Stubborn Bulldog and her ears...

[Vhoas]

Hello all..

I am the proud owner/dad of a beautiful English bulldog..
Unfortunately she is also one of the most stubborn dogs I have ever met.

From a very early age she refuses to have her ears cleaned.
I have ear cleaner etc at home for her, which I've managed to use once since having it.

She will happily let you stroke her ears (Especially when she is nodding off) but she will struggle and eventually snap when its time
for a clean.

Hence our recent trip to the vets..

I noticed last week she is shaking her head more and more, and scratching her ear.
I can't see a lot of gunk (without her struggling)
But the vet managed to get a look and two of us held on to Lola so she couldn't escape.

She has an inflamed right ear and gunk in both.
£200 later for drugs, ear drops etc (not happy - but I love her)

We got her back home and tried to clean her ears again.
No luck...

I didn't get angry at Lola, but I feel as though I'm letting her health down.
I absolutely hate seeing her in discomfort, and not happy.

Do any of you nice people on here have any advice for us?
We are going on holiday on Sunday for 2 weeks so this couldn't of happened at a better time.

The thing which is confusing me is she went for a check up 3 weeks ago after being spayed, and the vet checked her ears
and said they are looking really nice and clean so I'm a little confused..

Sorry for the essay but I'm a HUGE worrier when it comes to animals.

(The vet suggested knocking her out so they could flush her ears properly)
But obviously I want to do everything I can to avoid putting her under..

Regards,

Tom and Lola.

 

[helsonwheels]

I only use lavender essential oil on a cotton ball and swipe inside the ear . NIT in the canals only above where all the boney section starts. 2-3drops on the cotton ball, swipe n that’s it. It cleans all the guk out...maintenance is the key word!! I do this once a month.

 

[Vhoas]

I only use lavender essential oil on a cotton ball and swipe inside the ear . NIT in the canals only above where all the boney section starts. 2-3drops on the cotton ball, swipe n that’s it. It cleans all the guk out...maintenance is the key word!! I do this once a month.

I have attempted this.

She let me do it once last week.
She just won't keep still and we cant hold her long enough and then she will start to become aggressive...

Which is a bad thing but as soon as we let her go she just wants a cuddle..

 

[Zedsded]

Hi Tom & Lola
We know exactly how this feels and currently going through this again with Dudley He has had flare ups over the last year but there is always a trigger and its usually food! Dudley has a lot of allergies and if he happens to get something with one of of his triggers in it, then like clockwork 4-6 hours after he will be shaking his head his ears will be red raw, weaping/wet gunky and swollen inside. It makes you feel terrible to see them like that!
Only last night he was at the vets because i came home to find him shaking his head an all the symptoms mentioned, turned out my wife had treat him to a tiny bit of scrambled eggs (which he very rarely gets ) and that has triggered it again. He got a steroid injection for the swelling and some Suralon ear drops (we always have some of these in the house but you need a prescription to get them)
Dudley will not let you spray or flush anything into his ears, he just runs, struggles and gets him self in a right state! We just very slowly tempt him with his treats and eventually, after some time he will let us quickly put some drops in.
He doesn't mind having them gently cleaned with cotton wool pads sprayed with Leucillin, i think its because it feels cooling his ears Be very carefull with anything you try in her ears as not everything works for all Bullies, we tried Vinegar and Witch Hazel mixture which i know works great for a lot of dogs but it made Dudleys ears twice as bad almost instantly ! so i would advice trying one ear at a time (if you manage to coax her to let you)
Best thing we did was get Dudley allergy tested, did Lola have anything at all to eat that she does not usually have? Dudley has had a flare up in the past just because someone gave him one single dog treat which unfortunately had chicken in it, which he is allergic to!
Hope this info is of some use to you and sorry if its a bit long winded hope Lola is back to normal soon

PS.
We are going on holiday next week and this always seem to happen at the worst time for us too!!

Cheers
Simon Tracy & Dudley

 

[helsonwheels]

I have attempted this.

She let me do it once last week.
She just won't keep still and we cant hold her long enough and then she will start to become aggressive...

Which is a bad thing but as soon as we let her go she just wants a cuddle..

Wait till she’s snoozing n do it fast. Then do the other ear when she’s snoozing again.

 

[Cbrugs]

Agree with try when she is sleeping. Have you tried bribing her with treats as you do it?

 

[Vhoas]

Hi Tom & Lola
We know exactly how this feels and currently going through this again with Dudley He has had flare ups over the last year but there is always a trigger and its usually food! Dudley has a lot of allergies and if he happens to get something with one of of his triggers in it, then like clockwork 4-6 hours after he will be shaking his head his ears will be red raw, weaping/wet gunky and swollen inside. It makes you feel terrible to see them like that!
Only last night he was at the vets because i came home to find him shaking his head an all the symptoms mentioned, turned out my wife had treat him to a tiny bit of scrambled eggs (which he very rarely gets ) and that has triggered it again. He got a steroid injection for the swelling and some Suralon ear drops (we always have some of these in the house but you need a prescription to get them)
Dudley will not let you spray or flush anything into his ears, he just runs, struggles and gets him self in a right state! We just very slowly tempt him with his treats and eventually, after some time he will let us quickly put some drops in.
He doesn't mind having them gently cleaned with cotton wool pads sprayed with Leucillin, i think its because it feels cooling his ears Be very carefull with anything you try in her ears as not everything works for all Bullies, we tried Vinegar and Witch Hazel mixture which i know works great for a lot of dogs but it made Dudleys ears twice as bad almost instantly ! so i would advice trying one ear at a time (if you manage to coax her to let you)
Best thing we did was get Dudley allergy tested, did Lola have anything at all to eat that she does not usually have? Dudley has had a flare up in the past just because someone gave him one single dog treat which unfortunately had chicken in it, which he is allergic to!
Hope this info is of some use to you and sorry if its a bit long winded hope Lola is back to normal soon

PS.
We are going on holiday next week and this always seem to happen at the worst time for us too!!

Cheers
Simon Tracy & Dudley

Thank you for the very helpful and reassuring reply
Lola struggles with allergies, we have got it under control a lot easier this summer with some help from this forum.

As far as I know she hasn't had any foods that she shouldn't have.
She is currently eating Royal Canine but after the holiday its the first thing I'm going to change.
Finding a replacement that is healthier is the struggle as I'm told different things by different people..

I was able to soak a cotton pad and gently clean one ear this evening after she ate (Only because she was half asleep)
But after that she refused again.
She will try and escape then a last resort for her is to snap, which I know she regrets instantly by her behaviour.

I'm hoping its the food she is on. Her back paws have also started to discolour and she has white gunk in between her toes.
Which I have read that it could be down to her food.

I've looked inside her ears and even though they're not 100% clean, I don't think the ear wax is to blame for this..

Regards,
Tom & Lola.

P.S - I only managed to convince my brother to look after her last week after a lot of faffing, now that he has agreed I have to explain
the tablets she is on...

 

[Cbrugs]

Thank you for the very helpful and reassuring reply
Lola struggles with allergies, we have got it under control a lot easier this summer with some help from this forum.

As far as I know she hasn't had any foods that she shouldn't have.
She is currently eating Royal Canine but after the holiday its the first thing I'm going to change.
Finding a replacement that is healthier is the struggle as I'm told different things by different people..

I was able to soak a cotton pad and gently clean one ear this evening after she ate (Only because she was half asleep)
But after that she refused again.
She will try and escape then a last resort for her is to snap, which I know she regrets instantly by her behaviour.

I'm hoping its the food she is on. Her back paws have also started to discolour and she has white gunk in between her toes.
Which I have read that it could be down to her food.

I've looked inside her ears and even though they're not 100% clean, I don't think the ear wax is to blame for this..

Regards,
Tom & Lola.

P.S - I only managed to convince my brother to look after her last week after a lot of faffing, now that he has agreed I have to explain
the tablets she is on...

Oh that food is not good at all. I bet once you change over to a high quality food, you will hopefully start to notice a difference.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Zedsded]

It realy does sound like an allergy. Dudley turned out to be allergic to, Chicken, Lamb, Duck, Trout, Dairy, Rice, Potatoes and Honey ! And some other things.
You have to check every single ingredient in her food, you would be surprised what you find! we have bought 100% Beef treats Dudley had a reaction we checked the packet and they also had Potatoes as an ingredient!
Fingers crossed you get on top of it soon

 

[Dollys Owner]

Thank you for the very helpful and reassuring reply
Lola struggles with allergies, we have got it under control a lot easier this summer with some help from this forum.

As far as I know she hasn't had any foods that she shouldn't have.
She is currently eating Royal Canine but after the holiday its the first thing I'm going to change.
Finding a replacement that is healthier is the struggle as I'm told different things by different people..

I was able to soak a cotton pad and gently clean one ear this evening after she ate (Only because she was half asleep)
But after that she refused again.
She will try and escape then a last resort for her is to snap, which I know she regrets instantly by her behaviour.

I'm hoping its the food she is on. Her back paws have also started to discolour and she has white gunk in between her toes.
Which I have read that it could be down to her food.

I've looked inside her ears and even though they're not 100% clean, I don't think the ear wax is to blame for this..

Regards,
Tom & Lola.

P.S - I only managed to convince my brother to look after her last week after a lot of faffing, now that he has agreed I have to explain
the tablets she is on...

I think most members here would agree that: The least allergenic but most inconvenient dog food is frozen raw. Inconvenient because you need freezer space and it's hard to get someone else looking after dog to feed raw food and impossible to feed if you are travelling. Or if you buy huge tubs or slabs, you need to semi thaw it to cut it up.

The next least allergenic is dehydrated raw, but it's more expensive than buying frozen raw if you buy the frozen raw in big sizes. Examples include Honest Kitchen, Grandma Lucy's, Spot Farm, EasyRaw.

The most allergenic is kibble because it's baked or extruded at a high heat and because it needs some kind of starch to hold it together.

I'm not sure why more people don't use canned dog food- there are 5 star brands that aren't too expensive eg. Kirkland Signature Nature's Domain Turkey and Pea Stew. I can't comment on it canned dog food because I don't know too much about it. Maybe one of the experienced members such as [MENTION=15310]helsonwheels[/MENTION] or @2bullymoma or [MENTION=8741]Manydogs[/MENTION] or [MENTION=15364]oscarmayer[/MENTION] knows more about canned food.

 

[helsonwheels]

Maybe one of the experienced members such as [MENTION=15310]helsonwheels[/MENTION] or @2bullymoma or [MENTION=8741]Manydogs[/MENTION] or [MENTION=15364]oscarmayer[/MENTION] knows more about canned food.

Anything that is “canning” you still need to heat it to preserve it.

 

[oscarmayer]

Other than a 2-person restraint...
You've got to be quick if this is going to work.
IF(BIG IF) your girl likes peanut butter or EZ Cheeze or anything else soft and sticky and safe to eat...
you can smear a good amount on a smooth vertical surface(spread it around) and while your girl is preoccupied with licking it off, go to work. Do not smear it on the floor. The head will be in the down position and "up" is preferred.
The ears probably hurt and she doesn't want you messing with them. Hopefully, once properly healed, regular maintenance will be much easier.
We've also found that cleaning ears while giving a bath is, in most cases, much easier. The bully is preoccupied with the whole bath situation and the ear cleaning is not the single focus.

 

[helsonwheels]

Royal Canine Sure won’t help any yeasty ears!!!

 

[2BullyMama]

Thank you for the very helpful and reassuring reply
Lola struggles with allergies, we have got it under control a lot easier this summer with some help from this forum.

As far as I know she hasn't had any foods that she shouldn't have.
She is currently eating Royal Canine but after the holiday its the first thing I'm going to change.
Finding a replacement that is healthier is the struggle as I'm told different things by different people..

I was able to soak a cotton pad and gently clean one ear this evening after she ate (Only because she was half asleep)
But after that she refused again.
She will try and escape then a last resort for her is to snap, which I know she regrets instantly by her behaviour.

I'm hoping its the food she is on. Her back paws have also started to discolour and she has white gunk in between her toes.
Which I have read that it could be down to her food.

I've looked inside her ears and even though they're not 100% clean, I don't think the ear wax is to blame for this..

Regards,
Tom & Lola.

P.S - I only managed to convince my brother to look after her last week after a lot of faffing, now that he has agreed I have to explain
the tablets she is on...

I think once you are off the RC food and onto the better kibble you selected, it will improve. Also, once you get them under control and there isn't any pain she'll be more cooperative. But as others suggested... treats, peanut butter and distractions to help get them cleaned. I use witch hazel on a cotton ball to clean at least once a week. Good luck and try to enjoy your holiday.

 

[1Chumly]

I think most members here would agree that: The least allergenic but most inconvenient dog food is frozen raw. Inconvenient because you need freezer space and it's hard to get someone else looking after dog to feed raw food and impossible to feed if you are travelling. Or if you buy huge tubs or slabs, you need to semi thaw it to cut it up.

The next least allergenic is dehydrated raw, but it's more expensive than buying frozen raw if you buy the frozen raw in big sizes. Examples include Honest Kitchen, Grandma Lucy's, Spot Farm, EasyRaw.

The most allergenic is kibble because it's baked or extruded at a high heat and because it needs some kind of starch to hold it together.

I'm not sure why more people don't use canned dog food- there are 5 star brands that aren't too expensive eg. Kirkland Signature Nature's Domain Turkey and Pea Stew. I can't comment on it canned dog food because I don't know too much about it. Maybe one of the experienced members such as [MENTION=15310]helsonwheels[/MENTION] or @2bullymoma or [MENTION=8741]Manydogs[/MENTION] or [MENTION=15364]oscarmayer[/MENTION] knows more about canned food.

I agree with everything you say, however, the OP is in the UK. These foods may not be available. You can get Honest kitchen but it is extremely expensive. The 3lb base mix is approx $132.00 v $58 in the US!
Maybe when they get back from holiday, he can checkout going raw as there is such an abundance of good butchers in the UK he could maybe do a deal with off-cuts, etc. I did find a list of Raw food Companies too.
https://primalpooch.com/en-uk/raw-dog-food-suppliers/