Thread: Dog ear infections

Righto, my eleven year old collie cross keeps getting an ear infection. It's been going on for the last six years. Apparently, just before she came into my possession, she got a barley seed in her ear, it was operated on and since then she's been getting alot of dark brown, foul smelling wax buildup, I clean it regularly with a cotton bud ( I only use the bud as far as I can see, not right in diggin deep) and cleaning fluid when it gets bad. For the last year, there's also been a pussey discharge amongst it. The vet just gives me drops to put in to clear the inflammation and basically shrug their shoulders, which works til about a week after it's finished, then we're back to the wax etc again. They have a look in there and say "there's no foreign body in there".
The vet reckons there's not much they can do other than me keeping it clean.
It's getting very frustrating because my dog ends up in pain and I'm at my wit's end. It also stresses the poor dog out as she HATES going to the vet.

I changed vets 5 yrs ago because they argued with me about which ear was at issue! So
I stopped with that vet.(if they dont remember which ear is crook 5 min after the been in it, I'm out)
I guess I'm asking, has anyone got/had experience with this sort of thing, and what would your advise be. I can't change vets again without at least an hour's drive to a different town.