How much Cleanaural to use?

[dizzytrish]

Ella has been suffering with ear problems for the last few weeks. not mites and no smell so not the psuedo thingy!

we have seen three different vets all in the same practice, apparently there is no infection, the insides are just swollen and red inside, but there is black/brown gunge in the bootom of the canals.
I need to know how much to use?,
1st vet said to follow the inctructions, so 3-4 drops into each canal daily.
2nd vet said to use more cleanaural, squirt it down and then wipe around with cotton wall
3rd said I wasn't using enough liquid , and keep cleaning until all the gungy stuff has gone.

she still has quite abit in there, and where the ears meet the neck (iyswim) it squelches when rubbed and she is uncomfortable at times.
the vets have said if I can't get it under control she may need the ear syringed.

so what do I do, lots of liquid, a little bit, none, thornits or syringed?

thanks for your opinions!!

[Becky87]

My vets told me to apply 5/10 drops (small squirt) before I applied it I cleaned the ear out with some cotton wool. also said do it twice a day for 7 days then leave off for 7 days then apply again for a further 7 days. Touch wood everything has been fine (famous last words)

[Becky87]

Oops mis-read I thought it said Canaural 

[Nicola]

Tilly has always been very prone to getting a lot of that squelchy, yeasty smelling brown gunk in her ears and I usually manage it with Cleanaural, Thornits and syringing at the vets if necessary. She quite often gets full blown infections which need the steroid drops but I try to avoid those if I can as she's already on high steroid doses for her osteoarthritis and IBD (I know the drops act locally but still prefer to avoid if possible).

If she's having issues I use a pretty good squirt of the Cleanaural, definitely a lot more than a few drops, then massage the outside of her ear where it meets her neck to work it in and then wipe the ear out carefully with cotton wool and put in a small amount of Thornits a bit later once it's dry. I think the syringing by the vet also helps, they just use saline but it seems to get a lot of the gunk out and they can also use the scope to see in properly. I don't use the Cleanaural routinely, only if she's having problems, otherwise I try to keep her ears as dry as possible so just use Thornits.

[dizzytrish]

thanks Nicola
we have Canaural also, and she had prednisolone(sp?) fro a week to give it a bit of a kick!
I keep thinking I am putting too much wet stuff into the ear canal, the ears don't smell, just look dirty and yukky!
I am very wary to add thornits also, I thought it might clog in the base of the canal?

I dont know if she has a history of ear problems, as she came to me from the breeder at 3 and a half years, but this is the first problem in the 18months she has been with me.
Always used thornits as recommended on here, and think that may be what stopped a full blown infection?

[Nicola]

I leave quite a while between wiping out the Cleanaural and putting in Thornits so her ears get a chance to dry out - I scrunchie them up on the top of her head to let the air in, it's a good look  Tills has narrow ear canals and has always had problems ever since I've had her (she came from rescue at 2 and is now nearly 8 ), even with regular Thornits use she still gets a lot of infections although I think it does help.

[ollie nathan's mum]

I never put Thornits down the ear, I brush it around the outer ear

[dizzytrish]

oh yes, we do the scrunchie look when she has raw food!
for some reason they always end up on one side though

how long do you leave between the cleanaural and thornits?, are we talking hours or days?

thanks Nicola!

[Nicola]

I try to leave at least 4 or 5 hours in between if she's got a bad case of the yeasty gunk going on to let her ears dry out as much as possible; I usually do the Cleanaural just before and just after work and the Thornits (a very small amount dusted around the top of her ear canal) last thing at night. She doesn't wear the scrunchie all day though

[ollie nathan's mum]

 I tend to pat his ear dry with kitchen towel, then blow on his ear until it's then Thornits. So ,only talking a few minutes

[dizzytrish]

thanks guys,

will have to be brave and mix it up a bit!!

cant get any worse!

[JennyBee]

The vet has told me that when you massage the ear you should hear it squelch so I always use that as a point of reference. Brodie's having a hard time of it at the moment with pseudomonas, thankfully antibiotics are working but it's very persistent stuff .

I am not using thornits at the moment as her ear is far too damp due to all the cleaning and drops. I worry about clogging, even if it is just spread around the top

[dizzytrish]

hi Jennybee,
thats the one Ella hasn't got, thank dog
her ear squelches before putting more stuff down her ear! and it does worry me that I am just adding more wet to the gunk already there!
I feel like I am letting her down because I cant get rid of the problem for her

[JennyBee]

Don't feel bad, Brodie has had problems with her left ear since she was a pup - when it is a chronic problem then things are pretty much out of your hands unfortunately . Annoyingly, her right ear has started acting up recently. It's so frustrating, and I hate it because she hates it. She can't stand getting her ears cleaned but she's such a good girl .

Have the vets ran tests? Have they mentioned at all what could be at the bottom of it? I was told (before things got bad) that it could be dietary/allergy related so I took her off all grain type foods and treats. She had suffered from some itchiness at the same time, and that stopped, but didn't seem to make much difference with the ear problems. It can also be a bit of trial and error finding drops that work.

Hope you get to the bottom of things soon

[dizzytrish]

Thanks!, she did seem to get better and I suppose I wasn't as vigilant as I should have been, and then she found a lovely dirty, grainy puddle in the woods to roll in, and she looked so happy when I finally reached her, but the vets think it is probably dirty water that started this
She is a very good girl and just sits or lays in whatever position I move her to and lets me get on with it
she only complains if it goes abit deep and then must be painfull

I am wondering if we would be better off getting the ears syringed and then start afresh?, but I dont know what that entails. 
I suppose that even though I have not contacted the insurance, if anything happens in the future, they would say that this is a pre-existing condition?