Yet another ear infection!!

skypie123_2

My poor mutt Scraggy has yet another ear infection!!
We are off to the vets later for a once-over.
So far I changed him to raw meat diet (although my MIL looked after him while we were away so I put him on Wainwrights trays for ease for her and even though strict instructions about no treats etc were given they werent followed!:o)
So I came back and gave him Advatage wormer (for ear mites) but since then the itchy, scratchy, paw biting has got worse and now he has a black gunky ear infection.
TBH I am worn out with trying things for him. Nothing seems to help.
So we are off to the vets later to see if this is yeast infection but I am despairing of ever having a dog who isnt constantly ill and scratching!! :(

pruney

My dog had this problem for about a year, recurring black gunky ear infections. We tried all sorts of antibiotics and ear washes, she had her ear flushed twice. In the end the vet did allergy testing and it turned out she was allergic to many things (pork, beef, lamb and diary for starters) including a bacteria that lives on a dog's skin! We now use a special prescription shampoo for her and she's on a fish based diet (james wellbeloved dry food) and touch wood we've not had problems since. Her ears are generally a little waxy but we can live with that. I'm just glad we had her insured, I reckon it'd have cost us around about £1k otherwise.

skypie123_2

Well back from vets, he gave Scraggy a shot of steroids and some drops to be used once a day. He said his left ear had an infection and a perforation in his ear drum (thats the ear he can hear from!!) and the right one was so gunked up he could'nt see the ear drum.
He said it was likely that Scraggy had a few allergies due to his itchiness and the paw biting and pink paws etc.
I have to take him back in a week to see how he is getting on.
I asked if it could be yeast infection and he said maybe. I wonder if a pro-biotic supplement would boost his immune system?

devildog

Sorry you are no closer to a solution yet.
Can't answer directly in relation to his ears but re the pro-biotic, it will not actually boost his immune system but what it can do is introduce good bacteria into the stomach and cause a better balance. I don't know what pro-biotics are out there for dogs but in the case of humans I do know that the supermarket ones do not contain enough of the good bacteria and people are advised to look at a pro-biotic that contains upwards of 5 billion bacteria.

nikki702

have a read up about thornit

When my dog has had itchy ears and paws this has helped him

http://www.dogsstuff.co.uk/en/Kleen-Face/Thornit-Canker-Powder

devildog

Have you maybe tried a page like the one below?
It lists loads of conditions/symptoms/tests/treatments and you may just hit on the right one.



http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2111&aid=423

Atopy? Food allergies?
Is is seasonal so more than likely be airborne?
There will be an answer out there, unfortunately you have to work through all the causes/ treatments-if only it were simple

viktory

My dog also has gunky ears and the vet recommended Ocean Fish JWB. Seems to have helped her.

buddys_mum

When Buddy had yeast infection the vet gave me SUROLAN. Cleared his ears up, but its a steriod so you need to wear gloves and generally be very careful with it.