First off, of course I remember you and Bailey.
Be patient here and let me teach you a little bit about ear infections so you CAN more reliably figure out what is what ok? I'll get to treatment options in a minute.
Take just a little vaselline or olive oil -- lubricate the tip of the thermometer with it -- and just insert gently into the anus-- you don't have to go far -- maybe an inch to get a decent reading. -- you **will NOT** hurt her. I'm a little concerned that *you* think a high fever is possible. So rule it out -- it's do-able and honestly, it's a skill you *must* have as a dog mom.
Now --with a dog 'high' is like 103-105 and it would be the 104+ that would worry me.
Honestly -- learning to do that is simply part of being a good dog mom. There are times we MUST do uncomfortable things simply to make sure we aren't putting them in a life-threatening position.
Next -- what has the vet diagnosed as far as ear infection? Is the vet calling it yeast or bacterial?
There are TWO TYPES of ear infections and they are *very* different. It would help if we knew exactly what the ear med was that you were given. Tell me what the label says.
1. yeast ear infection -- yeast grows in dogs (like in we ladies) in small, dark, warm places -- and ear canals that are irritated by allergies are prime targets. However -- yeast is a fungus -- so usually there is a little staph infection but mostly yeast is the problem and often the vet will prescribe a cream that is mostly an anti-fungal. It may have some mild antibiotic in it like genticin but mostly it's anti-fungal.
2. bacterial ear infection -- this is a *true* infection, FAR more serious. Typically it's deep -- maybe all the way down near the ear drum. BUT -- it tends to keep the ear "hot" which makes it even more of a target FOR yeast.
Often it goes **completely** undiagnosed because if a vet simply ASSUMES it's yeast because "that's what it was last time" -- and if the owner tends to be short on money or overly-concerned about not distressing the dog, the vet may not want to suggest a simple test that can stop the insanity.
Because you are saying Bailey is having ear infections one almost after another (and an ear infection just before Christmas and ANOTHER already in February is NOT a good thing)
If this is a yeast infection we can make Bailey a little more comfortable, HOWEVER -- follow what I say exactly ok???
I'll give you a few suggestions -- and you can do whichever you want. BUT -- eventually you have to have a vet ***fullly*** diagnose this -- you have to get to the bottom of this (literally).
When a dog has ear infection after ear infection -- it can go on literally for years. The problem is that as the ear canal is inflamed long term it will actually harden it and it turns to bone. This is a process called "ossification" and guaranteed -- if Bailey has had frequent ear infections THIS HAS BEGUN ALREADY.
Eventually ... if this isn't completely rectified and the source treated ... you may find Baileys ears will literally swell shut and you won't be able to get medicine IN the ear. The inner ear literally can become so inflamed and infected -- with the ear canals getting hard and boney they won't let blood thru (so you can't even get oral drugs to work) -- and the inside of the ear will literally putrefy and the resulting infection then can go to the brain (an abscess) and kill her.
I'm not trying to scare you to death -- I'm trying to educate you ENOUGH so you can make better decisions about this. Sometimes vets will just not suggest further testing -- and that's BAD here. (My Muffin the Intrepid had exactly this happen to him - he had to have both his ears REMOVED -- a huge surgery called "bilateral ear ablations" -- it saved his life but he was completely deaf and it was two HUGE surgeries he should never have had to have).
When you go to the vet you need to ask the vet to do a test. It's called a "culture and sensitivity" -- the vet will go *deep* in Bailey's ear canal with a swab and get a sample of the yuck that is deep in the ear -- then it is sent to a lab (outside of the office).
The lab will take a little of that bacteria and put it in several petri dishes (remember high school biology?) and they will "grow" that bacteria and see what it is. It might be one type -- it might be several -- but they will identify it.
BUT they will also then treat it with several different antibiotics (that's why several dishes) -- and they'll record the effects.
The vet will get back a list of the antibiotics they used and how they worked. Literally the vet gets back a whole list of the antiibotics and whether or not they worked and HOW well they worked. (or if they didn't work at all)
This takes several days - and usually when the vet DOES the culture & sensitivity they will put the dog on antibiotics -- but then when the report comes back they may change it to a better workig antibiotic.
In order to do a culture and sensitivty the dog can't be on antibiotics for 2-3 days prior.
BAILEY NEEDS THIS DONE BADLY -- I can't emphasize enough that if she has had *several* ear infections one after another with just a couple of months between treatment? NOT GOOD. The huge risk is that there is bacteria deep in the ear that isn't being diagnosed and isn't being treated. It's damaging her ear canal long term -- so you need to get the vet to do this.
If the vet gives you a hard time (she should NOT need to be sedated for this --altho some vets do -- that wouldn't thrill me -- it's unnecessary risk in my estimation) then honestly I'd be after a new vet. It would NOT make me happy that she's run several ear infections and the vet hasn't *insisted* you do this already.
I admit I get riled up here -- because Muffin the Intrepid should **never** have had to lose his ears -- I had an idiot vet who never told me of this option -- he never told me TO do it and he just handed me tube after tube after tube of ear gunk that never did a darned thing!!
He was an allergy boy -- but there ARE things you can do long term that will maintain allergy ears FAR FAR better and with less trauma to Bailey.
SUGGESTIONS:
1. My first suggestion would be to drop Bailey off AT the vet tomorrow -- tell them you want a culture and sensitivity done because there is another ear infection but you have doctors appts and can't take time off from work. Then arrange to pick her up (or have a friend pick her up) late in the day. Then you don't have to "wait" -- but it gets her treated a.s.a.p. It also gets the culture & sensitivity DONE so you'll have the results by the end of the week and the vet can get her on the right drug to fix it permanently.
Do you have a friend who could take her in and have them take the swab and then bring her home? I understand not being able to take off work -- heck, we've all got to keep the jobs in order to PAY the vet!! That's life -- but the timing here is difficult because she IS in pain.
If you can't manage to even drop her off til Wednesday then frankly you probably can't do a thing before then because it will skew the results of the test.
2. Take her in at the end of the week.
IF IF IF the vet has thus far been treating these ear problems as yeast infections -- you can go to the grocery store or any pharmacy (Wal-mart even) and get a tube of Monistat 7 -- yep, ladies yeast cream. Just get the tube with the applicator. Put just a little cream in there (maybe 1/2 inch) (usually you have to screw the applicator onto the tip of the tube and squeeze) -- THEN squirt that into Bailey's ear and massage for a minute or two.
Usually the stuff that is in the yeast ear treatment tube is either miconazole or clotrimazole (Monistat or Gynelotrimin -- yep -- same drugs treat a dog ear infection and a ladies vag yeast infection).
Do that twice a day -- it will give her a LOT of relief
BUT STOP IT TUESDAY P.M. if you are taking her in on Friday -- you don't want to skew the results of the test and that should be enough time to give an accurate reading yet shouldn't allow resistance to either drug.
3. I am reluctant to suggest you do the Blue Power Ear treatment JUST because there is such a high risk here that it IS bacterial. I've done it, and both of my vets (regular and holistic) are ok with it -- because the alcohol, gentian violet and boric acid usually won't carry infection thru the ear drum membrane. SOME ear cleaners can and will (like the blue chlorhexiderm stuff WILL cause a bacterial infection to cross that membrane beyond the inner ear -- which is dangerous).
It's preferable that you take her in and get the culture and sensitivity done by Friday at the latest.
If you were telling me you just plain could NOT get the money together to go to the vet and you had no other way of treating it -- then I'd suggest Blue Power (I've seen it stop even bacterial infections) -- BUT there's a bit more risk to it than is necessary.
ONCE YOU GET THE CULTURE AND SENSITIVITY DONE - then I would tell you to change how you maintain Bailey's ears.
A. Zymox -- it's enzymatic and your VET should carry it. Typically you use it maybe a few times a week -- sometimes every day during allergy season -- and it will keep away fungal ear infections. I've used it on Billy now for FIVE years -- and he hasn't had a major ear infection since then -- and this is a dog who had ears swelled *shut* when he came to us.
B. Blue Power Ear Solution -- I use this weekly on both Billy and Tink (and she -- with those little rose-petal pug ears) is ALSO very prone to ear infections. it completely keeps them infection free.
Once you figure what you're dealing with here I'm happy to give you the recipe (and it's posted on Dog.com probably 10 times). It's cheap and easy. It's messy tho -- but plain alchol on a cotton ball will wipe away the purple stuff. But I've always said I'd rather have a healthy dog with minor purple staining than a dog with "pretty" ears who is suffering.
Feel free to email me -- I'm happy to help but I've been there done that MANY times for MANY years with dogs with ear problems.