649. Old Fox Terrier with ear infections for the last 10 years

RINGWORM IN AN OLD FOX TERRIER, Male, 12 year

"Ringworm comes 2x per year for the last 10 years," the senior citizen who lived nearby had been consulting a vet for the last 10 year as his dog showed ear irritation. "The vet advises ear canal ablation," he said. The chest on both sides and the back legs were bald too.

A loud liquid swishing sound in both ears as his wife poured commercial ear drops.
"This flooding of the ear canal would never permit it to heal." The ear surface near the opening of the vertical canals were scratched black. No ear pain but full of yellow liquid, I noted in my record.
"When you started seeing the vet?" I asked.
"Since my Fox Terrier was to 2 3 years old."


I did a blood and urine test. Nothing abnormal. 10 kg was good weight. Only bad breath. Teeth looked sound. Epulis on gums.

Sedated. Irrigated the ears. Advised the owner not to flood the ear canals every day. Keep the canal dry. To review in 4 weeks.

That was Jun 2011. In Sep, the owner came saying that there were some scales on the back. "Ringworm again," he said.
"I did ask you for a review after medication for 20 days," I replied. He did not turn up.

However, he was much pleased with the hairs having re-grown on the sides of the chests. Skin diseases like ringworm are hard to treat if the owner's home hygiene is not up to the standard. Similar for ear infections. A combination of drugs and injection apparently cured 80% of his dog's problems. Otherwise, he would need to consult another vet.

RINGWORM IN AN OLD CHIHUAHUA, Female, Spayed, 12 years
"I am used to consulting you," the wife came at 9.30 am. Her husband accompanied her.
Ringworm circular patches and scales esp. around the neck. Very itchy. She was not infected.
"Ringworm again," I said. She said the ringworm came some years ago after going to a groomer. So she bought her own clipper to shave the hairs down to the skin. But still ringworm after consulting my associate vet. So she wanted to consult me.

Skin disease cases need a lot of time and patience to know the lifestyle of the dog and client. The home environment. The grooming schedule and type.

"Your clipper has lots of ringworm spores," I explained to her. "You did not disinfect it with proper anti-ringworm medication."
"I use lysol disinfectant," she said.
"Not effective.
"Did you clip the dog all bald 100%?" I asked.
"I leave some hair on the neck," she said. Later her husband told me she also left the tail unclipped.
"So the ringworm comes back because the remaining hairs are contaminated."

The couple were satisfied with my explanation about the cause and the need to be hygienic. Should have no more ringworm, I hope. "Slim her down," I said to the wife as the dog loved to eat. "Otherwise she would have heart disease."

This husband seems to me to love his wife very much and even took time off to get her dog to the vet for ringworm. Instead of self-treatment.