red ear

[scotswop]

Buddy (Beagle X, almost a year) had a bit of a red ear yesterday and had excess wax. (My husband cleans them weekly). He used some tea tree oil yesterday to clean them out as they aren't usually red. This morning, his ear is still a bit red, and he is a little sluggish, not himself. I would take him to our vet, but this is a long weekend, so he is closed. I know the rule is, if you would take your kid, you should take your dog, but I wouldn't take my kid as I could ask a question and they could at least answer.

Do you think I should head to an emergency vet, or am I over reacting. My neighbour is a long time dog owner (multiple types of dogs) and he said just to clean them out and keep an eye on Buddy.

[hazelrunpack]

The ear can probably wait till Tuesday--just keep it clean and dry. Wax isn't so problematic--but if you see anything that looks pussy or bloody coming from inside the ear, that would be an emergency vet situation.

It's the sluggishness that would bother me. Typically, in my experience, an ear infection would not make a dog sluggish unless it was really advanced--and then you'd see more than excess wax and slight redness. If Buddy stops eating, drinking, urinating, or defacating or gets really lethargic, that also warrants a trip to the emergency vet.

Of course, you know your dog the best--only you can decide if Buddy is really "off" and needs a vet ASAP or if he can hold off another day or two. But from just the few symptoms you describe, I think I would watch him carefully over the weekend and get him in at the vet as soon as I could when they reopen.

Hope it's just an ear infection! Please keep us posted!

[scotswop]

Thanks Hazel, will keep an eye on him. Will let you know if anything changes.

[hazelrunpack]

Nothing like a little excitement to rev up your long weekend, eh? sigh... I wanna know how the dogs always know the vet is gonna be closed!

[scotswop]

Recently, it has been a case of it never rains, but it pours. My husband lost his job several weeks ago, Thursday someone hit my car ($2000 to fix) in my driveway and didn't fess up and now Buddy being off seems to be the icing on the cake. I'm thinking maybe he's starting an ear infection, but, like I said, with kids, you could ask them questions, even when they couldn't make good replies, they could say yes or no or boo boo. Anyway, thanks for the help. If it doesn't clear up before Tuesday, I'll hit the emergency vet, but my husband took him for a walk and although he didn't pull, he seemed to enjoy the walk. So hopefully, I'm over reacting due to everything else going on.

[hazelrunpack]

Ouch! Sounds like it's been a stressful few months

Sorry about the employment situation--and the car ()

With luck, Buddy's problem will be minor and at least you won't have that to worry about as well.

s and crossed s that things start looking up for you soon!

[scotswop]

Buddy seems a bit better this morning. He was off his water yesterday and favouring the ear, but I gave him a popsicle during the day and once I saw he ate that I gave him some ice so kept him hydrated. Today the ear is less red, he took water and when he got up he was brighter. He is still favouring the ear, so I will take him to the vet tomorrow when they open.

I wasn't too sure about the popsicle, does anyone know if that's a bad thing. I know it has a bit of sugar, but I figured it was better to make sure he was hydrated.

[hazelrunpack]

Sugar isn't the greatest for dogs, but one popsicle isn't likely to hurt him. Ice is better for him, though not great for the teeth...but if you crush the ice in the blender, the 'slush' might appeal to him and be easier on his pearly whites.

If you do let him indulge in the occasional popsicle, make sure it is only sweetened with sugar and not with some of the sugar-substitutes, which can be toxic to dogs.

Is Buddy still eating okay? If his water intake drops any more, or if he isn't interested in food, I'd see if I could find an emergency vet somewhere and not wait till tomorrow...

[scotswop]

Hi Hazel, sorry for not getting back on Tuesday, but the kids hog the computer. Buddy is good. He did have an ear infection, but by Tuesday, most of the redness was gone. The vet gave him Prednisone and an ear cleanser and some drops.

Buddy was only off his water that one day, (the one with the popsicle). I gave him store bought ice, which is in small pieces (not as small as crushed, but I'll remember that in future). He never did go off his food, other than not wanting to get up that first morning for his cookie.

Anyway, now we have the cleanser for his ear, hopefully he won't get any more ear infections. Though, I've been hearing that big eared dogs tend to get them.

It's so frustrating though that he can't tell you. I'm sure with time, I'll be able to read him completely. It was easy to tell he was off though, so I'm sure that it's coming, just like the maternal instinct with the kids.

[hazelrunpack]

I don't know if Humans are set up to ever completely read a Dog, but you get pretty good at it with time. Sometimes it's nothing more than a "gee...he's just a little bit off, I wonder if something's wrong?"

We're paranoid so we go the vet for just about everything. And sometimes it's a wasted trip--but the times we nip something in the bud early pay for the times we're just suffering from being hypochondriacs for our pets

And just in case you think I'm just joshing about the paranoia: he he I can't tell you how much money we've spent on taking setters to the vet due to lethargy only to find out they're perfectly healthy and have just reached that age where they want to be couch potatoes instead of little hellions! We have a name for it here--Sudden Setter Maturity Syndrome. SSMS has cost us quite a bit of money!

[Hunter's_owner]

Originally Posted by hazelrunpack

And just in case you think I'm just joshing about the paranoia: he he I can't tell you how much money we've spent on taking setters to the vet due to lethargy only to find out they're perfectly healthy

I can offer the same sorts of stories I have done that a couple of times, but you are right, better to be safe than sorry.

Sometimes it is hard to read them, but in the cases where you feel something may be wrong, better to get it checked, imo