german shepherd ears?

Question

my gsd has allways bad ears with heavy wax, her ear goes red inside when its bad, she has drops from the vets, which clears it temporary, but its gone on for 4 years. Vet said she could have a major op to remove canal (i think) but dangerous and big op. Has anyone any ideason what to do on this ?

Answer 1

Here is something you can make up to help your dogs ears. I use this on my dogs and have give some to other people and all of them way how much it helped there dog. I found this on a cocker website also I know some vets use this too.

Blue Power Ear Treatment

INGREDIENTS:
16 Oz. Isopropyl Alcohol
4 Tablespoons Boric Acid Powder
16 Drops Gentian Violet Solution 1%

Mix together in alcohol bottle and shake well. You will also need to shake solution every time you use it to disperse the Boric Acid Powder. To use, purchase the "Clairol" type plastic bottle to dispense solution to affected ears.

TREATMENT: Evaluate condition of ears before treating and if very inflamed and sore do not attempt to pull hair or clean out ear at all. Wait until inflammation has subsided which will be about 2 days.

Shake the bottle each time before using. Flood the ear with solution (gently squirt bottle), massage gently to the count of 60, wipe with a tissue. Flood again on first treatment, wipe with a tissue, and leave alone without massage. The dog will shake out the excess which can be wiped with a tissue, the
Gentian Violet does stain fabrics.

SCHEDULE OF TREATMENT
Treat 2x per day for the first week to two weeks depending upon severity of ears
Treat 1x per day for the next 1-2 weeks
Treat 1x per month (or even less frequently, depending on the dog)

All of these ingredients should be available at a pharmacy. The Boric Acid Powder soothes the ear. The Gentian Violet Solution is an anti-infection agent. The solution appears to work well on any and all ear problems from mites to wax to canker. After the second or third you can clean out the ear with a Q-tip or cotton balls. Their success rate for this treatment is 95-99%. Those who do not succeed have usually not done the treatment long enough or have not been regular about it.

Dogs on the verge of ear canal surgery have been returned to normal with only the regular follow-up treatment to keep the ear healthy. If an infection seems to be remaining in the treated ear after the above course of treatment, you may also have some Pseudomonas bacteria in the site. This can be eradicated by using a gentle flush of raw apple cider vinegar and water (warm). Use 2 Tablespoons of vinegar to one cup of water, 2x per week.

They have found the Blue Power Solution to be effective for treating fungus-type infections on the feet and elsewhere on the dog, for cuts on dogs or people, and for hot spots. You may find other uses for this simple anti-infective agent. Remember it is for external use only and be careful not to get into the eyes.

NOTE: If your dog is sensitive to the Alcohol, you can substitute
"Yellow" Lysterine in place of the Alcohol

Answer 2

If you don't stay on top of the ear cleaning, the infections will continue. They are often the result of allergies -- has your vet mentioned putting her on a different, hypo-allergenic diet?

The operation you're describing is probably the LaCroix-Zepp (sp? Named after the surgeons who developed it) -- the ear canal is not removed, rather an incision is made down through the side of the skull so that the canal resembles a human beings -- straight in rather than down and in at an angle. Makes air flow to the ear easier, which keeps things dry and infections low. Also makes cleaning the ear canal a lot easier.

It is a difficult surgery, expensive and initially painful for the dog. You'll have to make the decision on whether it's best for you and your dog. I had it done on my very first Siberian (not common in the breed, but she was an exception due to her genetics) and it really helped. Her ear infections were chronic, to the point that both her ear drums were destroyed and she went deaf at an early age. No more infections after the surgery, but it was a long and painful road.

I'll try to find more info.

ADDED:
http://www.2ndchance.info/earsurg.htm
http://www.vetinfo4dogs.com/dearsurgery.html

Looks like there is a Total Ear Ablation surgery wherein the entire ear canal is "removed" -- not something I'm familiar with, but possibly what your vet has recommended. The links above discuss both of these techniques.

I'm sorry I can't provide more information on how to entirely avoid either surgery. If you've been vigilant about cleaning out the ears and have still arrived at this point, there may be no other option. If, however, you haven't been as proactive in cleaning the ears as you'd like, take the advice/recipes of some of the posts above and commit to keeping your dog's ears clean. In my experience, that is the only possible way to avoid surgery.

Answer 3

It can be, that his ears will never stand, or that one will stand and the other won't. Part of that is just genetic. However, during teething (age 4-6 months more or less) the ears will tend to go back down, and some days up again, etc. When he's done teething--if the ears have ever stood at some point before then--then they will go back up again. And if his ears were pulled to the point of being injured, then they may not stand. I'm wondering also, if this dog had a previous home, and now is leaving your home for another--why is a 4 month old GSD going to be in his 3rd home?

Answer 4

I'm sorry your dog has this condition,my friend has a pit bull that's older and it's ears have been this way for about half of the dog's life.My friend cannot afford the surgery,or she would do it for her dog,her dog has it really bad,every time it shakes it's head all kinds of nasty stuff goes flying everywhere and the dog stinks because of the infection and is always digging at it's own ears and making things worse.Her dog is well cared for,she keeps it inside.I would definately have the surgery done so your dog won't have to suffer,I think it would be very painfull to have an earache type infection that has gone on for 4 years,especially when you can get the surgery done and the dog should heal in a few months or so,and not have to live with the pain for the rest of it's life.This is my opinion,if it was my dog,I would do it!!Good luck!! I hope your dog gets better!!

Answer 5

My vet suggested I try this for my dog with recurring ear problems: plain Listerine mouthwash . . . gently warm about a teaspoon of the mouthwash, pour it in an ear with a spoon, rub rub rub on the base of the ear so he doesn't shake right away, then let go and stand back while he shakes his head to spread the medicine all over the inside. Then, do the other ear. Praise him and give him a treat after each ear. You may have to do this every day for awhile until it clears up, then try it once a week, then once a month to see if it will keep it clear.

Answer 6

See if There's a Holistic vet in your area. They will take a full history of the dog and try to determine the cause of the ear problems, then match appropriate remedies to eliminate or lessen the cause.

It's much cheaper than the surgery, and traditional medicine tends to try to eliminate the symptoms, rather than the cause.

If there's no holistic vet within a reasonable distance (I drive 1& 1/2 hours to mine) then find a vet who specializes in allergies. Same reasons.

I take my GSD's to a holistic vet and she's done wonders with his auto-immune issues and her DM.

Best wishes.

Answer 7

I've heard that feeding a dog a tablespoon or 2 of plain yogurt everyday with their food is supposed produce a good bacteria that is good for dogs that often have yeast problems in their ears. I don't know if this works for ear infections though. Might not be a bad idea just to try for a week as long as your dog isn't allergic to yogurt.

Answer 8

I would just continue to use the ear drops. I have a german shepard with kind of the same problem. If you don't want to go ahead with the operation, then just continue to use the ear drops. I don't think it bothers the dog too much.

Answer 9

My gs only gets ear problems when he gets water in them (swimming or bathing). I don't know if this is a problem for you too. Otherwise...just like people, things just don't work like they were meant to. Hopefully you won't have to resort to surgery. If the dog is not in pain...I would just treat it the best you can and let it be.

Answer 10

The Blue Power mentioned above works great!

You might also take a look at your dog's diet, it is likely that she has allergies. If the food you are giving her contains corn, try one without.