Chronic Ear (yeast) Infections

[Guest chaoran22]

My girl has had three ear infections since the beginning of November. They're yeast infections. It seems like as soon as we get one cleared up, she gets another one in a couple of weeks (you can tell by the gross thick black ear wax that appears and the fact that her ears smell sour like raw bread dough - we joke that she's baking icky bread in her ears). We do two weeks of Mometmax to clear them up - filling her entire ear canal with the gross goop so I'm pretty sure I'm using enough. Not only is that stuff not cheap (with 3 rounds, we've already maxed out our pet insurance ear infection benefit for the year) it's really gross and we're always discovering disgusting chunks of black earwax on the walls from when she shakes her head - the meds loosen up the earwax and they come flying out when she shakes, we try not to think about where else the wax might be landing...

 

anyway, gross-ness aside, has anyone had experience with chronic ear infections in their dogs and has anything worked to get rid of them forever or at least for a longer period of time? My vet said sometimes it's seasonal or allergy related - which I really hope it's not. We're going back the day after we finish this round to check to make sure it's at least clearing up after each round and not just "recurring" because it's never really going away. Would love to hear what's worked for other dogs out there with this gross problem - thanks!

[JAJ2010]

I've heard of people using vinegar to help prevent and clear up ear infections. But have never had the problem myself so I can't tell you from first hand experience. You might be able to google some info on it. Good luck! Infections are no fun.

[Hubcitypam]

Buck might have a bacterial infection in his ears. The vet said today to try vinegar and water rinses while he is on the antibiotics for his flank wound, then if it didn't get better we'd look at expensive ear drugs. If it is an infection it is nowhere near as bad as your girls.

[Guest ArtysPeople]

Arty came home with a similarly grody ear infection when we first adopted him. The vet put us on a regular ear-cleansing routine as follow-up, and it never recurred. Just wondering if you're doing any ear cleaning in between the infections; if not, I'd ask your vet if it might help.

[GeorgeofNE]

Chronic ear problems are OFTEN a sign of allergies from what I understand.

 

My last dog had TERRIBLE allergies, and the poor guy scratched and scratched at his ears so much that he actually ruptured blood vessels in the flaps and got these horrible lumps and needed drains and it was just so sad!

 

His were inhalant (seasonal) allergies, not food.

 

Unfortunately if the infections are but a symptom of something ELSE...you know where I'm going...you have to fix the "something else" for them to go away.

 

 

[Guest KipperGrey]

When Kip had a yeast infection in his ear our vet gave us Chlorhexaderm ear flush and medicated ear drops(I don't remember what it was). I had to clean his ear first with the flush and then put in the ear drops. The Chlorhexaderm cleaned all the goop out and helped to dry out the ear. I also remember something about ear yeast infections being cause by allergies.

[Guest taylorsmom]

I have lots and lots of experience with this, mostly with my Labs. For Lucy, it is definitely allergy related. As we have treated her allergies, her ears have gotten soooo much better. She has a combination of seasonal/dust allergies and food allergies, a double whammy of delight! In addition, she is very allergic to yeast, so we have to stay away from bread products, beer (just kidding) etc. I bathe her every week with Malaseb, which is an anti-yeast shampoo. But a great thing to use on a regular basis is a gentian violet solution for the ears. I have tried the apple cider vinegar route with her in the past and it really did not help, I actually think it burned her ears when they were inflamed which freaked her out, poor girl! But the gentian violet solution is effective enough that you could use it to clear up the infection but mild enough so that you can use a little every day to keep the infections away. I got it at Urban Carnivore online--I cannot remember the actual name of the solution but it shouldn't be hard to find. The only problem is that it is purple and can stain, so when you put it in the ears I highly recommend doing it outside, and letting the dog shake her head outdoors so you don't redecorate your walls in a lovely shade of violet!!

 

ETA: it is called Gentian Ear Treatment, and the website is urbancarnivore.com--look under Health Products (I just googled it!)

Edited February 18, 2009 by taylorsmom

[fritofeet]

You do need to find out if it is an allergy or something else. Something is affecting her immune system to let the infection happen, or it isn't completely clearing up.

 

My experience with chronic ear infections is from floppy eared coonhounds, and Hogan had terrible allergies plus chronic ear infections.

Sally has the same goopy ears, so I pulled out the big guns and have her on Zymox. To clear up something, you have to use it every day for about 2 weeks-but Sally gets it every day with maybe only a week or so off. She will actually get excited when she sees the bottle and holds her head still so I can put the stuff in. I have tried a lot of stuff on her, and what works for my greys isn't strong enough for her.

The important part of the instructions...

Do not clean before and during treatment or use any other ear preparations in conjunction (enzyme activity may be disrupted). I do believe you can use the zymox cleaner but the ear stuff cleans as well as treats.

 

http://www.petkingbrands.com/products/otic.asp

 

I have both formulas in stock and the ear cleaner to, I just haven't had time to put them up on the site-if you want pricing, shoot me a pm.

[Guest greyvettech]

We usually rec pharmaseb flush- to flush the ears out once daily for ten days and then follow with Mometamax..but because it is CHRONIC after the initial treatment, you HAVE to clean and medicate the ears once or twice weekly there after..if you don't, the infection will continue to come back time and time again.....good luck...otitis externa is never fun

 

I agree, Zymox works well but you can not use pharm flush or mometamax in conjunction or it does not work as well..

Edited February 18, 2009 by greyvettech

[Guest trevdog]

Dallas get that everytime I feed her high quality food, Evo, etc. She does quite well on Purina foods. I'm thinking it could be allergy related in your case as well.

[Guest chaoran22]

Thanks for all the helpful responses! For those of you whose dogs' ear infections are caused by allergies - do your dogs exhibit other signs of allergies like itching or skin issues? Or do the allergies manifest themselves just in ear infections? It's kind of overwhelming to think about all the things in the world she could be allergic to and how to figure that out. My girl shows no other signs of ill health or allergies - just the ear infections so it's hard to know where to begin in figuring out why they're chronic.

[Guest trevdog]

Dallas only gets the ear infections, no skin or itchiness. Meds help some but it comes back as soon as they are stopped. I discovered the cause when we ran out of the "good stuff" and were just feeding her what we had on hand. How long has she been on her food?

Many of them have corn or wheat allegies, Dallas seems to do well on those...

[Guest EmilyAnne]

My eskie is prone. Changing his diet to grain free has cut back his ear/yeast infections by about 75%. When one starts coming on, I clip away hair out of his ears (he is long haired) and I gently swab all excess gunk out of his ears once a day and it clears up on it's own without antibiotics as long as I catch it in time and it has not turned into a yeast infection yet. Be very careful if you clean your dog's ears, that you do not accidentally make things worse by smooshing the gunk INTO the ears. You want to swab *outwards* carefully. Probiotics may help too, in restoring good bacteria that antibiotics can kill, thus leaving ears prone to reoccuring ear infection.

[Guest Greensleeves]

Flint, our allergy boy, gets a couple ear infections a year (usually yeast + bacteria), and we've gotten to the point where we can see them coming.

 

He's only ever been treated with Otomax ointment, which is 8 drops per affected ear, for 1 week. As GreyVetTech stresses, we also use an ear cleanser twice a day for the following week, as well. Our vet recommends two different products--one called DermaPet, which is better for balancing pH but which can sting an irritated ear... and another called OtiCalm, which is milder. Both work by loosening the waxy buildup, which the dog then shakes loose. :

 

Since your girl has so much gunk coming out of her ears, I would see about getting them as clean as possible, and THEN treating the infections. I know my vet has mentioned that they can do a flush of the ear while the dog is sedated; if she has a dental or other procedure coming up, you might ask about having this done.

 

Good luck!

[Guest chaoran22]

As I'm doing more research, I'm realizing that she should probably get her ears thoroughly flushed out. I'm frustrated because she just had a dental on Saturday and I don't know why my vet didn't think to do that. The ear infection was discovered before her dental and it would have made things a lot easier on my dog, and on my wallet. As more of these weird medical issues pop up with my dog, I'm also realizing I might need to find a different vet, I've been disappointed with how this one has approached 'mystery' issues (doing the same tests and meds repeatedly instead of investigating further). I should have done more research but I thought the first two infections were just coincidence and didn't know she had a third one until after her dental this Saturday when the vet called to tell me that they had found it when examining her before the dental - had I realized she was getting chronic ear infections, I would have done research and might have been able to ask for an ear flush during her dental instead of realizing it now, a few days later. So frustrated by all this! But very grateful for all the great suggestions given here.

[tbhounds]

She most likely has had only one ear infection that just had not completely resolved. You must clean the ears once a day and wait until the ears are completely dry before instilling the medication. You can flush the ears yourself. I like Malaseb ear flush to do the the job--great for yeast--pour it in the ear until the canal is completely full and overflowing, massage the ear base and let her shake it out--wipe with a cotton ball (do not use gauze--too abrasive)--you may have to repeat the process if you still see discharge from the ear. Allow the ear canal to dry---if there is still flush in the ear it will dilute the medication. Cleaning the ear thoroughly will allow the medication to do it's job.

[Burpdog]

Are you by any chance feeding a chicken based food?

[Guest chaoran22]

feeding pro plan sensitive skin/stomach - it's most salmon and rice. both my dogs do so well on it that i would hate to have to switch for her. we'll try flushing and treating the ear infection more proactively first before trying to figure out if it's allergies - i agree with the people who suggested that it might just be one ear infection that was not properly treated. thanks everyone - i love greytalk. while my vet is ultimately the person i will try treatments with - everyone on greytalk helps me figure out the right questions to ask (and in this case it's somewhat confirmed my suspicion that i've had for a few months that i should probably change vets). Thanks!

[Guest alf7199]

my pug has chronic ear/yeast infections, every time the weather changes the smell and goop seem to appear. i researched and researched and vet meds only do so much. i know it is allergies but wanted a way to help lessen the problem so here is what i have come up with and things are doing much better but i have to be diligent and make sure i don't slack, he has only been on this routine for about 2 months...

 

*i switched his food to EaglePack seniors (my pug is almost 11), there a website with pet foods that are recommended to help with yeast problems, scroll down the page because the info isn't at the top

http://www.nzymes.com/Articles/Instruction...Yeast_Pet_Foods

*he gets a teaspoon of plain yogurt at every meal (2x a day, is when he eats)

*bathe him once a month

*keep hair around ears short with trimmers

*use a gentle cleaning solution with a cotton swab and cotton balls to clean out his ears once a day

 

***Please be careful putting anything in his ear (ie. medications) unless you are such his eardrum has not ruptured.

[sweetdogs]

***Please be careful putting anything in his ear (ie. medications) unless you are such his eardrum has not ruptured.

Also be gentle with whatever you put in her ears. Some of the things mentioned can be quite strong & almost everything is ototoxic (except water really). My boy had chronic ear problems for years & what his problem finally ended up being was environmental allergies. We did a few years of the desensitization shots & he hasn't had any problems since. I did switch him to a raw diet which helped many other things, but not his ears. He still runs from me if I have a little bottle in my hands...

[IndyandHollyluv]

Lots of good advice offered. Here's a little of my experience (long story, so highlights only!):

 

When I adopted Indy at age 3-1/2, he had a yeast infection in his ears as well. The first 1-2 yrs post-adoption, Indy continued to exhibit progressive ear issues, overall itching and licking, etc. Lost most of the hair on his neck, chest, legs, butt, tail. Was referred to allergist who treated Indy for allergies (intra-dermal testing, steroidal ointments, antibiotics, antihistamines, allergy shots -- the works). Indy did test positive for some environmental (seasonal) allergies. But treating with the dermatologist cost more than the recently passed stimulus bill!

 

Indy had constant staph infections (due to the antibiotics) and we went round and round and round -- never really solving the problem. The allergist essentially ran out of new things to offer, so I again asked about possible thyroid issues (three different vets - all had dismissed the idea). I insisted on a re-check and one of the levels was at the very bottom of the normal range (sorry I don't recall which one), so I said let's give it a try as nothing else has worked ... so we started Indy on thyroid meds and all his ear and skin problems resolved. Poof! It was like magic!

 

Now, I'm not saying (because I don't know) your pup has thyroid issues, but sometimes these "mystery" illnesses and medical problems are tricky and not always so obvious.

 

I also feed my hounds Pro Plan Sensitive and Stomach (a little Wellness Whitefish and Sweet Potato mixed in) and eliminated beef, wheat, corn, and soy from their diet (including biscuits). No junk food or treats.

 

I mix in Heska F.A. granules (an Omega flaxmeal goodstuff supplement) - similar to The Missing Link; some folks use fish oil caps. This has helped with dry skin / coat issues.

 

All of these things have helped and Indy, now 11, hasn't had ear problems in years. Honestly, it took several years to get Indy straightened out.

 

Hope your girl gets well soon and that you can figure out what is causing her ear problem.

 

 

 

[Guest MorganKonaAlex]

Kona ears were junky and we were cleaning constantly. She didn't have any other allergy symptoms. We changed foods and her ears cleaned right up.

[Guest ArtoftheGryhnd]

Ooh boy. I feel your pain. Had Standard Poodles for years -- with nasty ear infections -- and tried EVERYTHING.

 

#1 Have the ear(s) cultured. Don't be satisfied that it looks like yeast or smells like yeast. A culture is money well spent. You need to know exactly what you're up against.

 

#2 Diet. So many times it is an allergy. Food allergies are no fun. We've got a Standard Poodle that can only eat California Natural Lamb and Rice. No Beef -- or at least that's what we think.... We didn't do a full-out elimination diet.

 

Started feeding California Natural along with a course of ear cleaning/meds from the vet and the ear infection (both ears) cleared up. Plus yogurt daily -- or acidophilus (sp?) if it's yeast.

 

Good luck.

[NevadasMom]

I've heard of people using vinegar to help prevent and clear up ear infections. But have never had the problem myself so I can't tell you from first hand experience. You might be able to google some info on it. Good luck! Infections are no fun.

 

I was just going to suggest a dilute solution of acetic acid (vinegar).