I have been dealing with max's ear infection for several months on and off. He is a 5 year old GSD. I believe he got the infection originally from my little girl GSD who likes to clean his face, teeth and his ears.

So here is a list of interventions I have used so far:

Vet visit one: Conofite+Synotic

Vet visit two: Cephalin 500 mg and Prednisone 5 mg
Epi OTIC Ear Wash

Vet visit three: ZYMOX and Ketoconazole 200 mg.

Vet visit four: Max is put under anethesthia to get culture. Found to be yeast. Vet recommends continued Ketoconazole and ZYMOX drops.

There has been little to no improvement with the above and Max IS miserable! Shaking head, whining, itching.

Recently I have tried the following home remedies based on some advice and research I have found:

All raw diet, no grain in diet. I have fed him Chicken Soup which is a high quality food but wanted to make sure it wasnt an allergy to anything in the food.

2 tablespoons of plain yogurt daily- I was told the bacteria in yogurt eats the yeast (?)

OTC Gynelotrimin cream for womens yeast infection- didnt help at all.

Ear Wash solution made with half water/half cider vinegar/ two tablespoons hydrogen peroxide. Max had a TERRIBLE reaction, obviously was very painful but was the ONLY thing that seemed to help even though it was temporary. I am reluctant to do it again because of his earlier reaction.

So *sigh* based on the above, is there anything anyone can advise to help Max/me. He is so miserable and Im at my wits end here...please help me.

Thanks.

Lois

Hey Lois,

Poor Max! Has he responded to the treatment at all? When I got my female GSD last year, she came with bad ear infections (the inside of her ears was black). It took us 5 months to clear it. We cultured it at one point as well (yeast infection).

She did respond to treatment though, she would improve when she was on ear drops, but the infection would come right back as soon as we stopped. She had a lot of problems with skin allergy, does Max have any type of allergy?

At this point, if you have tried these many things with him and he is not responding, personally, I would try to find a specialist, not sure if a derm vet would help you, are there any vet schools around you? They may be able to direct you to an ear specialist.

Just an idea =)

Shaking head and whining means that this is bad. He needs to be anesthetized and have his ears cleaned. Whining is a huge step up (bad step) from head-shaking. He needs a vet visit asap.

I'm so sorry. Been there.

When the culture was done and yeast was found, what bacteria, if any, was also found?

PS
I'm with Melissa: Having adopted a dog in the past who was deaf from repeated ear infections (yeast), and gone down that long road of ending her yeast overgrowth, I agree a million percent to get a specialist. I'd ask for a referral to an allergy specialist: yes, yeast has an underlying reason, very often allergies*, and this present vet has apparently reached the end of his experience. (This really is a specialty.)

The vinegar/peroxide -- yikes! In an ear with an active infection and broken skin, etc., that would be so painful.




*Food allergies are a far distant third on the list of likely allergies

 Quote: Lois Miller

I have been dealing with max's ear infection for several months on and off.

Did he ever, in all this time, test clear of yeast overgrowth? Or did the vet not re-check after a protocols?

Eek! that all sounds very painful.

http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/ears.html is the earwash I used. It's cheap and super effective with most of the ingredients available at rite aide. It completely cured my lab along with Gentizol from the vet of her chronic recurring ear infections. Use witch hazel instead of rubbing alcohol for way less burn and just as effective results.

The reason that the ear infections come back so quickly is that they were never gone in the first place. It took me close to four months to kill Willow's infection. I used the ear wash above daily for about a month and a half filling up each ear... giving it a rub and letting her shake the gunk out. Then I started skipping every other day, to twice a week, to once a month. Now we're at as needed or after swimming in stagnantish water.

as others have said however you should consult a vet to knock back the initial infection.

 Quote: Melissa Thom

... The reason that the ear infections come back so quickly is that they were never gone in the first place. .... as others have said however you should consult a vet to knock back the initial infection.

As well as testing for bacteria ....

Yes, the head-shaking/whining stage is not the time for maintenance steps. Good point, Melissa.

Once the initial infection is knocked out I have had good luck using Zymox drops to keep them at bay. They don't seem to have enough strength to cure a bad infection once it has set in.

You can also use them in conjunction with oral antibiotics with no problems. The drops with the cortisone seem to work much better than the other ones.

Zymox also makes an ear wash that doesn't seem to sting so much. I have also used witch hazel and it doesn't bother near as much as the vinegar/water/peroxide mix and it is soothing and drying.

Hi melissa:

No Max hasnt responded to ANY forms of treatment thus far. I have thought he might be getting a bt better because the head shaking decreased but would usually reappear within days. I dont think I have ever completely gotten rid of the darn yeast infection.

I am going to call vet for a referral to a specialist.

Thanks.

Hi Connie:

I went back and looked at Dr.s notes and found no mention other then yeast bacteria from the culture. I dont think we have ever completely gotten rid of the yeast even though symptoms may diminish at times. They come back with a vengeance!

I will request a specialist. The current vet just keeps prescribing different meds with no success. It not only is prolonging the infection, its expensive for me.

Thanks.

Lois

I will buy the ingredients in this article at the drug store and also give the name of the med that worked to the vet or specialist. Thank you so much.

You know I felt so awful doing the water/cider/peroxide but truly that is the only thing so far that did bring him some relieve ( after the intial pain) for a period of time. I just dont want to do it again and cause him so much discomfort and i keep saying to myself....theres gotta be a better way!