Ear drops

libra10

Our 7 month old pup seemed to have an ear infection - shaking his head, pawing his ears, showing signs of discomfort. Before taking him to the vet we bought some ear drops, hoping this would help.

However, he just won't allow us to administer the drops, becoming aggressive, snarling, or running away to hide under the table. We've tried several times (unsuccessfully!) to pop the drops in the sore ear but he's just not having it.

At present he does seem better, playing with ball, eating his meals and not overly concerned. My question is - how can such things as ear drops be administered to a small dog who becomes so aggressive? Is there a technique we could try? How have others managed to overcome their dog's aversion to being helped?

Would be grateful for help.

mikejackalope

I would stop trying now, as he is probably not letting you do it as it is too sore. The more you try, the less likely you will be to ever get drops in.
I would say the best thing to do would be to take him to the vet, get some pain relief, and try again once this has taken effect.

libra10

Thanks for advice.

At present he's having a doze in front of the fire. But wondering if the problem persists, how will the vet deal with such aggression?

He would need armoured padding!

edinburghgirl

we have a 14year old collie cross who has been prone to ear infections since we got her at 6months.
she is not aggressive but the mearest hint of ear drops-the word or sight of anything that looks like the bottle sends her scuttling off to the bedroom and no amount of caoxing or cajoling or even downright bribery with wafer thin ham will persuade her to reappear.

libra10

After spending practically half yesterday trying to administer the drops we think some must have gone in Barney's ear.

We watched a YouTube video showing a dog letting the owner apply the drops, the dog stood still patiently waiting for the owner to do it. Not Barney - he becomes a raving maniac!

He seems to have a mite in there and the drops seem to be helping, but drops have to be entered daily for up to a week! Going to be interesting!

He's been in the thick of it the past week, while on our walk another dog bit him and made a real mess of his nose.

TomsMom

When we first had Poppy at 2 months old, she came complete with gungy smelly ears which she was always scratching. She is a Bichon and one of the breeds which has hair inside the ear canal which grows so needs to be plucked (we leave that to the groomer ).

First injection time at the vets we pointed out the gunky years. Without even examining them she gave us some Surolan. Poppy hated it with a passion and struggled every time we tried to administer it.

Second injection time we were told to continue the Surolan.

It became so bad that we went and saw a different vet at the practise. This one examined her ears, said there were no mites present and to continue the Surolan.

By now she was beside herself whenever we tried to put the drops in and I was getting concerned at the continued use of a steroid medication which wasn't helping the situation.

I bought some Petnats Ear Cleaner which smelt lovely and was thicker than the Surolan so not such a "shock". However, Poppy still hated it.

I then discovered Thornit powder. It can be used for itchy ears, not just mites. Easy Peasy! I got an eye shadow brush, dipped the end of the brush in the powder and just dusted a small amount around the inside rim of the ear. Bingo! No fuss from the dog and within 2 or 3 days a big improvement. I gave a second dose about two weeks later and they've been clean and clear ever since and she's now 12 months old.

The groomer does pluck the hair out when necessary, not sure of your breed so that might be needed also, but I would highly recommend trying Thornit, it wont distress your dog and will very likely sort the problem out. I got mine from Ebay, I'm not connected in any way, just so very happy I found out it.

libra10

Thanks very much for your advice.

We've just taken Barney - he's a cross Pomeranian/Yorkie for his walk and managed, successfully (we think) to administer another dose of the ear drops. I was playing with him and managed to cover his eyes whilst he looked up, and OH swooped with a vengeance. It's a real pantomine!

He will now let us touch and play with his ears, but he's still shaking them quite a bit.

I am going to look for Thornit at Ebay and get some ordered straight away.

Really grateful for your advice.

bagginslover

Have you thought about muzzling him to stop him biting you when you put the drops in? I know many people don't like to muzzle their dogs, but for a few seconds while you get the drops in, surely its better? You'll be able to get it done faster, so less stress to Barney too?

Just an idea.

TomsMom

libra10 wrote: »

Thanks very much for your advice.

We've just taken Barney - he's a cross Pomeranian/Yorkie for his walk and managed, successfully (we think) to administer another dose of the ear drops. I was playing with him and managed to cover his eyes whilst he looked up, and OH swooped with a vengeance. It's a real pantomine!

He will now let us touch and play with his ears, but he's still shaking them quite a bit.

I am going to look for Thornit at Ebay and get some ordered straight away.

Really grateful for your advice.

You're very welcome. It's awful to see them get so distressed isn't it. I got Poppy used to having her ears stroked and gently played with by waiting until she was relaxed/sleepy and just having a little twiddle. Once she was unconcerned about having her ears touched then brushing them with the eye shadow brush with the Thornit was just a lovely little tickle for her.

I think Yorkies are a breed that might need their ears plucking, especially if they have floppy ears rather than upright ones, with floppy ears the air can't get to the inside to dry them out. Poms I'm not so sure but it depends whether Barney has inherited the hairy ear gene from Yorkie side .

I expect Barney will need grooming from time to time and if you use a groomer then they can do the plucking if needed. It is a job you can do yourself (plenty of info and videos on the 'net) but it's a job I'd prefer to let my groomer do - I don't want to be the nasty lady :rotfl: .

bugslet

I use Thornit as well for ear mites - great stuff.

Frugalista

Has he been to the vets yet?? I wouldn't be sending off for anything until the vet has had a look at his ears first.

I can't imagine why anyone would leave a young pup in such obvious distress without seeking medical attention :huh:.