Vets are bleeding me dry

Have you looked into allergy formula foods? Not Science Diet, but the simple ingredient foods like Natural Balance, California Natural or Wellness Simple Solutions. They aren't prescription and probably cost less than the Z/D and could work wonders in clearing up the infections. Do you know what he's allergic to?

Hi, actually they used to be on California Natural when we lived near Chicago. Unfortunately, no one around here carries it... and I'm sure shipping it would end up costing as much as Science Diet. This vet thinks Taxi has food allergies... they were never sure about Amber, but they suspected environmental... she loves to be outside. Amber's doing better OFF the Science Diet ZD - I put her on Science Diet Sensitive Skin.

Please check out the nutrition thread-there are tons of people there that have forgotten more about food related problems than most of us will ever know.  I know it seems like you're fighting an uphill battle, but wouldn't it be good to find out that a simple diet change (with a less expensive food) could solve alot of those problems?

Not to mention, if you know for a fact it's an ear infection, and you don't actually need the vet to tell you that it is... check online pet med websites.  You can just get your own stuff.  And checking the Health forum, you might run across someone who knows something you can use to treat the ear problems before they actually happen.  My Rottie gets nasty gross discusting ears.. we clean his ears all the time to stop infections before they start.  Usually with just dry toilet paper.. but I think there is a mixture you can use like peroxide and something.. maybe someone else knows what it is.. to clean ears.

Here's a good ear resourcehttp://www.dogaware.com/specific.html#ear

Callie would tell you to have a culture done, if this is a repetetive thing. It *will* cost you more, short term, but you'll be sure to get the right medication.

Pretty dogs, BTW. Are those Wheatons?

Thank you so much for all the replies.

Yes, two of my babies are high-maintenance wheatens. And no, it's not just the ear infections... it's every little trip to the vet that adds up. The cats are due for annual stuff this month and the dogs are due next month. I know the total for the dogs last year was almost $400. And Taxi needs a dental very soon.

And yes, I have tons of "left-over" ear medicine from all of Amber's infections - which I brought with me when I took Taxi. They said, ooohhh no, you can't use just any medicine... you have to find out what kind of ear infection it is. And, of course, he needed a completely different medicine.

My first thought was food... Were the dogs doing any better on California Natural? If they were then I'd say it's worth it to order it. Petfooddirect has the same prices as the stores in my area and they almost always have coupons that cover the shipping and handling cost. I would much rather feed a food like that than one like Science Diet Z/D. In Z/D the protein molecules are broken down small enough that the dog's system doesn't recognize it as an allergen, but from what I remember, the ingredients are a bunch of fillers. I think a more nutritious diet could work wonders! []

We have a member here- Calliecritturs, who I think would be more than happy to give you suggestions and help you work through this. She has a lot of experience with holistic remedies and LOTS of "tricks" up her sleeve for different conditions. I hope she doesn't mind me voluteering her, but I do think she'll be glad to help. []

You can just get your vet to do you a prescription and order the stuff yourself.  You have to pay for the prescription but it's loads cheaper that way.

There is an ear cleaner that is highly touted here.....and unfortunately I don't recall a lot of details, but it's the bright blue or purple stuff?  Guys??  Help me out?
 
One place that you can safely cut on vet bills is those annual vaccines.  My dogs see the vet generally once a year and at that time they get bloodwork done for HW protections, and since the needle is in the vein, I have him draw a little extra blood for titers to check the immunity levels in the blood....but no vaccines.  They get an annual checkup and I'm careful to schedule so that everything can be done at the same time.  We do rabies as required by law but reluctantly.  So far everyone has tested well with the titers and the ONLY reason that we rabies is so that they can be legal and licensed.  My cats get NO vaccines, including rabies.  They had them as little ones, they are totally inside cats, other than the enclosed area I provide for them in nice weather, and it's healthier to NOT vaccinate year after year after year.  They also see the vet once a year for a checkup.  No vaccines, but for the checkup.
 
I have 6 german shepherds and 3 cats, one of whom is 16 years old. They ALL see the vet annually, but I stagger them so that I'm not getting hit all at once.  Shadow needed his rabies booster in the fall....he got it last month in time to have his license renewed, and of course the HW bloodwork at the same time.  My three younger boys need their rabies boosters in the spring.  We'll go in April so that we can do the HW at the same time.  My two OLDER gsds need to have ONLY HW checks done this year. They both had titers and bloodwork done last summer. They'll go in the next week or so and get that out of the way.  And when they go, I'll start picking up the Heartguard.  Remember I have SIX large breed dogs, so I need to cut a few corners and plan ahead.  I won't order heartguard online or through the mail.  I'd rather pay a tiny bit more at the vets office and KNOW its the good stuff and the real deal.  But I start buying it early so that I have a little wiggle room in the budget.  We do heartguard every 45 days and ONLY during the skeeter months, May-November.  If I lived in a warmer climate I would have to consider year round, but here and now, I won't keep dumping chemicals into their bodies if I don't have to.
 
When we still had cockers (all gone to the Bridge now) we discovered that Natural Balance allergy formula foods worked very well for ears.  CA Natural is an excellent food and if your dogs did well on it, with fewer allergies, then it would be worth a trip to find it.  naturapet.com  is the website for CA Natural and they do have a store locator.  You might be surprised to find that a feed store near you DOES carry it.
 
Unfortunately, ear infections DO require a vet to be certain that you are treating with the proper antibiotic.  Lots of different bacteria can cause an infection.  With chronic problems, I'd request a culture on the FIRST visit.  Often vets will start with a broad spectrum antibiotic and they don't always do the job as you've seen.  I'd opt to pay a bit more up front and get that culture done and out of the way.  And, antibiotics don't do a danged thing for yeasty ears, and I'm gonna guess that yeasty ears are usually the problem.  Yeast you can usually SMELL.  Again, a culture on the first visit should eliminate a lot of the rechecks and more meds situation.  But, sometimes an ear infection WILL spawn an additional yeast infection.  And keeping the ears CLEAN between infections should help to prevent so many recurrances.
 
One thing that I do also is keep an emergency fund set up for my crew.  Every payday I make a deposit into the CRITTER savings account.  Mine isn't always so lucky, but I am religious about saving for the vet emergencies.  I personally don't use this for normal stuff like annual check ups or vaccines or blood work, but it's THERE in case I absolutely had to.
 
I feel your pain tho.  Boy, do I ever!
 
 

I have a big, fat critter savings account, too, but if I couldn't afford that, I'd be looking in to insurance.  But, now that our OP's dogs have a pre-existing condition, some plans would make her wait 6 months for coverage anyway, I think. 
The first thing that I would do is try to get a bit more holistic in the approach to these dogs' care.  Vets treat problems after the fact.
A holistic vet can help you find ways to manage your dogs so that the problems either don't start, or are more minor in nature when they do.
Calliecritters, one of our members, has the recipe for "the purple stuff", and a lot more suggestions for dealing with chronic ear infections.  PM her.
Another problem with Wheatens is that they must be groomed often.  Make sure that your groomer knows that they have ear problems, especially if the ears are "clean" at the time of the grooming visit.  Your groomer can place cotton in the ears during the bath, so moisture doesn't get in, and will clean the ears with an appropriate solution, or one provided by your vet.
The other issue is food.  Some dogs get yeasty or infected ears on certain foods, especially some of the heavier grain-based foods.  Here's a site where you can check ingredients and quality:
www.thedogfoodproject.com.

I really appreciate everyone's feedback... Glenmar gave me some really good new ideas... I do agree about the vaccines... Taxi had a bad reaction a couple years ago when I stupidly let them give him the 6-month heartworm shot. I remember reading the dog.com forum afterwards - and he had the same reaction as some of the dogs that died. I was sooo lucky that he did not die. And I agree about the cat vaccines because one of my two cats is never allowed outside. The other one can only go out supervised in our fenced-in backyard. Why do they need to be shot up with chemicals?

As soon as Taxi's ZD "test" is done - in about 2 months, I'm going to put them both back on California Natural. I really like the idea of knowing what the ingredients are in their food.

Here's the stuff in ZD
Starch, Hydrolyzed Chicken Liver, Soybean Oil (preserved with BHA, propyl gallate and citric acid), Hydrolyzed Chicken, Powdered Cellulose, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Glyceryl Monostearate, Potassium Chloride, Iodized Salt, Choline Chloride, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), DL-Methionine, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Taurine, Ethoxyquin (a preservative), Beta-Carotene.

and here's California Natural Herring & Sweet Potato Dry Dog Food
Herring, Barley, Oatmeal/Rolled Oats, Herring Meal, Herring Oil, Sweet Potatoes, Sunflower Oil, Dicalcium Phosphate, Natural Flavors, Calcium Carbonate, Vitamin E, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamins/Minerals, Potassium Chloride, Rosemary Extract

I don't want my dogs eating BHA if they don't have to

Z/D

Starch, Hydrolyzed Chicken Liver, Soybean Oil (preserved with BHA, propyl gallate and citric acid), Hydrolyzed Chicken, Powdered Cellulose, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Glyceryl Monostearate, Potassium Chloride, Iodized Salt, Choline Chloride, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), DL-Methionine, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Taurine, Ethoxyquin (a preservative), Beta-Carotene.

[] That's about the only thing that can some up my feeling about those ingredients. How much meat/protein isn't in that food. And then the rest of the ingredients [&o]....

Oh the joys of the Wheatens.  They are very prone to skin allergies and ear infections.  Diet will indeed help.  Do a search for Wheaten rescue.  I found it
[linkhttp://www.wheatenterrierrescue.org/]http://www.wheatenterrierrescue.org/[/link] on the top of the first page there is a link to join the wheaten yahoo group.  They will give you a lot of help in determining food to help alleviate skin and ear infections.  Or help you with other causes as well.  It is a great breed specific group.