The Shar-Pei Forums-Health Behavior Diet & Rescue Info and Discussion Group

Our pei has always been shaking his head, but we always thought its what he naturally does because of all the skin on his face or maybe trying to get some dust/dirt/water off. One day he scratched his ears so much it started bleeding and it swelled up a lot...we took him to the vet and he said our pei has ear infection...we got all these medications and ear solutions, but it doesnt seem to be working because he is still shaking his head....

Is this extremely serious condition? My parents are telling me that he is fine but i keep telling them he needs surgery!!!! My dad keeps saying that the vet charges too much and that they are all about making money, so he dislikes going there....UGGGGGHHHHHHHH

Do you have a routine for keeping your pei's ears clean? How long has it been since the treatment for the ear infection?

Many of us "routinely" clean our pei's ears due to the tightness if the ear structure. There are several brands of cleaner/dryer products available. I use Melasab for Digger and a wash for Dixie. Digger's ears need cleaning at least every two weeks or we have trouble. He develops tons of wax. Dixie only about 2 months apart....but her ears are open more than Dig's....

First, you must establish if there is another infection and treat that. Then,, set a routine for cleaning the ears. Then , you will see a decrease in the shaking of the head, I would think.

You will get more responses to this I am sure.

Also , go to top right, click search, and look for "ear cleaning"..

Welcome to the forum...please keep us posted.....

Van,Dixie, Digger

Well we used 3 different pills to control the infection, and my mom also poured the solution the vet gave us daily and massaged it in...i dont know...

Hi,

When we got Mia nearly a month ago she was being fed Beta Puppy and was always sratching and shaking her head.

We've been feeding her James Well Beloved 'Cereal Free' for around 3 weeks now and the head scratching has stopped and the head shaking has reduced alot!

Also her ear wax has changed from black to a yellow colour! We just wipe her ear flaps twice a week with anti bac ear wipes!

Hope you find the answers you are looking for on here!

Sarah & Mia x

What pills/medicine are they using?
Welcome to the forum.

Some pei can be prone to ear infections because of their tight ear canals. A high quality diet, free of any grains is really important. You will probably want to think about adding in things like omega 3's (fish oil) as well as probiotics (plain whole fat yogurt or kefir, green tripe), perhaps coconut oil to help make your pei's body uninhabitable to yeast.

Routine ear cleaning will be important from here on out as well. Once your pei has ear problems, he will likely always be susceptible to problems. The most effective cleaner I've found is Zymox Otic. As soon as I see my boys ears hanging down, see any ear shaking or if his ears smell at all bad, I'll clean them out. I tend to check them about once or twice a week anyway just to be sure - and he usually needs a weekly cleaning to prevent yeasty build up.

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[quote][/quote]Well we used 3 different pills to control the infection, and my mom also poured the solution the vet gave us daily and massaged it in...i dont know...

Are you given meds now? Which ones...what solution from vet?

Does the ear smell sour? Is there a puss discharge from the ear?

First you do NOT want to do ear surgery ..The dogs are worse off after surgery..

Using Zymox otic for two week [NOt the wash] the natural med helps all types of ear infections.....Then to keep the ears healthy use Zymox at least once a week no cleaning unless you just wipe with a kleenex the suff that comes up from the drum...out side not in drum..

Did your vet do a culture to know what type infection?

The food can be a problem Corn,Wheat,beet pulp are the most problem items..There can be others depending on the pei.

I have never used a ear wash as the Zymox otic brings the contents of the ear too the surface...It works for most pei.Even the most troubled.

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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shar-peifsf

I am maintaining Dee's with the Vets Best Cleaning and Drying solution. So far so good and I love the smell.It's working really well.

The vets best does smell good! But I wonder if there is an ingredient in there that some dogs are allergic to. Enzo's ears blow up when I put the drying agent in.

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