# Lab's Ear Problems



## Big Daddy Benelli (Dec 13, 2004)

I have a 7yr old lab, and I take her to a Vet in New Baltimore, and I was wondering if anyone has any advice on getting her ear infection's under control.. I'm thinking of retiring her from hunting because of these ear's, the bad part it would kill her as much as it would be to me!! :rant: I'm give her steriods now, but the Vet only let me refil so many times before I have to bring her in again :rant: :evil: :evilsmile :smile-mad .. Thanks in advance....


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## nashtrash69 (Jan 24, 2007)

I would contact MSU they have an excellent vet and lab service. they maybe able to help you .Had a friend that took their horse there and they got it taken care of and the local vets couldn't find the problem .I have a chocolate lab and she gets ear problems every so often .good luck


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## res (Nov 22, 2006)

First, go get a second opinion. Ear issues can be very simple like water in the ears and an easy ear wash after swimming keeps it from coming back to full blow food allergy. I would NOT just keep doing nothing. My vet takes a quick swab and most infections I have to deal with are yeast infections and a bit of ointment and some good cleanings twice a day clear it up quickly. I am not a vet but not sure what the steroids would do? Rick


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## jrsoup (Mar 2, 2007)

I had the same problem in my Black. She would just get near water and get the damned ear thing going. Tried everything till I had an old fella tell me to mix equal parts of white vinegar and rubbing alcohol together. A few drops in each ear a couple times a day. Was'nt but a couple of days and gone. Everytime it would flare up I would do the same treatment and it worked great. Dealing now with my new Yellow pup with yeast infection in one ear. Ointment twice a day and clean them out every other. Gotta love em.:lol:


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## WAR EAGLE (Apr 7, 2006)

My vet gave me tresaderm...a few drops twice a day for a few days has always done the trick.


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## Big Daddy Benelli (Dec 13, 2004)

res said:


> First, go get a second opinion. Ear issues can be very simple like water in the ears and an easy ear wash after swimming keeps it from coming back to full blow food allergy. I would NOT just keep doing nothing. My vet takes a quick swab and most infections I have to deal with are yeast infections and a bit of ointment and some good cleanings twice a day clear it up quickly. I am not a vet but not sure what the steroids would do? Rick


That sounds like what she has, I'm on my 2nd Vet also!!!!!!!! She has had her ear swabbed and it is a yeast infections, I spent thousand and no results.. What ointment do you use? I ointment I use is MalOtic by VEDCO..


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## Big Daddy Benelli (Dec 13, 2004)

Res, you have some Pretty labs!! Check out my girls she in my photo gallery, she's pure white! Your Yellow has a nice mix of both...


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## res (Nov 22, 2006)

My vet gave me some animax ointment. The thing with the yeast infections is you need to stay on top of them. I will flush her ear with EPI-OTIC flush and then dry with cotten swabs put in ointment. I also clip the hair out of the ear canal so that air can get into the ears. Helps to dry the ear. I will also give a second to MSU. My oldest had an abcess behind the eye. Local vet thought it was an auto immune problem so she hit her with steroids. This shut down the immune system and low and behold the bateria about exploded behind the eye. Trip to MSU and they were able to save the dog and her eye. You will need a referal but demand it from your vet. Rick


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## Big Daddy Benelli (Dec 13, 2004)

I guess I will trying to clean her ears with the alcohol & white vinegar


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## Big Daddy Benelli (Dec 13, 2004)

she didn't like that mix, but I think it worked pretty good... Her ear canal swells pretty bad when the infection is kicking full force.. The Vet thinks she needs ear surgery, which is crazy cash!!


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## res (Nov 22, 2006)

Big Daddy Benelli said:


> Res, you have some Pretty labs!! Check out my girls she in my photo gallery, she's pure white! Your Yellow has a nice mix of both...


I like her look. Great head definition. If you look at the picture of the three by the fence my oldest is in the middle. She is quite a bit lighter then her daughter which is on the right of the picture. The chocolate is not related to the yellows at all. She has more "blond" tendencies then the two yellows put together. :lol: Rick


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## Kevlar (Jul 21, 2004)

My lab had ear problems ALOT! Spent thousands on vet bills. There answer was steroids and this ear cleaner. Later on we switched to OTO-Max ear drops and cleaner. Problem really never went away for years. His ears would bother him so bad that he would shake his head so hard that he would split the ends of his ears.

After taking him to 2 vets finally a intern from one of the big colleges in Ohio told me to switch his food to a meat based food. To come to find out he was allergic to the "corn" in most dog foods. He was also allergic to the powder sprinkle stuff that you used to sprinkle on your carpets before you vaccum it. Another sign if he has allergies is if lick and chews on the bottom of his paws.

What a mess. The dog was miserable for a straight year until we found out what it was. I probably took him to the vet (s) 15 - 18 time in one year. 

Glad that is over.

Kev


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## Big Daddy Benelli (Dec 13, 2004)

Is Chelsea your dog's daughter? Thanks, my girl looks alot like a Male because of her blockey head and size, she 95lbs, but she fast and never gets tried.. I sure would hate to stop hunting her because she's got a hell of a sniffer!!:lol: :cwm27: I could never own anything besides a Lab, but these ears drive me nuts!! :rant: My first lab was black, and had the same bad ears also.. Than she got cancer and I had surgery done, but it wasn't able to take it out.. When I had to put her down they may has well killed me too!!!!


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## Big Daddy Benelli (Dec 13, 2004)

Kevlar said:


> My lab had ear problems ALOT! Spent thousands on vet bills. There answer was steroids and this ear cleaner. Later on we switched to OTO-Max ear drops and cleaner. Problem really never went away for years. His ears would bother him so bad that he would shake his head so hard that he would split the ends of his ears.
> 
> After taking him to 2 vets finally a intern from one of the big colleges in Ohio told me to switch his food to a meat based food. To come to find out he was allergic to the "corn" in most dog foods. He was also allergic to the powder sprinkle stuff that you used to sprinkle on your carpets before you vaccum it. Another sign if he has allergies is if lick and chews on the bottom of his paws.
> 
> ...


Kev,

I have her on chicken and rice, is that good or should I move to beef or something like that?? She would shake her head so easy today because her ears must hurt that bad!! The Vet said, "it's because of her ear canal position in her head??


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## lookin for the gills (Jan 21, 2003)

My Black is 8 years old and he has had yeast for a while. I have spent about 3000 over the last 4 years trying to rid the problem with no luck. The script that the doc gives works for a few days then I gotta pay to bring him in. The doc says its so we can check for bacteria. I have been to 3 or 4 different docs:yikes: . I am gonna try the home remedy that mentioned. Rubbing alcohol and white vinegar. I will post results. The only thing is his ears smell real bad. Is that normal?


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## mattm (Aug 13, 2005)

My vet perscribed oti-soothe II for cleansing and an ointment called otibiotic ointment by butler. He also suggested to change his diet because so dog foods have more yeast. It worked after about of week of cleaning twice daily and ointment once a day. Now i clean once a week before I ws using some blue stuff and he had constant ear problems. Now when I clean his ears ther is barely any gunk in them


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## Kevlar (Jul 21, 2004)

Maybe he's allergic to rice?? Try switching to corn or meat based dog food. There is also a food that you can buy that is hypo-allergenic but its was like $23 for a 25lb bag. Which seems alot until you end up taking your dog to the vet 18 times...  Don't remember the name of the dog food. YOu can probably do a web search and find it.

My lab never had ears that smelled really bad. Nor did he have much ear wax. I would put the cleaner in his year and rub it in and he would just moan with pleasure that somebody was helping him with his ears.

All I can tell is I hope you guys figure it out becuase for me and my lab it was a absolute nightmare.

Kev


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## Big Daddy Benelli (Dec 13, 2004)

My dog's ear smells bad, it gets a brownish color stuff in it... I have changed her food, but maybe try something new next bag.. She use to chew on her paws until we changed foods, I am at my wits end with this, the mix of water and white vinegar seemed to clean the ear and dry it up well though, she ran outside and was rubbing her head on the ground, but she always does that after her ears get cleaned..... I just order the prednisode of 1-800-pet-meds alot cheaper than the vets, so that should help too... I do recommend the Prednisode though.. I also tried these pills that where $5 a pill and they didn't make the yeast infection go away for ever, so after refilling them a couple times I ended it..


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## Gramps (Jan 19, 2007)

My chocolate has had ear problems since she was a pup, she is now 8, i have tried everything but nothing seems to work. i have spent thousands of dollars over the years on this problem, we just spent $800.00 4 months ago, she was scratching her ears and she busted a blood vessel that turned into a blood clot, her left ear flap got the size of an orange, it took 3 months to heal. if you find something that works please post it, and i will do the same. Thanks!!


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## Big Daddy Benelli (Dec 13, 2004)

As I stated in my last post the Predisone works great, as long as she has those she has no problems.. I would try the equal amounts of white vinegar and alcohol that someone said early, seem to dry the ear up good and get rid of the smell... The Predisone really works on keeping the swelling down so the ear can get air to get rid of the yeast infection... When her ear swells that bad my vet give her this steriod shot that costs $19 but it start right away..


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