Reoccuring ear infection

Hi,
I am new to this website and have found it really useful but I am hoping you can give me some advice!

Jess is a rescue dog and we have had her for a year. She was in such a poor state but the transformation has been stunning! She is my baby and I adore her however a reoccurring ear infection is making her really miserable. She is having severe ear infections every couple of months and the vet is prescribing prenisolone, nisamox and surolan as well as an anti inflammatory jab. I am not concerned about the cost however I don`t like her to keep having all this medication. I keep taking her back and the vet has now said she may require surgery to cut the ear canal to relieve the swelling.
This all seems too extreme to me.

I though it may be an allergy so tried to change her food but she wouldnt eat it! After a couple of days I reverted back to giving her home cooked food and rice.
I was hoping someone could give me some advice .....

Do you think this surgery is really needed? Any experiences?
Any ideas on alternative diets? The dry hypoallergenic food has been unsucessful
What should I use to treat the cuts on her ears from scratching? (I have been using sudocreme)

Many thanks in advance for you advice.
Steph and Jess x

Hiya and welcome from me and Moo.

Moo gets ear infections a lot, really annoys me as the vet won't do a repeat pescription so costs a bomb all the time. Apparently she has narrow ear canals so gets a blockage, also quite commen??

I wouldn't consider surgery, and I will have a look tomorrow at the cleaning stuff I use, its an over counter cleaner, I just have to use it weekely Xx

Welcome from us and Suki. I would think keeping the ears clean would be of some help. Have you tried consulting a different vet to see what they recommend?

I had this problem with my Lab.

They vastly improved when I put him on a grain free diet (totally grain free, no rice, oats etc.) but they still sometimes flare up with his seaonal environmental allergies. To avoid them becoming infected during this time, I regularly clean his ears with Epiotic (sometimes as often as every day if he's had a reaction to someting - last week he managed to eat half a loaf of bread some numpty had left on the park before we saw it so we're cleaning daily at the moment).

Adding apple cider vinegar to his diet (unpasteurised stuff with 'the mother') can be helpful and also good for cleaning ears too if you want to try something more natural.

Does her diet just consist of chicken and rice? As she won't be getting all the vits and mins she needs if that's the case which will make her immune system weak.

Something like Nature's Menu cans if you want wet or Orijen / Applaws / Fish4Dogs for dry would be worth trying. Raw is something else to look into.

If she won't eat it then you've just got to be a bit tough. Put the food down for 10/15 mins and if she doesn't eat it, pick it up again until next meal time. Don't feed anything in between and just repeat. She'll soon realise that's all she's getting and will start to eat although it might take a few days or more without food but a healthy dog won't starve itself.

ETA: Hi and welcome BTW

Blue always gets a build up in his ears
I put a few drops of Surolan in his ears and give them a massage. Most dogs hate that but Blue love it when the drops go in cos he knows he is getting a massage
Surolan works for Blue and keeps it from building up again. It must be bad and painful for her. Poor thing
Keep us all informed on how she gets on and if you find anything that works

Thanks for your ideas everyone, we really appreciate them. Her diet consists of chicken, rice, veg, turkey and then she has wet food three times a week.
I think I am going to take her for a second opinion from another vet. I know if she was a human I wouldn`t opt for surgery unless I explored every possible avenue first!
I have just been to the shop and bought some Octoclean so will give that a go.
She too like that ladies dog loves any drops/creams as she knows she gets a good massage!
Many thanks for your ideas!

Steph and Jess

Hope Jess will be okay and please keep us updated.

Have you tried a couple of drops of olive oil in the ears to keep them moisturised, then give a gentle massage.

What wet food does she have?