Non-responsive ear infections

[beth gordon]

Hi all,

In January, Gracie, a 6 year old Rottie, was adopted through a rescue group in NY that I volunteer for. The family has been fabulous with her and for her. When she was first rescued, she had an ear infection which was treated by my private vet with a cleaning, a flush to use daily, and antibiotics. The family finished up the meds, but the infection hadn't cleared up. Long story short, it is now May and Gracie is no better off than she was in January. Steroids have not helped either. I just got this email from the woman and I'm at a loss. Has anyone had this problem with ear infections that won't clear up? The family even had one vet put her under anesthesia to thoroughly investigate and clean out the ear canal.

Gracie is STILL sick..I don’t get it. She cannot get rid of this infection and her eyes are a mess. I have switched her diet around so there is no grain whatsoever but the ears and eyes will not go away. She is now on a 6 week round of antibiotics and again its not responding. It's frustrating as hell. If you look at her history, this dog has been on antibiotics in one form or another since JANUARY. ITS crazy. On top of that , she gets sick on the antibiotics so we have to worry about her stomach and stools etc. I finally got a spay certificate for her but can’t use it until she gets better….ARGGHHHHHH.

Gracie is the sweetest dog who is simply wonderful with their 8 year old daughter and a perfect lady in every other way likewise. This was the perfect home for her. It is so upsetting to see what this wonderful family has gone through to help her with no results. They are approaching $3000 in vet bills...

Any advice? They have gone to 3 vets for an answer since January. If you add my vet, it makes 4 who cannot figure this out. Thanks in advance for any advice you can share.

[Moosemom]

My rottie I rescued had the same problem for a good year. Mine definitely had yeast in her ears. I put her on prescription Purina LA and began cleaning her ears with an ear wash for dogs and I added a couple drops of Betadine solution. The antibiotics by mouth will increase the growth of yeast in the body. You probably need the ears cultured if they haven't been so you know what organism/organisms you're dealing with. This is a VERY frustrating problem for you and the dog. Mine finally got better so now I clean her ears with the same ear wash and Betadine as a preventive. Oh I also found some doggie probiotics which will help normalize the flora in her system. Good luck and don't give up!

[frontierrots]

what foods have you used exactly?

My sister and hubby spent almost as much as you have for ear infections in their Golden. They finally got him On California Natural Herring & sweet Piotato and ear infections went away. He's been on it about 10 months now and she ran out and got some Chicken & rice and bang! bad ear infection again. He's obviously allergic to chicken or rice or both and she will not be messing with his food again

Also has this Rott had her ears cultured to see exactly what is causing the infections (yeast, bacteria etc)

[StephanieandToby]

It might not be the grains she has a sensitivity to (although they aren't good anyway)...she could have a problem with the protein source.

She might need a different protein and a different antibiotic.

(I also agree...that fish and sweet potato works wonders for lots of dogs I've encountered with food sensitivities.)

Good luck!

[ECAV]

They need to do a culture so they can have her on the right medication.

[AngelBunny]

Chronic ear infections can be an indication the dog is allergic to something in its diet.

On January 16, 2007 our foster arrived a mess. Among his issues were stubborn yeasty ears that were exceedingly difficult to clear up. Today, May 10, 2008 his ears are finally getting under control.

Turns out Sailor is grain intolerant. He was on 3 months of Canidae and looked like garbage, followed by 3 months of CA Nat. He still looked like trash. Finally my vet told me put him on raw.

June 26, 2007 Sailor ate his first raw meal. I follow the raw prey model. Sailor gets no grains or cereals or rice--nothing but as wide a variety of meats, organ, and fish as I can find.

Sailor had an underlying bacterial infection in his ear on top of the disgusting yeast condition. My vet treated him with antibiotics and ear washes. She told me that it was possible that as his system recovered and repaired itself from years of being fed an inappropriate diet it was possible his ear conditions would clear it.

It appears Dr. Donna was right.

Exactly what food is Gracie being fed? I'm not surprised Gracie's family is still wrestling with her ears.

[cally01]

Our Newfoundland dog Dillon went through a horrible time with ear infections. For him it was not allergy/food related at all. He is fed home prepared diet and prior to that was on NRG salmon and other quality foods. While he was going through major ear issues we did elimination diets thinking it was allergy related at that time. For many dogs it can be due to allergies especially when it's yeast related.

Dillon had a ear problem called Sutamonis (spelling??) and is not yeast related at all. He had a correct diagnosis first.

What we did for him was work closely with a homeopathic vet and my Sister mentioned to him an old ear treatment she learned when she owned her Standard Poodle that went through a horrid time with Sutamonis. It is a sugar treatment, my Sister packed Dillons ears with sugar then rinsed out with iodine. During this time frame the vet advised my Sister to pick up homeopathic calendula to take internally which also helped a great deal. Never use the sugar treatment if it's a yeast infection.

I also picked up Traumeel which contains Arnica, Calendula, Belladonna, Hammamelis virginiana, aconitum napellus, bellis perennis, hypericum perforatum, echinacea angustifolia, echinacea purpurea, chamomilla, millefolium, symphytum officinale, heparsulphuris calcareum. This helped his ears as well, we did the sugar treatment in the evening and the Traumeel in the morning.

Anyway the results were amazing, we used the sugar treatment as a last resort. We had previously tried the blue power treatment which is great for yeast infected ears (you can look up blue power on line). We had exhausted all homeopathy, diet, conventional etc. For the problem Dillon had the sugar treatment worked wonders.

As for diet, I sometimes recommend picking up Dr Pitcairns book for a good elimination diet. Also be sure to be add probiotics to your dogs diet to help re-balance the good bacteria in the gut. An imbalance can cause all sorts of problems.

Just to add that we put Dillon on a grain free kibble for a little while which made the ears worse. Of course that was kibble which many dogs do not tolerate kibble as well as home prepared.

Currently we have him on home prepared with raw meat with grains, pasta, veggies, fruit etc. He is doing wonderful on this diet...for him it's a great diet.

[beth gordon]

Thanks everybody...very much. I will forward this info to the adopters. I feel bad for them and I feel bad for Gracie...

[goldiegirl]

Hi everyone! I thought maybe Beth had posted here! LOL Thanks for all the support! You guys gave me some of this same great advice last month too!

Thanks for all the great feedback.

I believe when they did the culture it was a Staph infection at this point. He has had her on 6 weeks of antibiotics both orally and in her ear but so far NO response.

Her current diet is Wellness 95% meat (canned version) and the Wellness CORE kibble. She doesnt really like the kibble and basically might eat it once a week if she has no choice. The kibble is grain free as well.

I started her on Benedryl today for the chewing of her paws and excessive skin licking to see if that helps that symptom and it seems to have helped today.

The ears are the BIG thing!!!

Just wanted to say thanks to Beth and Lisa and all of you great rottie owners for sharing!

Hugs

Ames

PS..she throws up about once a week as well and I have come to find out, she gets CAR SICK. She hurled in my car for the 5th time today, so I am guessing no more car rides for her unless they are very very short! LOL I think turning in this leased car might not be an option this year! LOL

[EmmysMom]

Emmy is on prescription Fish and Potato kibble only. She can have cooked potato or cooked fish for treats, taking pills and supplementing her kibble but that is all. We are on our third 30lb bag at this time. She is on Ketoconazole for her yeast infection, Keto T-8 wash for her ears, done weekly. Just finished Momotamex drops in her ears twice a day and is finishing up a 6wk course of antibiotics. We did start the "add in" part of her diet and chicken is the first protein to check and she is ok w/that, we tried beef and that night was one of the worst nights she has had in a long time! So, no beef in any way shape or form for her! The specialist is pretty sure that it is environmental allergies plus the beef allergy that is causing the problem. We are looking at starting the Atopica drug but we won't know if we are going to do that for another week. Emmy has had ear infections for the last 2-3 years off and on and we never could figure it out but it looks like we are making headway now!!
I would definitely look into the Atopica, it isn't real cheap, $245 for the 1st month and then 1/2 of that for the 2nd month for a 100lb dog but considering that we also have put out more than $3000, this is a small amount to pay. The other positive is that w/this medication you know w/in 30days whether it is going to work or not. With the
"scratch test", you are looking at 9mos or more before you even know if it is going to work!
Sorry this was so long, hope some of it helps you!
Candy

[brunie's mom]

Originally Posted by goldiegirl

Hi everyone! I thought maybe Beth had posted here! LOL Thanks for all the support! You guys gave me some of this same great advice last month too!

Thanks for all the great feedback.

I believe when they did the culture it was a Staph infection at this point. He has had her on 6 weeks of antibiotics both orally and in her ear but so far NO response.

Her current diet is Wellness 95% meat (canned version) and the Wellness CORE kibble. She doesnt really like the kibble and basically might eat it once a week if she has no choice. The kibble is grain free as well.

I started her on Benedryl today for the chewing of her paws and excessive skin licking to see if that helps that symptom and it seems to have helped today.

Sorry to hear you are having such a hard time with your dog. Ears and skin conditions can be very costly and frustrating.

I see you are feeding Wellness meat and Core. What is the meat protein in these foods?
Can you give her a meat that she has never eaten? Does Wellness make a fish? I know that Orijen makes a 6 Fish formula...no grains at all.

There is no use feeding her these grainless foods if it's the protein in the food that is bothering her...such as the chicken or the lamb,etc.

If she was my dog, I would start an elimination diet....one source of protein (that she has never had before) and one carb (could be sweet potato, or oatmeal,etc)...for six weeks...with nothing added. If she is fine...start adding supplements slowly and go from there.

You should also think of joining K9Kitchen on yahoogroups.....

Gina

[StephanieandToby]

Just another thought...when humans go on elimination diets for Candida, they often feel worse before they improve...due to yeast "die-off" and detox...if a dog's affliction is due to yeast...I suppose it could seem like it was getting worse before it got better? kwim?