Ear Infection= $$$$$?

[Diva'sOwner]

Just discovered that Haley has a bad ear infection went to the vet and here is the bill:

exam 41.00
ear flush 36.59
optic cleaning solution 17.68
otomax/triotic large 44.05
elizabethean collar 15.10

Total: 155.74

Yikes! Is this normal? I've never had a dog with an ear infection before. To top it off, it's nearly impossible to use the solution to clean her ear. She fights for her life and she is 89lbs! Any advice? She doesn't care if I massage the ears or use a cloth to clean them. It's only the wet solution that she hates and fights to avoid. This battle and the ugly bill have give me the blues.

[Diva'sOwner]

Also, could increased eye goo be related to her ear infection? Just before I noticed the dirty ear, her eyes started getting really nasty. I have to clean her face several times a day. She is eating CA Natural Lamb.

[moondog]

The ear solutions are COLD, even at room temps. That's very uncomfortable until it warms up to body temp and that was my dog's only objection to it. I found that setting the bottle of solution in a glass of hot water for a minute to warm it up made a huge difference in how my dog felt about ear solutions. Also, soaking a piece of rolled cotton with the warmed solution and then squeezing it into the ear seems a lot less objectionable than the bottle itself for some dogs.

[Miabella]

Sorry, it sounds pretty standard to me. I never get out of the vet without paying at least $100 it seems.

If it's the left ear, have her sit next to you in heel position and thread your left hand through her collar, pressing her against your leg. Grab the ear and pull it up with your left hand while sticking the ear cleaner bottle nozzle into the canal with your right hand. Quickly squeeze in the cleaner, fold down the ear and rub for a few seconds. Let her go and step back while she shakes the liquid out. The key is to be quick and matter-of-fact. Know what you are going to do and just do it.

[szky]

I just paid $144.00 in So CAl for a Shih Tzu's ear infection. I think you're in the ball park.

[Mochasmom]

Price sounds fine to me too.

Initally I would muzzle Mocha to do her ears as she fought but then it progressed to doing what Miabella suggested...matter of fact and quick works best.

[ElsasFamily]

Elsa is prone to getting ear infections. Judi W. suggest cleaning the ears with a water vinegar solution for prevention. Much cheaper to prevent that way
~Kim

[tilerspop]

The price sounds right in the ball park for my vet and he's actually one of the cheaper ones in the area

[StephanieandToby]

A couple months back I was taking care of a Flat-Coated Retriever while the family went on vacation. He had such a neglected ear infection that the ears had "cauliflowered" and he was lethargic.
I took him to the Vet and got almost exactly what you got...and it was $160.00.
It was hard to get the solution in because the canals had all but closed up. I gave a quick squirt and then massaged the ear canal until I heard a "squishy" sound inside. Then I knew it had gone down into the ear....

[rottgirl]

Paradise had an ear infection early spring and that's about what we paid. Why the elizabethean collar to keep from scratching her ears. Poor thing we got lucky Peri didn't need to waer a collar.

Best advise I can give is have all the supplies ready and do it as quickly as possible. It took both me a hubby to do Peri - one holds her down the other did the cleaning. Good idea Moondog heat up the solution.

Good Luck, Michele

[flyballmom]

Ouch!! A few months ago we had an icky ear. Office visit was the standard $25 dollars. Ear flush was not charged, Otic abx solution was $15, for a grand total of $35. Never did find an easy way of getting that stuff to stay in there. After the ear massage followed lots of head shaking and head rubbing on the floor. I was also wondering why the E-collar........

[Diva'sOwner]

The e collar is not a must. I wanted one because at night she was thrashing around and scratching the ear so much that it was waking me up (which is how I discovered her problem in the first place). Today she isn't bothering the ears at all so I'm not going to use the collar tonight.

Great ideas about heating up the solution. I soaked a facial pad with it today and that made the process a little more tolerable. But I have to do the same thing with the steriod ointment and I'm not sure that's as effective as squeezing it into the ear.

Any thought about the increased eye goo? I thought I read that eye goo was the body's way of cleansing if infected. But maybe I made this up? Poor "little" pup, she's just not herself right now!

[moondog]

The ointment is best straight from tube to ear - you won't get enough down deep in the ear if you try to "wipe" it in.

Eye goop is how the eyes rinse themselves, and a certain amount of eye goop is normal. That said, for my dog, goopy eyes were connected to ear problems. For her, diet was the culprit and once I got her diet squared away, the ear problems AND the goopy eye problems vanished, never to be seen again.

[Diva'sOwner]

Thanks. I hope it's not food allergies. But I am going to switch her from CA Natural to Innova soon.

[SigTau66]

You might try drenching a cotton ball and sticking that into the dog's ear. We did that with an ear cleaner we had to give Kalil for a week or two. We would soak the cotton ball, stick it down in there, and then massage the ear. Seemed to do the job really well. :)