My dog has a chronic ear infection.
The vet diagnosed it as bacteria and yeast.
The first time I got a ear flush and ear drops to use for 8 days. The infection cleared up and then about 4 days later came back.
I used the left over flush and drops and the infection went away, only to come back a few days later.
I tried a 50/50 peroxide/water flush.
I tried a 25/75 water/vinegar flush.
I took him back to the vet and got antibiotics, a different flush and told to finish up the last of the drops.
The infection cleared up, then back in a few days.
I’ve changed his food to a brand with no grains. He has food allergies and if I’m not careful he will get skin problems. He can’t have beef, normally he gets lamb and rice, but I’ve switch to salmon with sweet potato. It smells awful but he loves it.
Now I am using tea tree oil diluted with water. It works as long as I flush his ear 3 times a day, but that is not a cure.
The infection doesn’t seem to bother him, he doesn’t scratch, it only seems to bother him when I treat it.
I’ve heard people swear by monistat. I’ve heard it doesn’t work because it’s a different kind of yeast.
Has anyone tried it and know if it works?
When our dog had ear problems, we had to have a vet* use a scope and remove many burrs and stickers* from deep in his ear (he is a “digging” and “burrowing” breed). A few days of drops and problem went away and hasn’t come back.
I would suggest that there is *something down in there *causing this infection.
That is an idea. My boy isn’t a digger or burrower, he might get his feet dirty. That doesn’t mean there’s nothing down in there though.
I’ll take him back and insist that the vet really check down in his ear. The vets don’t like working with him too much because he’s part shar-pei, it seems like they want to rush through checking him out.
I have no idea if it works for dogs, but when my pigs have an ear infection I just dump a capful of rubbing alcohol into their ear every morning. Usually clears it up in a day or two.
OP, does your dog have floppy ears? If so you may need an antibiotic for the bacteria. Lotrimin drops for athletes foot works great for yeast though. I suspect it’s cheaper. The Mometamax drops my vet prescribes work great for fungus and yeast, but it’s crazy expensive. The yeast medication is the same as that in the Lotrimin. It also has a steroid for inflammation and gentamicin for the bacteria.
Anyone know of a way to get gentamicin without a vet prescription?
Why don’t you call your vet and ask them about it?
There are several “people” medications you can give dogs. Pepto Bismol is one that comes to mind. I will call my vet and ask “What’s the dosage for Imodium for a 75-pound dog?” And they’ll put me on hold, get a vet tech, ask me a bunch of questions about what’s going on with the dog and then either give me the correct dosage or suggest something else that might actually be more effective.
I had a dog once who got infected anal glands. We went through 2-3 courses of different antibiotics and it kept coming back. The vet was about to schedule a surgery to remove his anal glands, but gave one last ditch attempt with a fourth course of a different antibiotic. It cleared right up and my dog got to keep his anal glands. She even did a culture swab to figure out which would be the most effective drug to give. It turns out Clavimox was the only thing that ever worked on that dog. So maybe yours just needs to try a different med.
He has shar-pei ears, short, close to the head with folds. The wrinkles are the problem and shar-peis have narrow ear canals. His other half is pug, tiny ears. I’ll try Lotrimin.
My landlady’s dog was having trouble with ear infections, and it turned out to be from ingrown hairs. The vet wrote her a prescription for a special kind of hair remover.
She took it to the drugstore, and as the pharmacist was filling it, he told her, “This stuff is really strong. If you use this under your arms, don’t use deodorant for a few hours.”
She was a little offended, and snapped, “It’s not for my underarms.”
Not noticing that she had taken offense, he said, “Well, if you use it on your legs, don’t wear pantyhose that day.”
Now she was really ticked, and said, “It’s not for my legs. If you must know, it’s for my schnauzer.”
I should have mentioned that they absolutely hate it, but I figure a minute of ouchiness is better than the alternative. I agree with the others that there are probably better solutions for dogs.
I had a floppy-eared dog that got yeast infections in his ears. THe vet told me to go to the dollar store and buy the generic monistat and use it for 10 days. It worked fine.
I have a Walker Coonhound–a floppy ear breed. Basically I use daily maintenance but I learned that the hard way. I make a concoction along the lines of what I think they call “blue powder.” You’ll find examples if you do a 'net search. Sometimes I tie her ears up to air them out.
Has your vet done a culture and sensitivity? Without proper identification of the culprit(s), a true cure is pretty much impossible. When you don’t know what you’re fighting, you don’t know what weapon to use! We once had a patient (dog) with e. coli, pseudomonas, and beta streptococcus in his ears. He was on two oral antibiotics, plus steroids, and topical medications for 3-4 weeks. The owners were instructed to clean every other day and use the ear drops weekly afterwards. It was a bitch (and kind of expensive), but it WORKED.
Well some women would also recommend betadine solution, used in douche. This is also used in medical preps, sometimes dacon’s solution is used to treat infection, 10% household bleach, works on fungus and bacteria both, and as your dog is ok with the flush this mite be the less expensive choice, use 1/4 cup of bleach to 2 1/4 cup water, should be enough flush for a bit. The betadine does not burn or sting, the dacon’s might sting if the infection is severe, the betadine has instruction on it for dilution or just dip in bottle and use Q-tip to apply
The regular vet took a swab and checked it under the microscope and said it was bacteria and yeast. I don’t know why she didn’t give him antibiotics. It was the emergency clinic that gave him the antibiotics, but they didn’t swap his ear.
Sounds like your dog needs a thorough ear cleaning to clear out dirt/debris as well as daily maintainence to keep the ear canals clear and dry.
Dumping random medications into the ear is setting your pet up for chronic and treatment-resistant infections.
Daily wiping inside the ears with plain cotton balls or wiping with specific ear washes will help remove accumulated debris from around the the ear canal. Applying a small puff of ear drying powder can help - talk to your vet about their reccomendations.
The quick check under the microscope just tells you “bacteria and yeast.” A culture and sensitivity has to be sent to a lab where they will grow more of the bacteria and/or yeast, identify each type, and then test it for sensitivity to different antibiotics. Results can take 4-7 days.
Thanks to everyone for your help and advice. I’m trying the monostat and his ear looks a little better today.
If it works I’ll let y’all know, if not then it’s back to the vet and insisting on further testing.