pinkfloyd311
Nov 24, 2013, 07:17 PM
A girl I work with decided she "couldn't keep one of her dogs" anymore and a kid I work with decided he'd take the dog (his name is Diggy) off her hands... a week later, he realized he couldn't handle the responsibility, and to make a long story short, my boyfriend and I ended up making a deal that we'd take in this poor dog TEMPORARILY until the girl whose dog he is can find a permanent home for him. Turns out, after we took him in, we basically came to the conclusion based on his behavior and plenty of other factors (plus hearsay at work and the way I've heard that she's talked about him) that he's been neglected for probably his entire life.
He's 3 1/2 years old, half American Bulldog and half Jack Russell Terrier. He's about 45lbs and doesn't act like he's feeling under the weather, doesn't have a fever, but when we took him in about 3 weeks ago, we noticed he was scratching a lot at his ears. I'm a nurse and when I looked in his ears they were extremely scabbed and flaky, filled with brown pus, and it was obvious they were both infected (and the infections had clearly been going on for awhile, they had definitely progressed pretty far).
As a nurse, I know I really shouldn't have done this, but I have a Maltese whose ears also flop over and had left-over cleaning solution and drops from the vet from when he had a nasty ear infection a year or so ago, and since it was obvious Diggy was uncomfortable and I was worried about him scratching so hard he would develop a hematoma or rupture an eardrum from shaking his head so much, I started using the cleanser and drops (which were supposed to be used 30 minutes after the cleanser and done once daily for 10 days).
After about 3-4 days of using the cleanser and drops, Diggy's ears looked SO much better. He was scratching a lot less often, wasn't shaking his head as much, etc... we finished the cleaner and drops just three days ago and his ears looked great.
Now yesterday, I noticed him scratching again, and really didn't think much of it until I looked at his ears and noticed that they were flaking again. I used the cleaner and sure enough, he had the same brown pus that we had originally been cleaning out when we first got him. Plus, one of the ears is, in fact, bleeding now.
I feel absolutely terrible for this poor dog, he's such a good puppy, but he's NOT OUR DOG. I know he needs to go see the vet, but god only knows how much money that's going to cost, and I don't want to sound insensitive, but I find it highly unfair that we got "stuck" taking in a dog without either of the people who had him before us even mentioning to us that he had ear infections (and after taking him in, we found out that both of them knew about the ear infections before we took him, but neglected to tell us... purposely, I'm sure). We don't have a ton of money, we have enough bills to pay already, and as I said before, this is only supposed to be a temporary arrangement. I don't want to threaten this girl I work with by telling her we're going to have to take him to the shelter or something, because he doesn't deserve that... he was rescued from a kill shelter to begin with... but I know she isn't going to foot the bill for the vet, and neither is the kid who took him from her in the first place. I don't know how much money this is going to cost, and he's already become extremely attached to both me and my boyfriend and we're getting more and more attached to him every day as well.
He has been scratching so much at his one ear and I'm worried that the infection may be systemic, and I have NO idea what kind of money this is going to cost to take him to a vet, if this is a chronic thing, or what. The girl who originally had him since he was a puppy claims he had "never had an ear infection before," which I don't believe AT ALL, since every single dog I know whose ears flop over ends up with an ear infection at some point in time. A dog isn't like a parking ticket that you can just ignore or put off, I know that I have to take care of this regardless of how unfair it is that this got shoved on my boyfriend and me when we didn't ask for it in the first place... you try to be helpful and THIS is what ends up happening? Ridiculous.
Anyway, enough ranting. I guess I'm just wondering if there's anything additional I can do in the meantime to help him feel better, or at least more comfortable so he isn't scratching so much. We still have some of the cleaner and drops left, but I'm not so sure that using them again will end up helping. He clearly needs something different. We aren't going to be able to get him in to see the vet until the middle of the week because of our work schedules, and I'm not so sure this is really an "emergency vet" type of situation, especially because they cleared up the first time.
Do any of you have this breed of dog or have any tips for this breed or know what to do when it comes to severe and/or chronic ear infections? My Maltese has only had one ear infection in his life and he'll be four in May. I don't have much experience with this kind of thing. I'm afraid to give Diggy a bath and make it worse since I know the point of the cleanser is to DRY the ears out. He also desperately needs his nails cut and to be groomed, but the girl I work with said "you don't have to worry about cutting his nails, he bites them himself." I feel so awful, it's like he was rescued from a shelter only to be ignored and neglected his entire life until now.
Any help or advice is appreciated... I'm trying to do what's right here, and what's best for him... and I'm not going to allow this dog to continue to be neglected regardless of that fact that he isn't technically "MY" dog. The money issue would piss anyone off, so of course I'm upset, but I just need to know what to do about this before it gets any worse... so please, no trolling or judging. Thanks!
Natalie
He's 3 1/2 years old, half American Bulldog and half Jack Russell Terrier. He's about 45lbs and doesn't act like he's feeling under the weather, doesn't have a fever, but when we took him in about 3 weeks ago, we noticed he was scratching a lot at his ears. I'm a nurse and when I looked in his ears they were extremely scabbed and flaky, filled with brown pus, and it was obvious they were both infected (and the infections had clearly been going on for awhile, they had definitely progressed pretty far).
As a nurse, I know I really shouldn't have done this, but I have a Maltese whose ears also flop over and had left-over cleaning solution and drops from the vet from when he had a nasty ear infection a year or so ago, and since it was obvious Diggy was uncomfortable and I was worried about him scratching so hard he would develop a hematoma or rupture an eardrum from shaking his head so much, I started using the cleanser and drops (which were supposed to be used 30 minutes after the cleanser and done once daily for 10 days).
After about 3-4 days of using the cleanser and drops, Diggy's ears looked SO much better. He was scratching a lot less often, wasn't shaking his head as much, etc... we finished the cleaner and drops just three days ago and his ears looked great.
Now yesterday, I noticed him scratching again, and really didn't think much of it until I looked at his ears and noticed that they were flaking again. I used the cleaner and sure enough, he had the same brown pus that we had originally been cleaning out when we first got him. Plus, one of the ears is, in fact, bleeding now.
I feel absolutely terrible for this poor dog, he's such a good puppy, but he's NOT OUR DOG. I know he needs to go see the vet, but god only knows how much money that's going to cost, and I don't want to sound insensitive, but I find it highly unfair that we got "stuck" taking in a dog without either of the people who had him before us even mentioning to us that he had ear infections (and after taking him in, we found out that both of them knew about the ear infections before we took him, but neglected to tell us... purposely, I'm sure). We don't have a ton of money, we have enough bills to pay already, and as I said before, this is only supposed to be a temporary arrangement. I don't want to threaten this girl I work with by telling her we're going to have to take him to the shelter or something, because he doesn't deserve that... he was rescued from a kill shelter to begin with... but I know she isn't going to foot the bill for the vet, and neither is the kid who took him from her in the first place. I don't know how much money this is going to cost, and he's already become extremely attached to both me and my boyfriend and we're getting more and more attached to him every day as well.
He has been scratching so much at his one ear and I'm worried that the infection may be systemic, and I have NO idea what kind of money this is going to cost to take him to a vet, if this is a chronic thing, or what. The girl who originally had him since he was a puppy claims he had "never had an ear infection before," which I don't believe AT ALL, since every single dog I know whose ears flop over ends up with an ear infection at some point in time. A dog isn't like a parking ticket that you can just ignore or put off, I know that I have to take care of this regardless of how unfair it is that this got shoved on my boyfriend and me when we didn't ask for it in the first place... you try to be helpful and THIS is what ends up happening? Ridiculous.
Anyway, enough ranting. I guess I'm just wondering if there's anything additional I can do in the meantime to help him feel better, or at least more comfortable so he isn't scratching so much. We still have some of the cleaner and drops left, but I'm not so sure that using them again will end up helping. He clearly needs something different. We aren't going to be able to get him in to see the vet until the middle of the week because of our work schedules, and I'm not so sure this is really an "emergency vet" type of situation, especially because they cleared up the first time.
Do any of you have this breed of dog or have any tips for this breed or know what to do when it comes to severe and/or chronic ear infections? My Maltese has only had one ear infection in his life and he'll be four in May. I don't have much experience with this kind of thing. I'm afraid to give Diggy a bath and make it worse since I know the point of the cleanser is to DRY the ears out. He also desperately needs his nails cut and to be groomed, but the girl I work with said "you don't have to worry about cutting his nails, he bites them himself." I feel so awful, it's like he was rescued from a shelter only to be ignored and neglected his entire life until now.
Any help or advice is appreciated... I'm trying to do what's right here, and what's best for him... and I'm not going to allow this dog to continue to be neglected regardless of that fact that he isn't technically "MY" dog. The money issue would piss anyone off, so of course I'm upset, but I just need to know what to do about this before it gets any worse... so please, no trolling or judging. Thanks!
Natalie