uncropped ear problems -- help!!

[jnietman]

I am the proud mom of an 11 month old boxer boy, Miles. For the last two+ months, he has been having an awful ear problem. He shakes his head so hard, that the ends of both ears split open and bled. One of the ears has healed beautifully, the other is still raw and reopens each time he shakes his head.

We've been to three different vets, one seems to be more clueless than the other! Miles has been subjected to stiches, head bandages, soooo much medicine - even antidepressants! I am new at this, and have no idea what to do. I've almost run out of vets to visit and I have run out of confidence in their ability to help his ear heal. I've read several threads of emails on this topic which have been helpful, however, none of them specified how long it took to heal the ears and how they finally healed (i.e. time or medicine). I would appreciate if someone could offer some guidance. I just want Miles to be well again! Luckily, his spirits have remained great throughout all of the treatments, and he is as precious as ever. Such a sweetie!!

thanks for your help!

 

[Angel's folks]

Our brindle boxer Angel has had problems with her ears also. She shakes her head so much that it broke some blood vessels in her ears...it was caused by a yeast infection. I'm wondering if the vets looked for that, I assume that they did. We had to tape her ears back for 5 days and give her some Surolan for the infection. It works for a while but the infection comes back again...out vet told us it was common and not much else to do. So we've relinquised ourselves to treating her every so often. We know when it's coming on because she starts scratching her ears more often and there's an odour along with it. Good luck and I hope you have some luck!!

 

[McDuff]

Wow...can I ever relate to this. McDuff had what my vet termed as a "vicious head shake". I had blood everywhere right up to ceiling splatters. It was very upsetting for me and I'm sure I drove my vet nuts. I did take a long time to heal and McDuff actually had small ulcers in the bottoms of both ears and had them removed. I had every type of cream, cone for his head, wrapping etc. All of which he would have off within seconds. I thought and thought about this problem and decided that he needed something that he couldn't easily get off - remembered from my diapering days that Penaten cream is very tacky and sticky - after he was asleep (every time even through the day) I would apply a thick coating of penaten cream. It eventually healed also, every time he would go to shake his head I would tell him no and place my hand firmly on the top of his head. He doesn't shake as much now. He also suffers from separation anxiety and is on meds. The combination has really helped him and I hope I have helped you even a little bit....I certainly understand how much you love him but how tremendously frustrating this problem can be.

 

[boxerma]

A few of us with natural eared babies have this problem, including Bingo. I guess it is from a yeast infection, although Bingo shows no signs of that inside his ear as it just seems to affect the ends. You can do a search on "ear beer" on this site, which is a natural cleanser some have used to help dry out or restore the correct balance in the ear. I also used neosporin, just a little, because it contains a steriod, on the ends of Bingo's ears last winter and it helped it clear up. Bingo's problem seems to be worse in the winter. Last year they bled like you are talking about and I had to clean some walls! But this year the hair just seems to be thinning. Either way, it bothers me because I don't want it to bother him!!!

Good Luck and get rid of those vets!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope Miles feels better. :(

 

[Raynas mom]

My co worker at work is going through this very thing as we speak.....she is at her wits end....the poor boys ears have been taped for months!! They are thinking of having his ears croped now! I feel so bad for her and him.....she is spending soooooo much money and time at the vets, and the same as you none of the vets really have a good answer for her!!

Ill keep checking back on this thred and keep her updated!

 

[JulieM]

I have had the same problem with my floppy-eared girl, it is a yeast problem in her case and it has been almost completely cleared up by eliminating all grains and root vegetables from her diet. The next step is to eliminate fruits, and then maybe dairy, if the improvement tapers off. Yeast feeds on sugars, so anything that is high in sugars/carbohydrates will aggravate the problem.

You are probably already cleaning his ears (inside) regularly. (If not, you should be - probably at least daily if he's having that much problem with them.) There is a concotion called Blue Power Ear Treatment that is supposed to be wonderful: http://www.itsfortheanimals.com/BLUE.HTM - however this is a suppressive treatment, which means it will drive the symptoms internal, and not address the underlying cause of the problem. It's also mostly alcohol, and although they say the boric acid neutralizes the sting, I'd try just a very little bit first to be sure. (And, it stains.) You can also use witch hazel diluted in water or vinegar (white or organic apple cider) diluted in water (the recommendation if 50/50, but that was too strong for my girl when her ears were really irritated.) These are palliative, which means they relieve the symptoms but don't suppress them.

For the sores on his ears, we've had great success with colloidal silver - just a few drops on the sores 2-3 times a day help to heal it. Raw honey would be really good too, but unless you're wrapping the ears it would probably get all over!