now her ear????

[akheila]

It seems the food situation is all worked...for now. and the fur is growing back very nicely and actually quite quickly. But today I got her to come inside and although its VERY cold here her ear looked wet. well I got my husband to look in it and he was able to wipe with a cloth lots of brown goo. Now we don't clean her ears as every time that we look in them they are fine and even when at the groomers she has good ears. is it possible that with the cold weather and the wind just that has irritated her ears? She is doing a lot of head shaking too. So it is bugging her.

I guess some suggestions to determine if it is an infection or what. Plus how to deal with things, or clean them if thats what we need to do. It was suggested that we use warm peroxide but I don't like that idea. I know a few of you will have great natural home remedies....and if I don't need to take her to the vet that would be nice.

[Grab]

If she's shaking her head and you're getting brown ick out, it could likely be a yeast infection. Not uncommon. It can also be more common in dogs with allergies. (says the owner of a dog allergic to everything)

A vet can do a swab and get you some ointment to clear it up fairly quickly

[chris]

Sounds like an ear infection... is there an oder to it?
I was just running around my house to find the ear wash stuff and for the life of me I cant find it. I would take her to the vet. They can clean it out for you and give you the meds or ear wash you need.

[akheila]

there is no odour to it. and she let us look into it without pulling away, even when we were using a cloth to wipe it off.

[kiwani]

Since your Chow was put on antibiotics recently, the skin pH balance could have been affected and something like yeasts could have gotten the upper hand.

Vinegar-based ear cleaners like MalAcetic Otic with boric acid for drying would help with yeast. You can try wiping with vinegar for now until you talk with the vet.

[kingalls]

when Mr. N had his first ear infection, the vet put him under and flushed out his ears and I had to put ointment in them. I also made some dietary changes.

[Auddymay]

I read something at a breeder site today, and was wondering if it had any merit. They recommended wiping eyes and ears with a cloth wetted with Listerine (the gold stuff, not mint). Would it have an estringent effect, or is it the 'germ killing' agents that are at work? Just curious.

[janet]

wouldnt listerine burn a little?? i tought it had alcohol in it.
my other dog (bichon/poodle) has had an ear problem forever. ive tried everything. its allergies.not food related though. i keep cleaning his ear, and putting some vinegar in there. it seems like he will always have it. he doesnt seem uncomfortable. it does smell a little.when he goes to the groomer, i make sure he gets all the hairs out of his ears too. this helps alot.

[akheila]

She ended up having both a very minor yeast infection combined with a major cockeye(sp) infection. We had to leave her at the doctor's for the day. They sedated her to cip her ears and were going to giver them a proper cleaning, and then give us the medicated drops for her ears. There was also a bit of skin irritation from the scratching etc.

She will be home later this afternoon!

[3blackchows]

I'm glad your baby is better. I'm assumimg the yeast infection was from the antibiotics, what caused the other infection.

[akheila]

well she was bad enough that she had to be more then just sedated...in fact she had to be put right out. Then they were able to clip the fur but her ear is sooooooo infected that they couldn't see her eardrum. THey didn't give us drops for her, instead more antibiotics! goodness sakes. anyway she was also due for her shots at the end of the month so they just got that over with this time.

But I don't get how it can she be fine and literally overnight its really severe. I'm starting to feel like a bad owner!

[Auddymay]

Nope, the bad owner sees the discharge, scrathes his head (or other body part), and goes along business as usual. No vet check. You are just experiencing a run of bad luck with your chowling. This too, shall pass.

[buddhachow]

My 7-year-old chow went through this cycle for years. It was so bad that he stopped eating and losing weight, in addition to always shaking his head and throwing up a lot. In the end, it was a food allergy. We started feeding him Solid Gold Salmon & Sweet Potato and everything changed. Turns out he is allergic to wheat, which makes sense looking back. It caused him to bite his paws and was related to the nasty ear yeast infections. Within a few months of eating Solid Gold (it's all organic), he gained weight, stopped biting his paws, the ear infections went away and his fur looks amazing. Better yet, he really likes the food. And he's picky. The vet was amazed at his transformation. When his ears get dirty, we use Nature's Ark ear cleanser as well (I think that's the name). It has cinnamon and it really cleans the ears well, without bothering the dog. Another bonus: he smells good. Good luck!