~*Shell*~ Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 Hi everyone, When i got up this morning i noticed that Zero's ear was weeping a bit (making his fur turn a reddy colour) - at first we just thought it was wet because of the rain but the rest of him was dry. The ear doesn't appear sore to the touch, the ear canal doesn't look red but he looks like he might have been scratching it. Does this sound like he has an ear infection? Our usual vet isn't open today so i thought i might have a look at it tomorrow and if it hasn't changed I would take him down tomorrow but if he does have one i would rather pay the money to get it checked rather than leaving it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mixy Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 Barney had an ear infection and if was full of gunk, all inflamed and driving him crazy with itch. It might be the beginning of an ear infection so probably best to get it checked out before it gets worse. Poor Barney was miserable for a week when he had an infection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puggy_puggy Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 Mmmm the red sounds more like blood. Usually infections are a gunky browny colour. I would clean it out. Try a cotton bud to see if you can get any muck out. Just watch to see if it is annoying him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 I'm not a fan of cotton buds in ears.. try just a dampened tissue/gauze swab. gently wipe around the ear, and canal a very short distance.. see what colour is on the tissue. A smell of each ear will tell you if anything is happening in either of them , too! Hope he's OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~*Shell*~ Posted June 9, 2008 Author Share Posted June 9, 2008 Hmmm, nothing changed very much today - can't see a scratch on his ear at all and i've had a good look. There is no reason for him to have this muck around his ear unless it came from inside it. I'll have another good look tomorrow and if there is no change i'll take him to the vet. Better safe than sorry anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puggy_puggy Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 I'm not a fan of cotton buds in ears.. I suppose if you don't know what you are doing then maybe it's not a good idea but dogs do have a longer ear canals then humans. I had a foster at the vets recently and the vet shoved this massive cotton bud much deeper down the fosters ear then I ever would. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poodle wrangler Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 Vet is best as they can prescribe antibiotics to clear up any problems quickly. You don't want to pour anything into the ear if the eardrum is ruptured, either :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~*Shell*~ Posted June 10, 2008 Author Share Posted June 10, 2008 I decided it was better safe than sorry - his ear has puss in it so i think that even if the ear isn't infected he probably has a cut or a scratch on it that isn't healing properly. We're booked in at 5:45 today so i'll take him down and have him checked. He won't let me touch it and it's obviously sore so i wouldn't be able to put a cotton bud down it anyway (not that i would - too many things can go wrong since I don't know what i'm doing) and he won't let me clean it. Besides, i'd hate to have too much water on whatever i would use to clean it and have some go down into his ear and make it worse! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pug Hugger Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 I notice that Louie's ears get a very pungent smell when he has an infection... Zero's sounds a bit different to that but the vet knows best :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puggy_puggy Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 Sounds like Zero has an injury that has become infected rather then a typical ear infection. Do you have other dogs that might have nipped his ear? Maybe he has ear mites and has been scratching at his ears because of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~*Shell*~ Posted June 10, 2008 Author Share Posted June 10, 2008 He hasn't been around other dogs for a couple of weeks because he's our only dog and because of the rain, we haven't been to the dog park. He could have ear mites, but i haven't seen any evidence of them. He may have a scratch to the outside of his ear at the front (hard to see because he has some pretty thick ear fur! Typical husky!). I haven't had the opportunity to have a good look because he doesn't want me to move the hair around it. Could have been scratched by the bushes in our yard or something when he's been doing zoomies... Good thing he loves our vet! Dr Sarah is fantastic with him and he lets her do anything because he knows she has treats (she's very big on making Zero's trip to the vet a positive one so lots of cuddles, treats and baby talk - she even calls him woofie which is our pet name for him. Best vet ever!). I'll let you know what the problem is exactly when I know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~*Shell*~ Posted June 10, 2008 Author Share Posted June 10, 2008 Well, we're back from the vet and he has quite a bad ear infection. Because he has been abused in the past he didn't really let on how much pain he was in but she's had to give him a shot of pain killers so she could even have a look at it because he was crying everytime she touched it. Now he's on pain killers, antibiotics and i have to wait a few days before i can even start washing it because he's in so much pain. Poor munchkin! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted June 10, 2008 Share Posted June 10, 2008 yep.. glad you didn't try sticking anything down there! poor boy , but now he will start to improve once the AB's kick in Hope it heals quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~*Shell*~ Posted June 10, 2008 Author Share Posted June 10, 2008 I doubt that he would have let me touch it anyway - took 3 people to hold him still long enough to clean his ear out last night (and that was after a shot of pain killers!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puggy_puggy Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Poor baby. Lots of healing vibes being sent his way. Was his ear full of gunk? I guess I am lucky with pugs as they don't have much hair in or on their ears and they are pretty good with letting me clean them, even the rescues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~*Shell*~ Posted June 11, 2008 Author Share Posted June 11, 2008 It was full of gunk down in his ear (not really visable without a torch and 3 people holding him down) - though he had probably scratched/rubbed the gunk from the top of his ear off. Poor little man - he's afraid of many things because of the abuse and is slowly getting better. Maybe me having to touch his ears a lot over the next few days will get him over this fear. Lots of cuddles (and some low fat treats) are definitely coming his way. When he hurt his paw (cut it on some glass) we had to handle his paws a lot to put antiseptic on them and it got him over his fears about his paws being touched so we can only hope! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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