Hello,

I have a 5 year old West Highland White Terrier called Pebbles. Generally she is healthy, perfect weight and eats a hypo-alergenic diet due to alergies when young; however over the past 18 months she has had various infections in her ear and vulva. She is fully vaccinated and gets her boosters and check up each year. She has also been spayed when she was a puppy.

In the past 8 months alone she has had 4 infections and currently has one in her vulva and ear just now. I take her to the vet each time and given ointment for each area to put in plus pain killers for her. However, I have asked the question today why these keep re-occuring and what we can do to prevent it.

The response the vet gave me was that "she is a westie and is prone to these". I feel that I cannot accept this is the reason; there must be something causing this and don't think it is fair on her to suffer these constant infections.

Furthermore the vet bills in the ointment are not cheap; today alone was £60 and although I would pay anything for her there must be some way to get to the bottom of it.
She is relatively young at only 5 and it is unfair to have her suffer like this continuously with one infection after another.

I wondered if this is right to simply put it down to her breed?

Also, on a separate note during her last two annual check ups the vet has commented that she has a slight heart murmur; although he has said it is nothing to worry about. I can't help but worry though and again don't know what has caused this; is this right or should further investigation have taken place? I don't want to wait until she is old, and weaker to get something done about the heart murmur.

Hope you can help Gordon

It may be time for a second opinion if yourvet is not willing to further figure out what ia going on.
Has she had her thyroid tested?
Have her ears or vulva been cultured to see if the antibiotics are even effective?
Does treatment help? If so, how long after stopping medication do the symptoms return?

Some dogs are prone to these issues. Do you regularly clean her ears/vulva?

About the murmur, it can be a sign of early heart disease. Maybe request x-rays and an ECG?

I agree with Sariss.

I had a poodle that had constant ear infections. In fact, from the time he was 6 months old until around 12, we were constantly at the vet getting yet another treatment for an ear infection. It cost $100 each time, and it was a monthly thing. We didn't question it because we knew the vet, I used to babysit for her kids.

Finally my mom had enough and booked an appointment with another vet. Not only did he test the infection, and come up with a cure (after that my poodle never had another ear infection again), but he also diagnosed a back issue (poodles are prone to them, especially if their tails are cropped). Because of this vet our poodle never had another ear infection, and he survived potential paralysis. He lived to almost 19 years of age.

I can't promise that another vet will give you the results that I had with my dog, but I would definitely get a second opinion. Constant infections, with only medication to treat, and not getting down to why it's happening, that's a big red flag. Sounds like your vet likes the guaranteed pay cheque your pet supplies.