I'm stumped by ear mites. !!

[Janet&Jim]

I can't believe i've encountered an animal medical situation that i don't have an answer for. My Belgian sheppard Deacon, meet Deacon.....see the red in his ears? They should be white inside

Has had ear mites since birth. He will be 2 in Nov. and I cannot git rid of them. I've tried every vet med and every over the counter med and they jist keep gettin worse. I've had my finger so far down into his ears that i can't belive he can't taste it. It's to the point now that you can't even pet his head without him cryin out in pain.
Can anyone help ?!?!?!?

 

[miss_thenorth]

What vet meds have you used? And are you sure that it is ear mites, Could he possibly have a fungal infection too?

the only thing I can suggest is clean out the ear with peroxide, massagedeep down in the ear canal, then clean out with cotton balls or gauze. then plaster with vaseline. the vaseline will smother the mites, and eggs. You need to do this EVERY day, for about three weeks.

I am tending to think he has some type of fungal infection too.

Poor guy!

My one dog is prone to fungal infections in her ears--not fun!

 

[patandchickens]

If it's been that way since birth and he's 2 now, I would suggest that it is more than just plain vanilla ear mites. If your local vets can't figure it out (I assume he's been to the vet a bunch of times, and been swabbed and cultured) then the next step would seem to be a specialist or your state vet school.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[enjoy the ride]

I presume you've tried panalog or triple antibiotic? Does it get better on antihistamines? Does he swim a lot? Does he shake his head a lot? Is there an odor?

 

[krjwaj]

Poor Deacon! He is so cute. Does this help?

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_ear_mites.html#How-Do-I-Get-Rid-Of-Ear-Mites

 

[Beekissed]

You might try an over the counter antifungal ointment or cream. I agree that this doesn't sound like your average ear mite and to apply occlusive oils or vaseline, if it is fungal, will just encourage growth. Cleanse with a good antibacterial soap, apply an antifungal cream like Lotrisone (or any cream for fungal or yeast infections) and see if it starts to clear up. You certainly can't hurt the situation by using this med, so its worth a shot. You could also ask your vet to take a skin scraping or swab to determine if this is indeed a fungal infection. If it is, they may have something a little stronger than lotrisone that would be effective.

 

[Beekissed]

I can't believe i've encountered an animal medical situation that i don't have an answer for. My Belgian sheppard Deacon, meet Deacon.....see the red in his ears? They should be white inside
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/jim777/Picture024Small-2.jpg

Has had ear mites since birth. He will be 2 in Nov. and I cannot git rid of them. I've tried every vet med and every over the counter med and they jist keep gettin worse. I've had my finger so far down into his ears that i can't belive he can't taste it. It's to the point now that you can't even pet his head without him cryin out in pain.
Can anyone help ?!?!?!?

Curious about your dog, J&J.....did you try a fungal treatment? Hows the mite problem now? Did anything suggested on here work for him?

 

[mgibbzzz]

smell his ears. If it smells kinda yeasty iit is fungal. One of my bassetts has had fungal infections pretty much her whole life. They have over the counter cleaners that will help to keep the ears dry, which have peroxide in them. Once a week, I usually take warm soapy water and flush her ears. With a wash cloth, I wipe our and as far in her ears as I can to clean them out and then put a little talc. powder in & run it in. She loves it! I thought she had mites reallly bad, too and so did the vet. Then an old family friends told us it was fungus. The vet checked and said yes, it smells yeasty. Duh! If I don't clean her ears, the bother her something terrible. Take care of it because it can eventually affect his hearing. Good Luck

 

[sundance]

When mine get ear mite, I mix alcohol and white vinegar in equal parts and put a few drops in each ear about 3 times a day and rub it in good, they will shake out excess,

 

[Janet&Jim]

I can't believe i've encountered an animal medical situation that i don't have an answer for. My Belgian sheppard Deacon, meet Deacon.....see the red in his ears? They should be white inside
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh140/jim777/Picture024Small-2.jpg

Has had ear mites since birth. He will be 2 in Nov. and I cannot git rid of them. I've tried every vet med and every over the counter med and they jist keep gettin worse. I've had my finger so far down into his ears that i can't belive he can't taste it. It's to the point now that you can't even pet his head without him cryin out in pain.
Can anyone help ?!?!?!?

Curious about your dog, J&J.....did you try a fungal treatment? Hows the mite problem now? Did anything suggested on here work for him?

No I Bee i haven't tried the suggestions because they pertain to fungus. There is no oder to his ears so i've ruled that out. I am however gonna try sundance' suggestion with the vinegar and alcohol.
I've been cleanin his ears regularly with peroxide and it gives Deacon a day er two relief but it comes right back after that.
Maybe this has been a blessing in disguise because our son is home on leave until the 19th and he thot about taking Dacon back over seas with him. It's not where he is going back to that scares me it is getting Deacon back into the USA that scares me. Deacon is Mikes' dog and i have been caring for him while Mike is serving.
I have heard(allthough unsubstantiated) some horror stories about servicemen taking thier dogs over seas with no problems only to have US customs confiscate and quarantine dogs for up to a year before releasing them back to thier owners.