Cocker Spaniel ear problem!! Solutions??

Locust Fork

Purdy is a dear little 4 yr old Cocker Spaniel of ours....she is my very BEST buddy...she goes to the groomer and vet on a regular basis and I have asked everyone about these ears of hers.

She will go about a month max without having some kind of ear problem. Most of the time if we clean her ears with the solution I got from the vet...every day and night...it clears up.

Sometimes she gets so that she scratches until she has sores behind her ears...I feel SO bad for her.

Does anyone else have this problem??? Do you guys know of a better way to deal with a dog's ears...the LONG, HEAVY, kind that seem to have problems?

bondai

Ask the vet about the possibility of an allergy.

Locust Fork

Allergy??? Hmmm, I will....have you run into that as an allergy issue? These dogs have a number of special problems...like scent gland and ear problems. What could she be allergic to?

minitruck83

I use a solution from the vet that has a water/alcohol/glycol/aloe vera base on my Beagle's ears. If thats not handy I use peroxide. It seems to do just as well or maybe better. (kind of like the same thing you would do for "swimmers ear") It drys the moisture, I never had problems with doggie ears before we moved to Fl. It seems to be a heat/moisture related thing to me but what do I know Im no Vet.
Do her ears start to smell bad when you notice it?
It might be mites or it might be an infection. Or possibly an allergy to something in the house. (scotchgard,artifical fibers,food,Taiwan chew toy,Cat dander,etc. Does it start soon after she's been in a particular spot?
Do a google search on it. theres a lot of information online (some good some bad) someone might know what the answer is though.
I know this isnt a lot help but I wish you both a lot of luck. (I cant stand it when the whimpering starts and the dog wants me to fix it)

Allen

bondai

quote:Originally posted by Locust Fork
Allergy??? Hmmm, I will....have you run into that as an allergy issue? These dogs have a number of special problems...like scent gland and ear problems. What could she be allergic to?


My Yorkie has a similiar problem. The vet said it was an allergy to something in the house.I have been treating him with some stuff the vet gave me. I am still trying to figure out what is causing it.....just a thought....

One shot

Cockers will always have ear problems as per the breed. My Mom and Dad raised these dogs when I was a kid. We had a few that had to have thier ear drums removed. Have you ever had to live with a deaf dog? I will never own another one as long as I live. I get vary attached to my animals and hate to see it when they are in pain. The reason they have so many ear problems is those long hairy eares. Vary little air gets to the inner ear. Mom at times would have to pin their ears up to aid in the healing process. They need to be cleaned on a vary regular basis to help avoid problems. The ears are the week link in this breed and is one fact that owners must understand. The cocker is also in the top ten most dangerous dog breeds to own, believe it or not. They are vary protective of the family and normally one member in paticular. Nice looking dog none the less. Black and white is some what of an odd color for this breed.

AlbertLum

quote:Originally posted by Locust Fork
Purdy is a dear little 4 yr old Cocker Spaniel of ours....she is my very BEST buddy...she goes to the groomer and vet on a regular basis and I have asked everyone about these ears of hers.

She will go about a month max without having some kind of ear problem. Most of the time if we clean her ears with the solution I got from the vet...every day and night...it clears up.

Sometimes she gets so that she scratches until she has sores behind her ears...I feel SO bad for her.

Does anyone else have this problem??? Do you guys know of a better way to deal with a dog's ears...the LONG, HEAVY, kind that seem to have problems?




make sure to groom his hair regularly. also, i had a cocker spaniel once and i realized that his ears would always get wet from drinking out of his water bowl. i went to the pet store and bought one of those cone shape bowls where it is narrow at the top and that prevent his ears from dropping into the water bowl and getting wet. i think this cuts down on the infections alot.

make sure to clean the inner ears often with a solution that your vet reccomends.

one other thing.....cocker spaniels are notorious for being high maintance dogs with lots of health problems. often times you arent doing anything wrong with your dog, they are just prone to sickness. other than that, cockers are great dogs to have.

Frogbert

The term "Micro Climate" refers to the conditions specific to certain areas of organisms that have a particular climate with parameters particular to that area which need to be maintained in order for that area to remain healthy and functional.

Dogs ear canals are one of these areas that are very sensitive to fluctuations in the maintenance variables therein, especially those of certain breeds of dogs. The itching and pain can literally drive them mad and cause unacceptable behavior.

This medication is the best I have found to correct the imbalances in the ear that has gotten out of whack, because of many of the above mentioned reasons, and others not mentioned, and the over treatment or mistreatment of them.

Locust Fork

We ahve been using ...ottic soulution...spelling? Its got a very peroxide/alchol. smell to it. I have tried and tried to find one of those bowls...shaped like a cone, but if I EVER can remember to check for one....the store is either out or they don't know what I mean when I ask for one and I have tried several stores out here.

Purdy is shaved down....except for the very end of her ears. I usually keep her "nekid" because its easier to deal with. In the winter we sometimes let her grow a skirt...its never long and flowing like in the shows...just a poofy, long, pretty skirt of wavey hair. It helps to shave her down because the kids are always coming in and out of the house.

Purdy does point...its so funny to see (out of nowhere) because she is such a "nut" we sometimes forget she is a hunting dog. I know about these dogs and the bad reputation...but I HAD to have her when I saw her in a cage at the mall. I don't know why, because I am never that way.

These pictures aren't very good...because I was trying to get pictures of a gun and she wouldn't move...she was "talking to me" and I just took her picture.

JEP

Most floppy eared dogs have some sort of ear issues. For cleaning we use a product called Nolvasan Otic and for infections or yeast problems we use Otomax, both are available on-line and from the Vet. We have had 3 cockers over the years and they have been wonderful pets and never barked,whined or been hard to control. Proper breeding and some attention to raising them as been the key for us. I could spend many words raising issues with any dog or even cat breeds based on my experience or observation.

scottm21166

Flying clay disk has it

food is a common cause of alergic reactions even if the problem is a yeast type infection a change in diet cna make the difference.
you may have to spend more money to feed your dog but a diet of purina dog chow will hurt them more than you can imagine...this is my actual experience as I also raise dogs.
I feed a product called canine caviar...the ingrediants are human grade beef, lamb and rice with no fillers... stools are smaller, tighter and more regular. coats are slick eyes brite and energy is awesome. and no scratching at the muzzle. It takes less of this food to maintain the dog but it is more expensive to buy...but for a best friend it is worth it

dawnie

They get a kind of yeast infection in their ears because they hang down no air can get in.

My bassett gets it and i have to clean his ears. I usually use peroxide on a q tip and then use a cottonball to clean around the inside

but ask your vet it could also be ear mites

Locust Fork

She doesn't have mites...I had a cat that had that once...he kept running off, fighting, staying gone for months and when that silly cat would come back he would have mites in his ears.

Purdy eats Benneful now...we were feeding her something else, but when we ran out I started feeding her this because it was available at most stores. I am going to pick up what Scott suggests....thank you for pointing me toward some direction.

Purdy is a sweet little thing...she is the smallest Cocker Spaniel anyone around here has ever seen. I don't let the kids play with her too much...only because I don't want them to make her "rough"...they run around with her and she does all of her tricks for them. My kids are a little young and have a tendancy to push things a little far at times.

I can smell her ears when she scratches them at times...that is when I know I have a problem. You know...that sratch scratch scratch sound and you all of the sudden smell that icky "ear" smell...that happens about once every three months (at least.) Then we know we have to clean her ears every time we can for the next week or so just to get her to not scratch herself until sores are there.

I know its probobly something we will have to deal with from now on...but I really wish we could get into some kind of routine that keeps it "gone" rather than having this get bad like it does from time to time.

rogue_rob

My springer has the same stuff, she's allergic to pork and rice. We've been feeding her beneful, it seems to do her well.

I've also heard giving a dog a spoonful of active culture yogurt every day to help things like that.

good luck!

scottm21166

one more pointer...if your dog is prone to yeast infections use a yeast infection OTC medicine...yes it is the same basic infection and much cheaper than what the vet will sell you. also...exercise...dogs ears flop when they run it allows air into the canal and keeps it drier. since they don't sweat through the skin moisture buildip is not an additional problem

cacti25

Tri Otic, 3 drops in infected ear 3 times a day. You may have to repeat this more than once. I mean one or two bottles from the vet.

Frogbert

Well, there are several absolute opinions posted here. The problem is, none of them have examined your dog, and none of them have cultured exudite, and none of them has done any blood work on your dog, and none of them has wiped a slide with a swab of your dog's ears and examined it under a microscope. Have they?

YOU NEED A DEFINITE DIAGNOSIS! YOU WILL HAVE TO GO TO A GOOD VET TO GET THAT.

P.S. Never pour hydrogen peroxide into a dog's ears. If they have a breached tympanic membrane, the peroxide can enter the middle ear, where the gas that the bubbling of the peroxide releases can cause excruciating pain and severe damage.

Locust Fork

I need to find a vet with more experience with this sort of thing. My vet is a GREAT guy...he always did great with our horses growing up...and he really cares about the animals.

He is not a froo-froo dog kind of guy though, and I think he is missing something with this. Dr Spike has taken care of our animals for 25 yrs...horses, cats, Great Danes, muts, Purdy...and lots more.

I just hate to go somewhere else.

yoshmyster

Most dogs are alergic to wheat or corn. If the feed has those your dogs will scratch or show redness on the skin. I don't know if "Benneful" has wheat or corn but I'd read the bag. When buying feed for pets you look at the first "Five" ingredients and if it lists "Corn, Wheat, Meat Biproduct (mystery meat[:D]), Chicken Biproduct, or other filler." I'd stay away from them.

"Natural Balance" has a great formula out there "Potato & Duck" formula, medium in price and the ingredients are great.

Now for the "Scent Gland" when your dog scoots on the carpet it usually means your dog's glands clogged. Some groomers will "deal" with that as well as a vet. They'll (the vet) charge more after all it's something I'd consider "Dirty Job"[xx(].

For topical treatment I'd get something with "Hydrocortisone" or "Allercaine" for the sores.

I've also known people who after having the dogs groomed they pin back their ears back for about a day to dry out. Make sure you tell the groomers to dry out the ears or have them clip the hair short around the ear canal.