Ear pain linked to aggression.

[Tova]

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Hi so I’ve posted on here before about not being able to clean my dogs ears. Long story short she was spayed and the vets inspected/cleaned out her ears. The vets told us she didn’t have an infection but a ‘cyst’ (can’t remember the word they actually used), in the bottom of both ear canals that is usually only present when they have a bad infection.

We were instructed to clean her ears out once to twice daily anyhow and see how she gets on. I had been doing training with her to allow me to clean her ears, she was still nervous around the bottle but I got close enough to drip a little inside about a week later and I praised lavishly. However since then she’s reverted way back to snapping/growling/barking every time I get the ear cleaner out and in the past couple days has been randomly attacking and biting me. This all ceased after she had the ear clean at the vets.

I’ve had a look inside her ears and the muck is starting to build up again. I don’t see the point in taking her back to the vets as she won’t let them handle her so there’s not much they could do anyhow. I’ve still been continuing with the training but I don’t think it’s any use as she doesn’t like the feeling of it and I don’t think we’ll ever be at the point where I can clean her ears out willingly. I tried the stuff in my own ear and it did have a little stingy sensation to it, with whatever is in her ears I can imagine it must sting quite a bit. I’m just wondering if there’s anything else I could do?

 

[JoanneF]

I would have a word with your vet. If it is something like cysts I'm surprised they didn't remove them when she was under anaesthetic - presumably there is a reason but they can clarify that. If it's linked to infection she might need antibiotics.

 

[Tova]

I would have a word with your vet. If it is something like cysts I'm surprised they didn't remove them when she was under anaesthetic - presumably there is a reason but they can clarify that. If it's linked to infection she might need antibiotics.

Thanks, they seemed quite baffled by it themselves but did say they were nothing to worry about. I’ll give them a ring anyway but think I might need a second opinion.

 

[Josie]

Hello @Tova - my boy isn’t a fan of having his ears cleaned which is a pain as he suffers frequently with infections! he just spots the bottle and it ends up with me chasing him round until I pin him in somewhere. Luckily he’s very tolerant. It must be frustrating for you as you want to tell them ‘it’s for your own good!’

Like Joannef has suggested, I would ask your vets what they think. Do they know you have this problem?

The only other thing I could think of is a muzzle but that wouldn’t do your bond any good :-(

 

[Tova]

Hello @Tova - my boy isn’t a fan of having his ears cleaned which is a pain as he suffers frequently with infections! he just spots the bottle and it ends up with me chasing him round until I pin him in somewhere. Luckily he’s very tolerant. It must be frustrating for you as you want to tell them ‘it’s for your own good!’

Like Joannef has suggested, I would ask your vets what they think. Do they know you have this problem?

The only other thing I could think of is a muzzle but that wouldn’t do your bond any good :-(

Hi, we used to hold her before we knew about the cysts as we were doing it. She would shake but let us put it in until one day she just flipped out. We’ve tried to hold her since but she’s like a scared horse, all legs and even busted my lip so that’s when I tried positive reinforcement with no luck. The vets know about this and I gave them a ring yesterday but they only repeated themselves saying we need to flush her ears out and see how she is after treatment. I’ve since been looking at calming diffusers to see if that makes any difference.

 

[JoanneF]

I’ve since been looking at calming diffusers to see if that makes any difference.

Diffusers etc take the edge off but if she is really anxious I'd be surprised if they were enough. Sorry, but I wouldn't want you to build false hope.

 

[Tova]

Diffusers etc take the edge off but if she is really anxious I'd be surprised if they were enough. Sorry, but I wouldn't want you to build false hope.

I’m not expecting a miracle, be nice if one presented itself though!