Senior Basset Hound, Guapo (handsome in spanish)

by Ingrid
(Hilton Head, SC)

Guapo came into my life 2 years ago. I am Guapo's dog walker. Guapo's mom has bad lungs and hired me.

I am in love with him and give him way extra care and attention. The first 1 1/2 years was really good, satisfying with him. He could do 40 minute walks and had no health problems. Now it's been one thing after another. It's been heartbreaking to watch him deteriorate.

Just could use support to talk about all his issues. So if anyone out there has an older Basset I'd love to hear your stories and experience.

Like right now he just got off of anti-fungal for his feet and inner back leg; antibiotic for his ongoing sneezing problem that they have been trying to fix since Christmas. The long standing ear infection that we can not get rid of. Always comes back. He hates the ear wash.

The ear infection bothers me the most. I could go on and on. We have been to the vet so many times the past 6 months and Kristi, Guapo's mom, has spent so much money. I want her to bring him back in for the ear infection, like never, never, never give up kind of thing but I know they are going to tell us to use the freaking ear wash once a day and the freaking medicine twice a day for two freaking week! Any similar experiences out there?

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Mar 03, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		hi
by: Aprils mom

I dont have any problems with Tippy But a freind of mine has bulldogs and the vet told her to give them vitamin C its helps with the ears.Its yeast infection cause by water in their ears.
Jun 28, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		Guapo
by: Angie from South Africa

hi there, so sorry to hear about your darling boy. I have 2 bassets (Basil & Shannon) and thankfully havent had any ear infections. BUT, what I do every weekend is clean their ears - perhaps this is part of the prevention process? I used to use a little warm water with a splash of surgical spirits and wipe out with a clean swab of cottonwool. Nowadays, I use a baby wetwipe for sensative skin and it works wonderfully (I dont know what they call them in the States but its that wet cleanex type that you wipe babies bottom's with when changing nappies/dypers). I havent used any scented ones because I wasnt sure if it would cause an allergic reaction but the ones that are hypo-allergenically tested are fine. Hope Guapo is going to be OK soon.
Also, remember that Bassets are very heavy so you should exercise them too much or put too much strain on their front legs. Basically you wouldnt exercise Bassets as much as you would a german sheppard for example. Good luck and keep going to the Vet - better safe than sorry.
Jun 04, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		Vet tech suggestions
by: Laurie

The situations you spoke of COULD be all tied into the same source.

Skin allergies and skin problems are alot of times the cause of ear infections.

however i am sorry to say, you HAVE to use the medicine to get rid of it. we ourselves wouldnt go to the doctor with a bad painful ear infection and feel bad about taking medicine.

there are a few options. your vet could keep him or you could bring him in every day or every other day for the vet to clean his ears for you. or have them do a very deep ear flush. we will suggest this for 1) people who have a hard time keeping up with ear medicine or 2) dogs that have ear infections that seem to persist.
all of the above costs a bit more.

proper diagnoses is a big deal. rarely we will see ear infections that dont respond well to the regular treatment. this is no ones fault it is just not a common case. if your bassets ears do not seem to clear up or this problem keeps coming back. properly diagnosing it will save many vet visits and bills.

doing an ear culture . ( it can be pricey)this will tell the vet what kind of bacteria is in the ears. and exactly what medicine to use to get rid of it.

other then that ear infections are so painful! dogs they dont know any better about taking medicine and some will fight it to their death. and many many owners will give into the dog. but i can not stress to you the importance of using the medicine. ear infections can spread from the ears. they can also cause the ear flaps to fill up with blood. so many bad things! and its super painful! some dogs will not show pain. but it is there. i commend you for going to the vet for these various problems. many people do not. so do your best to clean those ears! it might take 2 people to do it and maybe only do 1 ear at a time. but its so important!!
Jun 03, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		So Sorry...
by: Virginia from just-basset-hounds

Sorry to hear that Guapo is having so many health problems, especially the chronic ear infection.

My Basset Hound has only experienced one yeast ear infection and I know that it was very uncomfortable for him. Fortunately, two weeks of the drops worked and we have not had a problem since.

But, I have heard of other dogs with chronic ear infections and the frustration of the owners. Not only because of the cost but, also the fact that their dog is suffering.

I agree about not giving up on trying to find a solution to the ear problem. Maybe a different vet can correctly diagnose and treat him.

Sherri... Thanks for sharing info about your experience.
Jun 03, 2010
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starstarstarstarstar 		Ear Infections
by: HoundDogMom

We are sorry to hear that Guapo's health is not the best. I currently have 3 bassets and 2 bassets at the Rainbow Bridge. All of my bassets have had cronic ear infections, the nature of the breed unfortunately. My vet has finally gotten our ear infections under control. I will have to look at home tonight to see what the meds are but they sure do work. We took our Cleo in for the Ear wash as well, then the vet would pack them with a special secret formula. We did this for 2 weeks 3 times a week. Finally clear ears and then we do the drops in her ears 2 times a week and clean/wipe ears out 2 times a week. She has not had any ear problems since then. I will look tonight to see what her meds are and repost with the name of it. It really draws all the black junk stuff out of the ear canal for you to clean better. Check out our blog if you wish (wwww.hounddogmom.blogspot.com). HoundDogMom (Sherri)

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