Food causing BACTERIAL ear infections??

[Gillian]

Hi everyone!

Well little Maizey has had her fair share of health issues in the 3 months we've had her, and the most recent is a chronic ear infection. She was diagnosed with a combo yeast/bacterial ear infection almost 3 weeks ago. She was on antibiotic ear drops for 10 days, and when we went in for a check up, the yeast was gone (thanks to lots of cleaning!) and the bacteria was still there. There was still lots of wax build up. 5 days later... vet check, still bacteria and still lots of wax. Now, she is on oral antibiotics plus the ear drops... and the vet has told us to clean her ears less frequently as there are lots of cells from her ear canal in the waxy build up.


He says if she is still infected in 7 days, there may be a link to her food causing the infections. I did my research on here and saw that some foods (grains and beet pulp) can contribute to YEAST ear infections, but I read nothing about bacterial. Can a food be linked to bacterial ear infections?? What else could be causing this? We are cleaning, plucking, and keep them as dry as possible...

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I am so sorry to hear of little Maizey's ear issues. Here is some info I read about ear infections and food allergies. According to this article it sounds like there can definitely be a connection between food allergies and bacterial as well as yeast infections:


by Audrey Harvey, DVM

Does your dog suffer from chronic ear infections? Did you know that the food your dog eats might be the to blame?

Food allergies are often the culprit in cases of otitis (ear inflammation). Otitis or conjunctivitis could also be associated with atopy (allergies to inhaled dusts and pollens).

Let’s start with the ears. In one study, researchers examined 100 dogs with chronic ear problems to try and work out why they kept developing these infections. Of those 100 dogs, 43 of them were found to have underlying allergies that were the primary cause of their otitis. Although 100 dogs isn’t a large number of animals to survey, the results do indicate that allergies are a major cause of chronic ear problems in our dogs.

These allergies cause inflammation of the skin inside your dog’s ear canal, which will make him shake his head and scratch his ear. This inflammation allows bacteria and fungi to multiply and cause a secondary infection. The inflammation also causes his ear canal to thicken which prevents air circulation and provides a warm moist environment for the infection to flourish.

What does this mean for you? It means that if your dog has ongoing or recurring ear problems, you are not likely to clear these up by just treating him with ear drops. Drops will kill the infection, but unless you manage his underlying allergies, his ears will be sore again soon after you stop the medication.

[Gillian]

Great information! Thanks :)

Now, comes the question... how do I figure out what she's allergic to?? Do I start with grain-free stuff?? Yikes...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

"Of those 100 dogs, 43 of them were found to have underlying allergies that were the primary cause of their otitis"

What this article doesn't say is that of those 43 dogs whose allergies are attributable to allergies, only 4.3 of them have an allergy to any food. The other 56.7 dogs have atopic allergies, as mentioned in the article, and food is not the cause of their problems.

It would be very unusual for a dog under the age of 6 months to have developed an allergy of any kind...possible, but unlikely. Dogs with non-shedding coats are prone to ear infections. Chronic ear infections are sometimes called "poodle ear", that's how common it is. Some dogs have a predisposition to having more problems with this than others. It's very important that the ears of such dogs are kept free of hair inside the ear canal at all times, and that you routinely use a good cleaner with a drying agent to prevent further infections once this one clears up.
However, if you want to pursue the food angle, don't buy the Rx food the vet will try to sell you. You will have to do a food trial for 3 months, using a food that contains no grain and a protein to which she has not been exposed before. No treats during the three months, either. There is more info on this in the Food Group.
If she were my dog, I'd try to get this infection cleared up, start a very thorough ear maintenance program, and switch to a good grain-free food that doesn't contain beet pulp.
Good luck.

[Gillian]

Thanks, karen.

A couple questions:

If it's not the food.. what else could she be allergic to? How do I figure that out?

And, if I switch to a grain-free food that has a new protein, should it be void of chicken (which is the protein she is currently on)? If the chicken is the 10th ingredient in the grain-free food, and salmon/duck are the main proteins, would that suffice? (I am looking at the Fromm Grain Free formula since she is on Fromm right now anway... seems like an easier transition for this pup who has a very sensitive digestive system)

Thank you!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I hate to get into it, because the chances are great that she isn't allergic to anything, but 9 out of 10 dogs who do have allergies are allergic to the same things that cause allergy misery in humans...dust mites, mold, and pollens. Since we are just coming to the end of one of the worst allergy seasons in many years, if she is allergic, it's probably to these kinds of things.
Unfortunately, the only way to know is to do allergy skin testing through a veterinary dermatologist, which is extremely expensive and they won't do it on a dog under a year old anyway.
But Gill, unless she has some other symptom than ear issues, like extreme itchiness, scratching, biting & licking her feet, groin, axilla, rubbing her face, red eyes, redness between her paw pads, hair breakage or loss...if she doesn't have any if these, I would honestly forget about allergies for now.
If you are going to pursue the food change, you have to eliminate chicken from her diet entirely, along with any other protein she's ever had. This is why food trials are so difficult.

[Gillian]

Thank you, again, Karen. She actually has been itching a lot and chewing her paws, but I thought it was from the ear infection (and the chewing I thought was her teething...)

Hmm... well I guess we'll try a new food (maybe Orijen?) and see how that goes. I have HORRIBLE allergies, so maybe she's taking after her mama?!

If the food doesn't make things better, I'll go down the allergy route with the vet. Perhaps she can start on some medications to relieve her itching?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Start giving her a 500 mg evening primrose oil capsule once a day. That should help within a week or two.
The meds for itching are going to be antihistamines, and if it's really bad, steroids. We want to avoid steroids when possible. And general practice vets usually don't know much about the best antihistamines for dogs. Benadryl is not effective for atopy.
Darn, I have to run. Will get back to you later.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Thanks for posting in Karen. I was hoping you were on line because this is way outside my realm of experience and I know you have done the research. I got confused on your numbers though. Did you mean the other 37.7 of the 43 have atopic allergies?

My own experience is that Tara has never had an ear infection and has always eaten grain free but I can't say that the two are connected in any way. Tara broke out in hives when she was nine weeks old and we were in the middle of switching her food from what the breeder was feeding her to our food. We thought she was reacting to the new food. It took some time but we finally discovered that she is very sensitive to certain shampoos and must have reacted to what the breeder had washed her with right before coming home. We;re not sure if it is an allergy or just a sensitivity to some ingredient in certain shampoos but we found one that works and are sticking with it.

Karen, I have heard you mention JD's reaction to ragweed. How does one go about uncovering the cause of an atopic allergy so as to avoid it?


Well I got distracted in the middle of this post and now see that you have already answered all my questions!! Thanks again!!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Did you mean the other 37.7 of the 43 have atopic allergies?

YES- Thank you! I got locked out if house today due to a power outage (no key) and am still a little rattled and way behind. Should actually not be on-line now, lol.
Actually, it should be 38.7, but you were closer, lol.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I have a T.I. calculator that seems to have a mind of its own here lately. I thought I had fixed it but I just tried this calculation again and it is giving me some wacky answers-wrong but close! Ugh! Sorry to hear about your lockout-I HATE that!!

[Hilary Rogozinski]

I used to have ear infection problems until I started using Thornit...it is a very old ear remedy and works like a charm...one of my dogs is a Spinone...they have long droopy ears...I was told to use Thornit by the breeder of my latest spinone...it worked on him and my older spinone who had very bad ears for years...its not expensive and only takes a very little to make a world of difference...