Irritated Puppy Ear Please help / Picture - Page 3

No one has mentioned allergies. I allowed the vet to shave the inside of my goldens ears because of redness (no infection) and the shaving caused a huge mess. Where the vet shaved got infected because it itched so bad the dog scratched and scratched. Not sure why vets think that shaving is a good idea but I will never do it again. And sorry but I dont agree with puting water into the ear even if just a few drops because if there is something going on, the water may actually make it worse by allowing bacteria to grow if the dog cant shake it out. Ive had alot of mastiffs with ear infections and I do the least I can to treat the infection but try and keep some of the good flora in the ear. If you mess with it too much the bacterial grows wild and it can take months to get rid of (been there done that) . Ive successfully used the cocker spaniel recipe on all the dogs without open sores in the ears. It works well. And not to scare you but the pup can develope a hematoma so be diligent with this.

I also would use the rimadyl sparingly. Know the risks. If your going to use it make sure the doc does lab work to make sure the liver is functioning properly.  Docs give it out like candy but unfortunately not all dogs do well on it.

Hope your dog is better soon. It sucks when you dont know what the culprit is.

No one suggested using water alone. Water mixed with isopropyl alcohol just dilutes the alcohol and it all evaporates when used sparingly. Also, I did not see anyone suggesting the use of Rimadyl, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory which would have no reason to use here. But I certainly don't suggest shaving either, unless there is a good reason....

Gsdlvr stated that the vet put the dog on Rimadyl. I posted my opinion only.

 The Rimadyl was prescribed at my request because I wondered if this could somehow be injury related. It was a long shot but with no obvious cause and the first vet's blank look on her face, I thought it was worth a shot. I discontinued it after two days when the ear became more reddened and looked like it did in the first picture I posted.  It became clear at that point that it was not muscle ache or sprain related and indeed there was one or more ear problems which was where I started. Puppy ears do go up and down but I had never seen one consistently up and then consistently down for a couple days after teething. 

I started Amoxicillin 250 mg yesterday pm so she has had two doses. I think she looks a little bit better. I took the cone off a few hours ago and both ears are still up. I still am giving the Otomax topically but since the redness started in the left ear also I am putting some there too. Continuing Benadryl for now. I don't understand the shaving either.

What kind of allergy would do this if it could be an allergy? Yes, it's hard when you don't know the culprit.

 Bhaugh, my apologies, I somehow missed the vet and the Rimadyl. Does not seem like a good choice since the likeiihood is that it was not injury related. I doubt this is allergy related in any case, but good to hear the pup seems a bit better.........

It doesn't sound allergy related. I had a dog whose ear looked very much like the first photo posted and he developed the redness and bumps in both ears while playing in a field of blooming grass, weeds and oak trees. IF it is allergies, a dose or two of benadryl should clear it up fairly quickly. If the redness and bumps are still present after a couple of doses of benadryl, it most likely isn't allergies.  It's more likely to be an infection. Glad to hear your treatment appears to be working.  Ideally,  the vet would do an ear scraping and culture to identify the culprit bacteria so that the antibiotic chosen would be the right one. But sometimes on the weekend, you just have to guess, as you did. If the ears are better, a scraping may not prove helpful at this point. And vets often don't want to put the dog through an extra day of misery while waiting for the culture, plus it's easier on the owner's pocketbook and more practical to just prescribe a broad spectrum topical like Otomax.  It usually works.

I've never had a vet shave a dog's ear like that. It's too easy for the razor to nick the ear and ears bleed something awful. So they don't usually do it unless they have to stitch a wound.

As always, JMO.

BUMP

 Hi everyone,
The puppy is doing great. Her ear stayed back up since Sunday. No more redness. I discontinued the Benadryl and Otomax Monday also. The plan is to give the Amoxicillin twice a day for 7 days.
Thanks for your help all!

Aww, that's great news. Thanks for letting us know.