[Dailydrool] Adm. JED's Ear: Cipro and BPET

[lea pierce]

Many many MANY thanks to all who have weighed in with their experience and
wisdom on Gunky Basset Ears (GBE)!

Adm. is on Cipro, which is the antibiotic recommended by the Ship's Surgeon
based on the cultures taken, and on Blue Power. Adm. has no problem taking
the Blue Power ear treatment. It's only been 2 full days, so I can't
comment on how well we are doing. Cipro started today based on all advice
read and weighed. I think it makes sense to do Cipro, certainly the Blue
Power, and wait and see.

(Curiouser and curiouser: BPET stains my hands blue but doesn't seem to
affect the color of Adm's ear. It does seem to be doing a much better job
than the stuff from the vet as far as flushing waxy gunk from his ear. All
to the good.)

I cannot remember who it was (maybe Wendy & The Bounders) who talked about
one hound being on Cipro for a year. I am for sure not going to let this go
on; if Adm.'s ear is not significantly better in 4-6 weeks, or one course
of Cipro, whichever, back we will go for more diagnostic. It annoys me to
no end that I dinked around with ear wash and motomax for a year before we
progressed to having Adm. ear canal invesigated under anesthesia. That
could have happened six months into his tour of duty, not 13 months into
his tour.

I know--we all do our best. It is so very easy to be trapped by our own
hope, "it will get better..." and forget the steady march of time. A week
turns into a month turns into a year. HMS Policy now: Semper Intentos
 (Ever Watchful). I've had earaches in my life, can't imagine what it would
be like to be a Hound with no real recourse.

As to allergies--interesting additional consideration. I am new to Bassets,
but not new to hounds (having had beagles my entire growing up and for the
last 20 years of adult life--still have one elderly lady beagle, a breeder
bitch rescued from Missouri 3 years ago).

At any rate, because beagles can also suffer from food allergies, i've
always taken pains to switch up dog food every bag (i.e. move from
salmon/sweet potato to lamb to lamb and chicken to chicken, with and
without grain--switch it all up) but I am seriously considering
home-cooking for JED and Claire (the beagle). I did feed raw for several
years (until my ancient beagle Oskar died, Claire came along, and Claire
won't eat raw). Oskar lived to be almost 16 with the last 6 years on raw,
and he loved it. No health problems with that dog until he keeled over from
old age. (I think Bassets have more ear problems than beagles because their
ears are set lower on the head. Just a personal hunch, no basis in known
fact.)

At any rate, Adm. has never exhibited any of the classic signs of food
allergy, but if it is contributory to his GBE--out with (even high quality)
commercial dog food, in with chicken and rice (or whatever) from my
stove-top. Will keep you posted.

Certainly, I don't need to feed raw, and probably won't (JED's teeth are
not good because of the circumstances of his early life, and Claire's teeth
are also unsound, hard for them to munch bones)--I can cook for the
hounds--and it is probably a very good thing for me to add to the arsenal
as I open up a can of whup-ass on the pseudomonas.

Anyone who has recipes for or comments on home-cooking for hounds, I'm all
ears (hahahahaha, ahroo, ahroooooo!)

Thank you all, very much, for letting me know how serious pseudomonas is.
As with bloat, this is uncharted, new territory for me. Part of the
fascinatinon of the breed, I guess!

Random thought triggered by another Drooler's comments--Anyone who bitches
at me (or any animal slave) for providing good quality care for my hound
(or whatever animal) should be reminded of the obvious: until they start
paying my bills, how I spend my time and money is my own.

I generally think that caring for bassets has a much higher Return On
Investment than most expenditures,so I am well satisfied with my priorities.

Ok, that's it for now. Back to the Bridge of the HMS Certifiable. Adm.
demanding a Big Basset Belly Rub.

Leftenant Lea/Houndservant&Slave to Adm. JED
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