Getting an earful
Ears are interesting things. In the patients I see, ears come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. There are floppy ears (spaniels), pointy ears (small terriers), hairy ears (poodles), huge ears (bassets), small point ears (cats) and even bald ears (rex-type cats).
Ears can also be very frustrating as evidenced by the classic sheep shepherd berating his dogs with various choice pieces of language. But it is important to remember that dogs and cats don’t speak English (may seem obvious) and need to be taught to recognise the sound of the word and associate it with a behaviour that they get rewarded for.
But ears have been a major cause for visits to see us this week. The unusually warm and damp weather lately has been ideal for moist skin and ear problems.
Two favourites are Butterscotch and Rainbow.
Butterscotch is a 3-year-old woollycoated springer spaniel with a love of the water. He had started shaking his head and gone off his food so Hannah brought him in to see us. A quick check under those floppy ear flaps and the cause of the problem was immediately obvious. This isn’t for the squeamish, but the whole inside of his left ear was one big wet smelly mess due to a nasty ear infection.
Spaniels are a special breed as far as their ears are concerned as they are very susceptible to ear infections. Alarmingly, lately, we have seen half a dozen of this breed with a very drug-resistant type of ear infection caused by a bacteria called Pseudomonas.
Ears are just a part of your skin and therefore like any part of your skin or body orifice, have a normal population of bacteria (usually common garden bacteria called staphs and streps) and a few yeasts. These normal bugs help keep other nastier bugs out. Problems start when something changes the balance of these normal inhabitants. The change can be caused be an allergy affecting the skin or moisture (swimming), and then one of these normal bugs starts to grow excessively and an infection is the result.
Occasionally, however, Pseudomonas (pronounced sue-do-moan-as) gets in on the act. This bacteria, which is found in the soil and in water (ponds and rivers) is what we call a secondary invader, and is almost always resistant to all antibiotics apart from one or two very expensive ones. Even then, these antibiotics have difficulty getting rid of it for good.
The ear swab we collected from Butterscotch showed Pseudomonas with the usual antibiotic resistance. Maybe it is prevalent in spaniels because of their love of the water and their ears keep all that moisture in. Luckily for Butterscotch, he was happy for us to clean and dry his ears and apply some special solution twice a day, and within days his ears were better.
He will have to be treated for at least six weeks and then closely monitored for any recurrence after that. Some patients aren’t always that keen on having their ears played with and this can make treatment really difficult as oral medication for these cases is hugely expensive and doesn’t seem to be as effective if used alone.
Rainbow was another of this week’s special characters. She is a 4-year-old grey tortoiseshell cat with an awesome nature. Her ear problem was one of three we saw this week as a result of a cat bite right at the base of the ear by its opening. The abscess that forms as a result is easily mistaken for an ear infection as they both have a strong smell and lots of gooey stuff. A nice anaesthetic, a shave and a flush, and some antibiotics and a couple of days later Rainbow was home in a much more pleasant and smoochable state.
So, please make a check of your furry friend’s ears a part of your daily routine and maybe you can catch any problems early, especially at this time of year.
Remember, we are here to help, so give us a call.
Malcolm Anderson is a Manawatu¯ vet
I’m glad Border Patrol (TV One, Mondays) has returned. Instead of unpacking automatic weapons, parts of nuclear devices, wacky baccy and live snakes from our luggage, our customs officers protect us from too many imported cigarettes. And Russian ones at that.
Direct from the Volga, they probably explode when Russian fishermen inhale or their smoke rings resemble Vladimir Putin. The contraband was found when 280 seamen arrived from Moscow on a six-month tour of duty. I’m glad. There are enough smokers polluting our city with vapour from e-cigarettes.
However, Border Patrol this week discovered something more important. Three Israeli men arrived in Auckland for a week of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll. Instead, they rock and rolled directly into Paremoremo.
Hidden in the lining of their bags were packets of ecstasy crystals or MDMA weighing 8.7 kilograms, with a street value of $3.3 million. More accurately, the lining seemed to be hidden in the ecstasy. The Israelis are now spending more than eight years behind bars – no sex, no drugs and no Elvis.
But why our jail? Can’t the Israeli Embassy help pay board and lodgings? And, while we’re at it, let’s have an amnesty bin for dodgy tourists.
Welcome back, Border Patrol .An average day might be smelly suitcases, plastic skulls and illegal veges, but sometimes there’s something more evil lurking in a suitcase.
Aren’t High Court repossession men polite, kind and understanding? That’s the impression you get from the British programme, Can’t Pay, We’ll Take It Away (Prime, Wednesdays). They should have their own Repo channel on Sky to show how nice and forgiving they are. The trouble is they’d come and repossess your telly if you couldn’t pay.
Firstly, Brian and Delroy try to extract £2000 from Karen, who hasn’t paid for her mum’s funeral. They do show