 ear infection
#234864 - 04/05/2009 09:46 AM |
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Our 9 month old female GSD has chronic ear infections. We are tired of taking her to the vet - it gets very expensive. Is there a home remedy we can try? Also, it is hard for us to get anything in her ears - she hates it!
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Re: ear infection
[Re: Melissa Swarbric ]
#234865 - 04/05/2009 10:07 AM |
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Unfortunately, ear infections have to be assessed and treated by a vet. Ears can contain a overgrowth of yeast, bacteria, or a combination of both and a proper diagnosis is key so the vet can dispense the most effective medication.
Once you have healthy ears you can maintain them yourself at home.
I'm assuming your vet has taken swabs of the ear, looked at it under the scope, and prescribed the correct medication...is that correct? What was the diagnosis?
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Re: ear infection
[Re: Sarah Morris ]
#234866 - 04/05/2009 10:12 AM |
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the vet said it is a yeast infection. It clears up, but then comes back a few weeks later.
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Re: ear infection
[Re: Melissa Swarbric ]
#234867 - 04/05/2009 10:14 AM |
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It is also worth mentioning that ear infections that have been properly diagnosed and treated...but keep coming back...may be a symptom of something else, like allergies.
Does your pup itch, bite and scratch? Does she have an odor? Is there hair loss or red, irritated skin?
And finally: What are you feeding her?
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Re: ear infection
[Re: Sarah Morris ]
#234870 - 04/05/2009 11:04 AM |
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It is also worth mentioning that ear infections that have been properly diagnosed and treated...but keep coming back...may be a symptom of something else, like allergies.
Does your pup itch, bite and scratch? Does she have an odor? Is there hair loss or red, irritated skin?
And finally: What are you feeding her?
Ditto to all, but also, how did the vet diagnose yeast only? Did the vet actually look at the debris under a 'scope and check for a combination yeast/bacteria or did s/he just smell the yeast (distinctive odor that any vet knows)?
If you tell us what med the vet gave, we will know whether the vet found bacteria as well.
This has an underlying cause. That's what has to be addressed. Meanwhile, I'd look in the ear every day and catch any beginnings of inflammation and debris before it becomes full-fledged infection. The ear-meds work MUCH better at the very first sign.
But the cause has to be addressed.
If you post back about other things that might be related, as Sarah said, that will help: is the dog on any long-term med? Are the dog's paws inflamed?
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Re: ear infection
[Re: Connie Sutherland ]
#234883 - 04/05/2009 03:07 PM |
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The vet did examine a swab under a microscope. He prescribed Mometomax. I feed her Iams large breed puppy food with cottage cheese and chicken. Her paws do not appear to be swollen.
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Re: ear infection
[Re: Melissa Swarbric ]
#234885 - 04/05/2009 03:18 PM |
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That med would be prescribed for a combination yeast/bacterial infection. This reinforces both the advice not to try to treat it yourself and to address the underlying cause. This will be the only way to end the chronic infections.
Is this the food?
Chicken, Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Meal, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Corn Grits, Brewers Rice, Dried Beet Pulp, Chicken Meal, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Fish Meal, Chicken Flavor, etc.
Also, I would get rid of the cottage cheese (basically salty cow's milk) and substitute a good live-culture no-sweeteners plain yogurt (plain, not vanilla) such as Cascade, Nancy's, etc. (The more strains of probiotics listed, the better, IMO, and it will say "live" or "active" cultures.)
Are the paws reddened at all?
Is the dog itchy/scratching anywhere? Where?
At what age did the ear infections start?
Did they coincide with anything out of the ordinary (illness, antibiotics, a vaccination)?
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Re: ear infection
[Re: Melissa Swarbric ]
#234888 - 04/05/2009 03:24 PM |
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You will get some great help here, I am not an expert but I do have a yeasty itchy dog!
The first thing I would do with a dog who is having chronic yeasty ears is to cut out the grains and sugars in their diet.
Yogurt still has some milk sugars in it, but would still be a much better choice than cottage cheese because of the probiotics in it, Kefir is a good choice too as are probiotic supplements if you don't want to give any dairy or want to give extra probiotics to help with the problem.
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Re: ear infection
[Re: Jennifer Lee ]
#234891 - 04/05/2009 03:28 PM |
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Her paws are not red. She does scratch her neck a lot. I feed her the Tyson chicken out of a can. Is that bad? I will switch her to plain yogurt.
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Re: ear infection
[Re: Jennifer Lee ]
#234892 - 04/05/2009 03:29 PM |
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Oh, this reminds me that I meant to post a reply to a question about giving yogurt to allergic dogs. Jennifer, was that your question? Could you PM me a link if it was?
Sorry .... my sticky notes got away from me......
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