my rottie cleo is scratching and occasionally has some discharge from her ears

[mike1]

Hi ive just adopted a 2 y/o rottie named cleo who is a big lovable dog but have noticed over the last couple of days of having her that on occasion she will scratch her ears mainly her right when doing this she whines so i am assuming this is a big discomfort to her her previous owner told me she gets ear infections and that if she gets this to get her ears cleaned or syringed.

I have a vets appointment for monday but have been told if it becomes worse over the next day or 2 to phone them back up and they will get her in to check her over ive also noticed today when petting behind her ear that she has a small lump or scab that maybe due to her scratching but just wanted to ask if this is somthing that is common with most rottweilers if there is anyway to maybe comfort her instead having her scratch her ear as i dont like hearing her whine knowing that she is probably in some sort of discomfort or pain if there is any way to prevent her from getting this problem or what this could possibly be if its just a small infection or could it possibly be some sort of long term problem .

I also noticed yesterday when i was lying in my bed cleo came up beside me and started rubbing her ear off my face that there was some waxy fluid from her ear.

thanks

mike1

[shybird]

It does sound very much like an ear infection. If you can get her into the vet sooner than Monday, I would do that.

[mike1]

unfortunately i am unemployed at the moment and dont have the money to take her to a vet of choice at this precise moment as much as i would like to i really cant afford this untill i can get another job it's sort of a vicious circle for me and also affects not just me but her aswell but where i stay in the uk they do have rescue and veterinary services where people who cannot afford expensive vet bills can use there services to look after there animals through giving donations for there services with all that said i did phone a local vet first who told me the checkup would cost £26 then to have her ears cleaned or syringed would cost £100 and because i am currently unemployed but actively seeking employment my income per fortnight is less than the cost of the treatment for her ears alone keeping in mind i have to buy her food treats etc and also pay bills buy food for myself so it really is a vicious circle leaving this as my only option rather than not doing nothing as i could'nt watch any type of animal suffer pain or discomfort but have to at least try make the best of what is offered but have spoke to someone about private insurance for my rottie as this is a lot easier for me to pay up aswell as her for recieving treatment when she really needs it which would give me more ease of mind if anything cropped up

[AngelBunny]

Sounds like an ear infection to me, too. It's impossible to say more, based on what you say.

What are you going to feed her? Chronic ear infections can be an indication the dog is allergic to something in his or her diet. She may have trouble with her ears because of what her previous owner fed her. Do you have know what she was fed??

[OnyxGold1]

I think ear infection too......its usually fairly easy to tell just with an external exam......are her ears really reddened? and can you notice a lot of black waxy gunk in her ears?

My Mason had ear infections chronically for several years.....he has been knocked out and had his ears syringed, lots of topical ear ointments.....finally I got tired of chronically treating the symptoms of what I knew was an underlying problem and had him allergy tested.......my guess initially was that it was a food allergy but we were wrong. What we found was that his highest reaction was to red cedar chips......I kindof went "what??"" we don't have any red cedar in Canada" (or at least not in Alberta!!)......THEN it occurred to all of us that dog beds have cedar chips in them to repell fleas and whatnot. We found his second highest reaction was to grain dust.....which made a lot of sense as Mason is a huge squirrel chaser in the graineries. So we closed off all the graineries so that none of the dogs could get in; threw away the dog beds that contained cedar chips and he has never had an ear infection since.

The allergy testing was fairly expensive ~~ around $500 and then we had to wait for nearly 2 weeks to get the results back from the lab......but let's face it I spent at least that much and then some on chronically treating the ear infections, so it was certainly worth it to know for sure!!

I would take her to the vet sooner rather than later....I know when Mason had an ear infection coming on just based on that was the only time he was ever grumpy!!

Heather Peters

[marianne]

Ear problems can run into big bucks. Maybe you should think about returing the dog. Sorry I might sound harsh, BUT if you can't afford the treatments for the dog,return the dog or place the dog in a Rottweiler Rescue.

[AngelBunny]

Originally Posted by marianne

Maybe you...place the dog in a Rottweiler Rescue.

My rescue group has a process in place by which dogs get into our program. We are not set up to take a dog today or tomorrow because an owner calls us. Since all the dogs in our program live in foster care, the number of dogs does not exceed the number of foster homes. (In fact, we sometimes have open foster homes because the dogs who've passed our evals aren't suitable for the open foster homes.

For instance, we won't place a cat intolerant dog in a cat-owning foster home. Nor will we place a dog in a foster home with children w/o knowing how that dog is with children. Or the open foster homes are only capable of fostering the easiest of the easy.)

Since the number of dogs needing help dwarfs the number of people in rescue, rescue is forced to do triage--first helping the dogs that need help the most. Most rescue groups would pull a temperamentally stable dog from a kill shelter before they'd take a dog with ear infections from its owner.

It can take a couple of months to get an OS into the rescue program for which I volunteer.

[Anne]

Originally Posted by marianne

Ear problems can run into big bucks. Maybe you should think about returing the dog. Sorry I might sound harsh, BUT if you can't afford the treatments for the dog,return the dog or place the dog in a Rottweiler Rescue.

I agree with the above. Mike, why did you take on a dog knowing that you can't afford vet treatment in your present financial situation. I also would seriously think about returning the dog. Ear infections are very painful and are expensive to treat.

My dog's problem was caused by water in her ears from swimming. If your dog's problem is due to an allergy you will need to find out exactly what's causing the allergy...this too is expensive.

We did try an ear wash followed by antibitoic drops but it didn't cure the infection so we had the ears flushed out under GA, followed up with antibiotics....both orally and drops. There were no further problems.

[mike1]

hi thanks for the replies its not that i would'nt be able to afford it long term just at this precise moment im looking for employment so this is'nt a long term thing at all i am also looking into insurance for my dog someone saying you should'nt have a dog if you cant afford the vet bills is like saying if you lose your job you should'nt keep your own dog / dogs for this same reason these things are part of everyday life when people become unable to support there own families or animals 100% due to unforseen circumstances

i have been told if she gets bad to phone them and they would get her in straight away but this is'nt a thing she's doing constantly once in a while she has a poke at her ear and this is when she seems uncomfortable over the last few days she's become less irritable the vet also mentioned about allergies and said it can sometimes be her food all these things i have asked about and were explained to me so these are all things she is being checked for when she goes on monday to be checked over
the place she is being taken is a vets , rescue and rehoming centre but they do not take vetting or handling charges just a simple donation as they do what they do like yourselfs through love of animals.

Im also looking into other types of food for her the food she was being fed was purina Bakers complete and was told this food has caused allargies in others dogs and will be changing her food today i have also just taken a look at her ears and cant see any redness or gunk around them but as mentioned in the first post there was a small amount of waxy fluid from her ear any suggestions to what food is a good food for her as i believe most of the people who have responded stay in the US and the food available there may not be available here in the uk

thanks again

mike1

[AngelBunny]

Originally Posted by mike1

...any suggestions to what food is a good food for her as i believe most of the people who have responded stay in the US and the food available there may not be available here in the uk...

RDN does have some UK members who have posted about food. It may take awhile to find their posts, but they have posted about food.

[mike1]

Thanks AngelBunny you have been very helpful to me since ive joined the forum in replies :)

thanks

mike1