Ear infections can be really hard
to treat because dogs have got L-shaped
ear canals, which means that it's really easy
for them to get infected and not be able
to clean it out well enough.
On top of that, if they’ve got underlying allergies, infections
will just keep reccurring.
Okay, yeah that’s going to go down the ears.
It's okay.
It's okay mummy.
Oh, it’s not going to hurt, darling.
it never hurts.
It’s okay, it’s okay,
in Sydney.
Audrey is making a house call
to check on a much loved golden Labrador.
So I'm on my way to see Hutchy and Jenny,
Hutchy’s one of my favourite patients.
I've been seeing him for quite a while.
Hi, Jenny!
Good morning Audrey, how are you?
Hi, Hutchy!
Hutchy’s been with us since he was about six weeks old.
He's five now.
He's a big personality in this family, loves being spoilt.
Up here, up here mummy.
Audrey is a regular visitor
as she tries to sort out
Hutchy’s recurring ear problem.
Yeah they’ve been a bit red again,
as usual here, you know.
His ears get very red and sore, so he’s uncomfortable
sometimes, will shake his head.
Irritated from it.
Yeah, so the same problem is about sixth or seventh time
now that we've been treating him
for these ear infections, and his skin?
Skin's a lot better now.
"- Like the hairs growing back.
- Yeah."
Yeah, just the ears just constant.
Ear infections can be really hard to treat
because dogs have got L-shaped ear canals,
which means that it's really easy
for them to get infected and not be able to
clean it out well enough.
On top of that,
if they've got underlying allergies,
infections will just keep reccurring.
We're going to have a look down those ears.
"- I know he doesn't like it - No he doesn’t."
Especially when they're sore.
"We won't move you off your favourite couch."
I'll come to you.
I know, I know baby.
"- He’s seen the otoscope.
- It’s okay."
I'm trying to look down Hutchy’s ears
and it's always a battle with him.
He knows the deal.
He knows what the otoscope is.
Okay, yeah that’s going to go down the ears.
It's okay.
It's okay mummy.
Oh, it’s not going to hurt, darling.
it never hurts.
It’s okay, it’s okay, done.
Can we see the other side,
and you want to swap positions?
Yeah, sure.
You’re very good for number one can we do number two?
Just one more little look.
One more.
One more little look.
Good boy, good boy.
There we go.
"- Yes, red.
- Got it?"
Yep.
I managed to have a super quick look down
both ear canals and I can see
there's definitely infection going on.
But you can see the canals are quite red,
they're inflamed.
There's a lot of discharge happening.
His eardrums look okay.
Even though ear infections are quite common,
not many people know that
that can be triggered by an allergy.
So we'll do the same sort of treatment
that we always do.
Give it a good ear
clean, give him some medicated drops
to stop that infection brewing.
But ultimately,
I think we have to address what's going on
and what's causing this problem.
"So let's give it a clean first, which usually he likes, look."
It’s not the otoscope.
Cleaning Hutchy’s ears
is a completely different ball game.
He loves it.
Well, you like this better.
He's, leaning against me.
He's moaning, he's smiling.
"He's really enjoying it, which is good to see."
Ew, that was in your ear.
We've given the ears a good clean.
We've popped the medicated drops in
and I'm confident that we'll get on top of this infection.
But what's more important than that
is just getting rid of the cause of the reoccurrence.
This is his sixth or seventh bout now,
and it obviously does affect
his quality of life in the pain
he's probably got an allergy to something.
The best way to combat that is to do a single protein diet
"trial where we just feed him one type of protein."
Yep.
So a good place to start is salmon
because I know he doesn't have much fish in his diet.
So if we feed him Prime 100
it’s just basically salmon and tapioca.
We give this to him for about 6 to 8 weeks
and just see that settles down everything.
So, buddy, I'm thinking,
do you want to give this one a go?
I haven't finished yet.
Hmm, you want a bit of salmon?
Oh, not bad.
Paw.
Oh, okay.
You can have another one.
One, one minute, one minute.
It's looking really good because
Hutchy absolutely loves it.
I think it's going to be really easy to start him on this diet.
All right here you go, last piece.
Six weeks later, Audrey's eager to see if the new diet
is helping Hutchy’s allergies.
All right, Hutchy.
How’s he been going the last six weeks?
"- He's doing a lot better.
- Amazing."
Yeah, his skin looks great.
His ears actually look really nice.
They're not pink and red and bothered.
"He's doing a lot better now, he’s a lot more happier"
and he's really enjoying the new food.
Great.
So even after six weeks and just the salmon diet alone, it's
really good to hear that it's tasty and he loves it.
"You can stay on the salmon for as long as you want."
"- I think we got there.
- Yeah."
No more otoscope for you.
"- I think he likes that.
- Yeah."