I had it was caused by ear mites,not bacteria.

It can also be diet or bedding related too,and stress seems to bring out all sorts of awful running execemas on Labs too.

Prevention is a whole lot more worth than cures with Labs ears. Check them regulary,even smell them...If you start getting a strong cheesy smell and the dog starts trying to scratch the inside of their ears,which is adding more dirt and bacteria into the infection,and it is going swollen and reddish.
You need to get them in straight away to stop the problem.
Be releuctant to be using creams,it should be more a powder..Old adage with skin probs is "if it is wet ,dry it,and if it is dry wet it."

Tikkat3

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Deffo a Lab problem alright.I had a few of them that suffered from it.
TBH ,you need to go back to your vet and tell them that they need to take swabs of the gunk in there to find out exactly what type of canker it is.. A lot of vet s ,just go .."Yeah Lab ,ear canker..Dose with the newest ointment being flogged...Next please!"
In one case I had it was caused by ear mites,not bacteria.

It can also be diet or bedding related too,and stress seems to bring out all sorts of awful running execemas on Labs too.

Prevention is a whole lot more worth than cures with Labs ears. Check them regulary,even smell them...If you start getting a strong cheesy smell and the dog starts trying to scratch the inside of their ears,which is adding more dirt and bacteria into the infection,and it is going swollen and reddish.
You need to get them in straight away to stop the problem.
Be releuctant to be using creams,it should be more a powder..Old adage with skin probs is "if it is wet ,dry it,and if it is dry wet it."

Labs suffer from ear mite a fair bit, mostly in younger years in my experience.

Maybe I just was more attentive after my dog got them once but I used to clean his ears every few weeks and he never got them again. Only used a a bit of kitchen roll on my fingers but it was effective.

God bless, not that I am religious but I lost him to a tumor this year and miss him.

Have a new lab now and keep a firm eye on her for everything.

EP90

Good advice from Grizzly and just a footnote regarding ear mites, Advocate is a great treatment for lots of things, including ear mites http://www.bayeranimal.com.au/default.aspx?Page=50&ItemId=73 I haven't used it monthly as advised but annually it seems to give great protection for most common bugs.

kemen

i have the exact same problem with my setter! keep cleaning the ears and try and trim some of the hair around the ear to let some of the stuff run out and not build up!

E. Fudd

Thanks for the replies lads,

I took her to the vet today and she has taken swabs and sent then off the determine exactly what infection there is in the ear, that way she will be able to prescribe the correct antibiotics, otherwise she says its a complete shot in the dark whether or not it fixes it.
In the mean time she's given me anti inflamatories to try and give her some relief.