A Sophers Update

I’ve had people asking for an update on Super-Sophie’s ear condition, and since we have a bit of good news, I thought I would share with everyone. I promise to try and keep as many of the gory details out of here as possible, and that’s a tall order, because there are always gory details.

One thing I want to mention, right off the bat, however: even though the less than likeable vet told us that Sophie could pass her drug-resistant bacterial infection off to the kids (this was VERY scary), we’ve actually confirmed that this is not so. I think that was the nail in that vet’s coffin, at least when it comes to our business. Needless to say, scare tactics did not work on me in order to book another appointment with him.

When I last left you, we were giving Sophie tons of meds—and some of the strongest antibiotics I have ever seen. Antibiotics that would scare you. We were also putting drops in her ears, and by drops, I mean entire dropperfuls of some clear liquid that she absolutely hated.

She took all of this dutifully, however. Sophie is not the type of dog that will do whatever you want her to do, unless it also coincides with what she wants. She’s very, um, opinionated. She took her meds reluctantly, but dutifully, and would lie still while I put in copious amounts of ear drops several times per day—enough that it would leak out of her ears, and we were continuously cleaning up her poor face for the drops that were seeping out.

We stopped the drops when J realized that they were the reason her ears were bleeding. We still don’t have a good idea of what was in those drops. It was a concoction of several different things. That’s all we can tell.

When we got her back the second time from the less than likeable vet, her ears (which had appeared better, after the first cleaning, although not entirely cleared up) were worse than ever. We thought it was due to the heavy duty cleaning he had performed, once again. And by cleaning, I mean sedation and machines! We realized after another 10 days of drops, that it was not the cleaning. Within one day of stopping the drops, the redness and inflammation went away. Within two days, the blood and pus disappeared.

She kept taking the antibiotics for several more days. All told drops (2 different kinds) for three weeks, antibiotics for more than a month.

She knew the pills were in the cheese, and she took them, originally. Then she was done. Eat the cheese and spit out the pills, thank you very much! Then Jason started shoving them down her throat. She didn’t like this, but still swallowed. We realized that Sophie may be done with the antibiotics when she started snarling at J when he rattled the pill bottles. Oh, and when she actively would make herself heave until she threw the pills up.

Then we stopped the antibiotics, and she stopped scratching her ears and flapping her head around. The seepage stopped altogether—although by this time it was clear.

Taking care of a sick dog is like taking care of a sick baby. They cannot tell you what is wrong. They can’t be an active participant in their care. You sit there and deliberate on the handful of signs or symptoms that are thrown your way, and wonder if you are doing the right thing. Sometimes, however, you sit there and think to yourself, “Is my dog throwing up the antibiotics because she doesn’t need them anymore? Are we now to the point where they are causing more harm than good?”

The new vet, over the phone, said, sure let’s see what happens. They did not feel comfortable in giving her 45 days worth of strong antibiotics in the first place. She told us what to look for if the problem appeared to be coming back.

Sophie is doing much better. She is producing new ear wax—and it is the right color for a change. She will let you peer in her ears for a moment, but then, she tells you, in her dog way, “I am done with you messing with my ears right now. Haven’t you noticed I am not flapping my head around anymore, woman?”

And we are exploring the new avenue that she has allergies that are causing the problem. Seasonal allergies, food allergies, etc. The new vet thinks this is a very likely scenario. Allergies cause increased mucous production which gives the bacteria a great place to grow, and then they get power hungry and out of control.

The drug resistant bacteria that Sophie came across is very real, and she will suffer from the same ear infection over and over again for the rest of her life. She will have to take more antibiotics later on, but we won’t do something on this same scale again. The goal is now to treat the whole dog, and not just her ears, because we’ve been down that road, and it just doesn’t seem to work.

P.S.—As for the surgery, we won’t be doing it. The new vet says there’s no way that Sophie needs it, and after a trip to Dr. Google, we found that this obliteration removes the ear canal and causes the dog to be deaf. Since Sophie can hear us now (and has been able to hear us throughout) it is obvious that her ear canals are not blocked off, even down deep, and that is the only reason to perform this surgery (aka drilling into her head or removing the ear canal to get to the infection, when no other way is possible).

P.P.S.—Thanks to absolutely everyone who has emailed or facebooked me and asked about Sophie. I really appreciate your concern for our big, black, misbehaved dog!