Dog Forum

Tess has been having a spat of ear infections of late. I am just back from the vet with yet another infection - the last only being 3 weeks ago.

We have had several ear drops and today the vet and I agreed it was time to take a sample for testing.

She has also been having bouts of Colitis - I won't go into to detail but she has recurring symptoms. Vet has suggested I swap to a different flavour of food to rule out allergy to a certain protein. As she is already fed a human-grade, hypo-allergenic diet there is no need to change brand at this stage.

Has anyone else had experience with recurring ear infections with their dogs?

I've had lots of experience with ear infections (otitis externa). Springer spaniels are notorious for them unfortuntely!!

My previous springer had antibiotic ear drops several times during her life. Although saying that, ear drops don't always resolve the problem because there are many potential causes. For example, parasites, foriegn bodies, allergies, yeast overgrowth etc etc. It can even be hormonal in some cases.

It may be that if the first course of antibiotics doesn't work, a culture and sensitivity may need to be performed so the correct antibiotic can be prescribed.

I make a habit of checking my dog's ears everyday. Keeping them clean and wax free is the best way to prevent infection from bacteria and yeast. I use Logic ear cleaner and since feeding Oscar a more holistic type diet, I don't seem to remove half as much wax from his ears.

Does your dog show other symptoms associated with a food intolerence Jenna??

my jack russell kept on getting ear infections we found out that it was because he is allergic to fish. Stopped giving it to him and he has not an infection in about 4 months

Vet reckons its a bacterial infection - yeah I know what you mean about the many causes - hence the swab taken this time round.

Her ears are usually really healthy and has never had a problem with them until now. I have Dermapet ear cleaner for Molly - which I've been using on Tess.

She is an itchy dog - she is worse than Molly at the moment. She also chews her feet - although not so much recently since I bathed her in Allermyl things have settled down.

She is quite sensitive and reacts to most things - including medication so unsure as to wether this is a factor.
Dals are prone to allergies and Atopy though - they seem to frequently have problems with their skin so I've heard - touch wood Tess has been ok. Other than the frequent tummy upsets these are her only symptoms.

I doubt the first infection has completely cleared in the first place rather than new infections all the time.

First infection was right ear - 2nd and 3rd time it's been her left ear.

What do you feed out of interest Gypsy?Tess is on Arden Grange.

How did you work out it was fish Daxy?

Jenna

I feed Robbies holistic cuisine.

www.landofholisticpets.co.uk

I am not sure how a different flavour will change things? The only TRULY hypoallergenic foods for dogs are those such as Hills z/d diet where the protein molecules are hydrolysed and therefore cannot set up an allergic reaction in the dog.

It is proteins that trigger allergies and often it is the very advice that people give (eg never change food) that causes this. It is often wise to chop and change protein sources so that this risk is minimised.

Hopefully the vet will test for yeast infections. Sugar feeds yeast and cutting out carbohydrates can often mean that the problem disappears.

I had a dog that had recurrent ear infections, the moment I moved over to raw food they disappeared.

Some very good ear cleaners are:

Quistel (probably the gold standard for cleaning ears)
Thornit (not a licensed veterinary medicine but thousands of dog owners swear by it)
Saline solution (eg contact lens cleaner)
Garlic juice (available from Dorwest)

... Thanks Gypsy - had a look some similar grade ingredients to what I'm already feeding. I have the chicken version opposed to the Lamb to see if it was the Lamb causing the problems. If that doesn't work will give the Ocean Fish and Potato version a shot.

How long does the Robbies last you?

Jenna37365 wrote:
... Thanks Gypsy - had a look some similar grade ingredients to what I'm already feeding. I have the chicken version opposed to the Lamb to see if it was the Lamb causing the problems. If that doesn't work will give the Ocean Fish and Potato version a shot.

How long does the Robbies last you?

Oh...ages! I think they suggest feeding a medium size dog about 150g per day, but I feed 200g because Oscar is very active.

I bought a 10kg bag, but when you add the water it expands so really it doubles. Has lasted about 2 months and I've still got a bit left.

Oh thats good - it's about 2months for what I feed too!

My dog had ear infection last summer and again this summer. I think it is to do with the hot weather. This year his ears were bad and drops would not clear up the infection properly so the vet advised that I should have his ears plucked and flushed which I went along with. He had to be sedated to have this done. When he returned after the op his eyes were flicking from side to side. Is this normal after being sedated. Any professional advice would be most welcome. Since his op his left ear is much better but his other ear is starting to smell. Also he is not eating properly. He wants to eat but it takes him so long to eat and he makes such a mess when he does. Almost like it is hurting him in some way. Could this be related to his ear problem? His nose is a little watery too. Any advice would be great.

This sounds as though it could be jaw related. Has the vet checked out his teeth, gums for any abscess etc?

The Ear, Nose and Throat are all very closely connected and what affects one can affect the other two

I have not had any experience yet with dog ear infections, but I heard that hair naturally grows in the ears and if your dog groomer, or yourself, plucks this hair out, the dog's ear can get infected. Maybe you should ask your breeder about how she cleans out your dog's ears.

Swab results back and low and behold ...
A yeast infection.

Hopefully the drops will clear the infection as they also deal with yeast but if not the same tablets that Molly had will need to be given - £50 for a 3 week dose!

So you have a treatment for the symptoms, how are you going to handle the underlying condition that causes yeast infections?

Have you considered giving your dog probiotic capsules? They can inhibit yeast growth.

I think will leave that for vet to decide as it can have many causes - in the process of ruling out food allergy at present.

I haven't considered Probiotic capsules Sb at mo - haven't actually spoke to my vet yet - she left a message.

Food allergies do not cause yeast infections, food intolerances might.

If your dog had a food allergy, it would have more than a yeast infection.

Yeast lives on sugar, sugar is produced by carbohydrate. If dog eats no carbs then it can not produce sugar which can then not feed yeast so voila, problem disappears.

But I am sure your vet will know all this.

Anyways, I'm glad we have found out what is causing the problem.

Thanks for offering you thoughts guys.

Just to update guys.

Spoke with the vet and he explained that the lab felt the level of yeast found was not enough to cause problems - so still no answers really. The ear has cleared up for now and is the best it has looked for a while - more normal.

It also appears she may have an intolerance to Lamb as since feeding a different flavour ie. Chicken of the same brand the symptoms of colitis etc clear up and when Lamb is re-introduced she flares!

Thanks again.