Yeast Infection In Ears

[Walliered]

I believe I have asked for help before, but am asking again. My dog (4) came from the adoption group with yeast infection in ears. I have taken him to 3 vets and have an appointment with another vet tomorrow. NO one has been able to cure him. I also have an appointment at a fancy allergy and ear hospital out of Charleston this coming Wednesday. He is on 4 benedryl a day and I wash his feet with soap and water 2 times a day. Also put solutions in his ears everyday. We have used several kidds. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Guest kydie]

I think, it is time to consider his food, it may need to be changed, yeast can develop on feet, ears, nose, skin, and needs, as you know, long term treatment with anti fungels, cleaning, but redevelop occures if the source is not discovered, I, just me, after that many vet visits, would sure look for the cause,,,,,, start with a food change, just me Good Luck

[FountainLady]

I had a re-occuring yeast infection problem with the Afghan hound I owned years ago.   Nothing the vet prescribed worked.   I was talking to an old-time dog trainer/farmer one day and he told me to go to the drug store and get some vaginal yeast infection cream made for women and put that in his ears.   You know what - he was cured in less than two weeks!<BR><BR>It was terrible for him to have that yeast infection - with the floppy ears on this breed,  it really holds in the moisture and warmth in the ear, and makes for a perfect growing medium for yeast to flourish.   If you aren't afraid to try a home remedy ... give it a try.

[Guest kydie]

Yes, FountainLady is right about this treatment, I used it externial on my old girl that had fungal infection around her uniary meadus, as she is 1/2 chow and very hairy, this area was always moist, and it cured it, I have to do it every so often, also a product called "Ting" is an aintifunal I use on moist hairy paws, that some times develop a fungus, kind of like athlets feet,, with greyt success

[Walliered]

I forgot to say that his ears look really good on the part you can see. The problem is way down deep. How would I get the vaginal medicine to get down there or would it just sort of melt and finally get to the area that needs help? I also put him on a chicken free, grain free dog food (Dick Van Pattons Bison and Sweet Potato) when I first got him because of his constant cow patty stools..should I change him again? Do you think he could have allergies to this food also?? Thanks so much.

[FountainLady]

You put it in the ear as far as you easily can, massage the ear & it does kind of melt and go down deep inside.

[Guest kydie]

i have been told bison can have the same effects as beef, as far as allergies, I would try a fish based protein,,,, Just me,,,

[Guest phoenixrizn]

Have you tried Zymox (drops)? I had a grey with recurring infections--it would swing between bacteria and yeast, because vets would give antibiotics, setting up conditions for a yeast infection, and then antifungals, setting up for bacteria. I was finally given Zymox, and while the problem would come back every so often, Zymox always wiped it out quickly and for many months. Also, give your dog acidophilus and/or yogurt. That will help "overcome" the bad yeasties.

[Walliered]

I have tried Zymox drops (ordered on line) He still shakes his head and paws at the left ear sometimes until it bleeds. I will get the vaginal medicine and change his food to a fish based kibble. Guess I will keep the vet's appointment tomorrow because it will not cost much, but the one I have Wednesday in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina is going to be BIG bucks. They want me to withhold food from Tuesday nite at 10:00 in case they put him asleep to check his ears. It takes 3 us of to hold him down (with Muxxel) for the vet to check him with the light pipe..Thanks again so much.

 

I sure can't spell, especially when I can't see what I am typing..LOL

[Guest Swifthounds]

How old is this hound? Any other health issues? Diet? Lots of things factor in.

 

Yeast is naturally occurring both inside and outside of animals/humans. An overgrowth of yeast occurs when there is something inhibiting the body from controlling the yeast: antibiotic or steroid use, immune disease, stress, diet, etc. Seven vets will try seven different things - and make a lot of money doing so - but the problem is deeper than the skin.

[Walliered]

My hound is 4 years old. He had this ear problem before I got him and that was in January of this year. I give him one probiotic per day, 4 benedryl and two foot washings. I also wipe his feet and between his toes with Earthbath Grooming Wipes a couple times a day. When he scratches his left ear he also scratches half way down his neck, so I am thinking the infection has gone lower than the ear canal, but I am not a vet so really don't know. I do know that he has got to be sick of it.

[Walliered]

Sorry, I just read the second question and the answer is no, he does not seem to have any other health issues. Changing his food to Bison really firmed up his stools and made his stomach quiet..when I first got him you could hear his stomach growling across the room..also the gas was really bad..that is also much better. His coat looks really good, no flaking or bald spots..He is a food hound so there is not problem with him eating. The only treat he gets is dried sweet potato treats from the Front Porch...it only has sweet potato in it, notyhing else.

[Guest Swifthounds]

IS the benadryl for the itchiness associated with the yeast or for something else?

[TheFullHouse]

Gee had continual yeast infections in the ears so I did a two handed approach, first I used Zymox in the ears and at the same time I switched her to a grain free food. We tried switching to fish, chicken and that didn't work. It was the grains that were causing the problem so I switched her to Taste Of The Wild Prairie, within 2 weeks she stopped itching and scratching her ears and hasn't had another yeast infection since.

[Walliered]

The benedryl is for the itching. One of the vets wanted me to give him 150mg a day. He would have slept all of the time. So, I am giving him 100mg a day. He also wanted me to keep him on a "low" dose of predisone for the rest of his life. Two other vets wanted to sew his left ear closed..actually remove the ear drum..Volli!! No more ear infections..I have rejected the surgery and the predisone. His food is grain free and like I said he only gets sweet potatoes for treats. Nothing else goes in his mouth.

[Guest kydie]

Yep, Taste of the Wild here too, I have a pup with massive health issues, and this product has been a doG sent here, learned about it on G.T., can't tell you what a difference it has made for my kibble eaters, it may cost more, but I feel I make up for it will less vet bills

Edited July 18, 2010 by kydie

[tamborine]

Has his blood glucose level been checked? Diabetes can predispose you (people, at least!) to yeast infections.

[Walliered]

No, I have not had his blood sugar checked yet. But today I took him to the 4th vet and she said to cancel the appointment to the fancy allergy and ear hospital out of Charleston..she prescribed another ear flush (DermaPet TRA+Keto). She actually looked in his ears and said he was about 60% cured of the yeast infection. She said to NOT use the human yeast infection medicine in his ears. She also said to keep on with the Benedryl..

[Walliered]

Oh, and the 4th vet said to take him off of Confortis and Heart Guard Plus and put him on Revolution..is Revolution OK for greyhounds?

[Guest ChasesMum]

I have tried Zymox drops (ordered on line) He still shakes his head and paws at the left ear sometimes until it bleeds. I will get the vaginal medicine and change his food to a fish based kibble. Guess I will keep the vet's appointment tomorrow because it will not cost much, but the one I have Wednesday in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina is going to be BIG bucks. They want me to withhold food from Tuesday nite at 10:00 in case they put him asleep to check his ears. It takes 3 us of to hold him down (with Muxxel) for the vet to check him with the light pipe..Thanks again so much.

 

I sure can't spell, especially when I can't see what I am typing..LOL

 

i would use the yeast treatment but personally I would hold off until after the appt on Weds with the big bucks allergy clinic. tip on the yeast treatment, find the one with the cream and applicator, pr the pre filled applicators and that will help you get the cream farther in the right direction. obviously the ovule or tablet ones won't help! But if you've never been in that section it can be a little.. err... unnerving with all the selection, and knowing what to look for might help you be in and out faster.

[Newgreymom]

Daisy had recurrent ear infections and our vet said to try Tra+Keto and it worked amazingly well. I use it once a week and she has had no problems since..

[buddibear]

My Stand Poo had reoccuring ear infections month after month.Change of foods and vets did not matter. I found a recipe from Woodhavenlabs.com/ears that works for us. In a empty dish soap bottle mix 4 tblespoons Boric Acid,16oz bottle isopropyl alcohol and 16 drops of Gentiva Violet (found at Walgreens) Mix well and squeeze small in each ear and massage 2X daily for a week,then use as maintence 1X a week. My groomer can't believe the difference and I enjoy staying out of the vets. The Dal and the Greys all get 1 X weekly.

[sweetdogs]

My old boy Faolin had recurrent ear infections that responded to nothing - I tried all the meds, drugs & potions. Also put him on a raw diet. He was miserable for years. Had his ears flushed a couple of times - even more pain. In desperation, I finally agreed to desensitization shots, never thinking it would work. Well shave my head & call me baldy - it did. I continued the shots for a couple of years & he hasn't had one problem since. He will still run if he sees me with a little bottle of some sort though - after all this time, he's still afraid I'm going to put something in his ears.

[Madeara]

I gave this to a friend with a golden who had chronic ear infections. I gave this to him and saved it, it is good information. visit Golden Retriever boards to get more information since this is a breed that is prone to it.

 

 

 

What causes ear infections?

Dogs and cats have an incredible sense of hearing. To protect theirhearing and prevent damage to the ear drum, their ear canals areL-shaped. The problem with this design is that it allows the ears totrap parasites, moisture, debris and ear wax. Any of these can lead toear infections. Up to 80 percent of ear problems in dogs are linked toallergies, and ear mites are often the cause of infection in cats. The traditional treatment for ear infections is to give antibiotics,antifungal medications or other drugs. The problem with this approachis that drugs upset the normal chemistry inside the ear and canpossibly turn a simple infection into a long-term problem.? Pleasecheck with your vet before trying the herb pau d'arco, or anyalternative remedy,as recommended on this site. You?ll want to be surethey are not contraindicated with other treatment your dog may bereceiving.http://www.naturalfa...-infections.htm

 

Bacterial Infections

Q: Dear Mr. Mike: My Golden Retriever occasionally gets earinfections. I noticed this weekend that his ear was dirty and swollen.I periodically use EPI-OTIC in his ears to keep them clean. I have runout, so is there a home remedy I can use to clean his ears until I canget to the vet? Thanks.A: Two solutions for cleaning ears that I think are helpful are: Mix white vinegar with water in a 1:1 ration (half water, half whitevinegar) The acidity makes it hard for some bacteria to grow and thishas an astringent effect. It stings if there is any ulceration of theear canal, though. OR Mix 3% hydrogen peroxide 1:1 with warm water. This is lessantibacterial but is a little better at aiding in the removal ofcerumen from the ears. It is not as likely to cause discomfort if theear is inflamed.There are advantages to the commercial ear washes and they areprobably worthwhile to stick with if helpful. But these solutions areOK in a pinch.Mike Richards, DVM http://www.vetinfo4d...ome%20cleansers Some dogs have chronic ear problems (the infection is not controlledby general medication or returns when general medication isdiscontinued). In these cases, the ear discharge should be culturedso that the precise organism can be pinpointed and treatedspecifically. Regular treatment at home with disinfecting ear washesshould become part of the pet's grooming routine.Further testing may be in order to determine why the infectioncontinues to recur. Allergy is the most common reason for recurrentear problems.Ask your vet if s/he thinks skipping an ear washing and ear drops theday of culturing, to allow a greater chance of collecting organisms,is a good idea.http://www.marvistav...infections.html Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a very special species of bacteria; it isresistant to almost every possible antibiotic. It is common for earinfections to be recurrent and in time, many antibiotics have beenused. The unfortunate tendency is for most bacteria to be killed off,leaving infection with the very resistant and practically immortal(not to mention especially smelly) Pseudomonas.If one if lucky, a culture of the ear discharge will reveal that thePseudomonas is still sensitive to oral quinolone antibiotics such asenrofloxacin or orbifloxacin. It should be noted that especially highdoses of this type of antibiotic are needed to treat Pseudomonas inthe ear and that inadequate dosing will just make Pseudomonas evenmore resistant. In other words, Pseudomonas must be treateddefinitively from the moment it is diagnosed; once it becomesresistant to oral therapy, treatment becomes vastly more difficult.Oral therapy is generally combined with some kind of topical treatmentof the ear. Fortunately there are several concoctions that should beuseful though some your vet must mix him/herself.http://www.marvistav...infections.html Chronic ear infections, as mentioned, typically have an underlyingcause (usually allergy). It is important to address this problem inaddition to the infection itself so as to minimize on-going earinflammation.http://www.marvistav...infections.html Fourth, chronic ear problems should be cultured. You need to knowwhat, exactly, is growing in there. And you need to follow the culturewith ear swabs to be looked at under the microscope, usually at eachrecheck. The bacteria in the ear change with medication, and you needto try to stay only one step behind, not miles behind. That is, youneed to treat what bacteria is running rampant now, not what theproblem was last month.http://www.sonic.net...ry/earclean.htm

 

Allergies

 

Usually, ear inflammation and ear infection that is chronic or seasonal has an underlying cause. Since this problem is seasonal, allergies are a very likely underlying cause Antihistamines can be used to treat allergies in dogs. According tothis web site?s vet,Tavist (Clemastine) is the most efficient drug for dog allergies. Dr. Richards says I personally like Tavist-D ™, which alsocontains a decongestant, since I think some dogs are bothered by aninability to equalize the pressure in their ears when they haveblocked eustachian tubes from allergies. Clemastine is beneficial forabout 25% of our patients with ear inflammation. Often, we combinethis therapy withSynotic (Rx), a cortisone and DMSO ear drop that is pretty potent forcontrolling inflammation. Since you don't see signs of infection (theear is inflamed but dry -- not inflamed with exudate which usuallyindicates infection as well as inflammation). This combination worksbetter than either medication alone.? Dr. Richards goes on to say Vinegar mixed 1:1 with water is a goodgeneral ear rinse, as the acidity keeps bacterial infections and yeastinfections suppressed. Once an infection is present, it is oftennecessary to use an antibiotic/antifungal/anti-inflammatory medication(components depend on what exactly is present?although there are acouple of medications, such as Otomax (Rx) that contain all three. Inmany cases it is necessary to use an oral antibiotic, as well. Earinfections can be very frustrating but using the vinegar/water mix ona regular basis (once a week) helps suppress them and treatinginfections that occur right away can help keep them from becomingserious.http://www.vetinfo4d...blem%20in%20Lab First, chronic ear problems are often linked to allergies. Now,allergies are life long and incurable, but that doesn't mean theycan't be controlled. If the dog is allergic, then I'd stronglyrecommend a vigorous allergy hunt with a board certified dermatologist-- do the skin testing, etc. This is a YOUNG dog, and ASD's live along time, so spending enough money now to get a clear diagnosis, andenough time to get a real good handle on the allergies will be worthit over the next 12 years. You'll save a ton of time and money in thelong run by not having to use so much ear goo and see the vet asoften, or on surgery. Treating the allergy as well as the ears isessential. Both will get better as you treat and understand theallergy.http://www.sonic.net...ry/earclean.htm

Edited July 23, 2010 by Madeara

[a_daerr]

My dog has obedience training with another grey who has problems very similar to yours. She put him on a grain/gluten-free diet. It has helped immensely. Good luck!