Gentizol for yeast ear infections

[Tara L P]

Hi,

Has anyone had any bad outcomes from treating their dogs ears yeast infections with Gentizol? I went to a vet today who looked into her ear with the magnifier/light tool to determine that her ear drum was OK. However when i came home and googled the anti-inflammatory and antibiotic drug, and a good amount of people report that deafness can occur--after one treatment-- or lead to vestibular dysfunction. 

This dog forum and this golden retriever forum really scared me. I do not want to take a chance and wonder if i should clean her ear out with something else and stop treatment until I receive a different medication? Ella's hearing seems ok, but i do not like what i read.

Thoughts?

[Tara L P]

Here is more information on the drug http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentamicin

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Here's information on the actual product that you were given:

http://www.drugs.com/vet/gentizol-ointment.html

 

I would not put much stock in those forum discussions. They are 3 and 4 years old and do not seem to be addressing this exact drug.

I'm not familiar with it and have never used it. I wonder if it's chemically related to the popular blue ear wash which contains gentian violet. The name is so similar.

At any rate, hearing loss does seem to be a side effect. I would call my vet and ask about that. There are a lot of products that can be used to treat yeast ear infections in dogs, so if you don't feel comfortable about this one, maybe you can ask for something else. 

 

[Tara L P]

Thanks Karen, I was hoping I'd hear from you:). 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

In reading through the drug information, I see that this medication treats yeasts and bacteria, and has anti-inflammatory properties as well. That makes it pretty effective for just about any kind of ear issue, I'd think. Is Ella's infection severe, or have you tried another medication that didn't quite clear it up? That might be why this particular drug was chosen.

[Tara L P]

I give her baths after she goes to daycare and she is especially stinky--usually 1 or 2 a month. I gave her a bath last week because of this, and then this week I gave her another bath and realized one ear was bright red. I assumed it was from the bath from the following week--that i hadn't dried her ear as good as i could've. This makes me assume that it is a yeast infection. I don't know if this one was severe, but it was definitely inflammed  so I took her straight to the vet without trying anything else first. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree with having taken her to the vet before trying something. If you don't know what you are dealing with (yeast, bacteria, inflammation, etc), just randomly trying some product or "home remedy" can make things worse, especially if there is any abrasion in there.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Gentamycin, is the  antibiotic in Gentizol and has nothing to do with the purple solutions used for ear infections. They contain contain gentian violet, a chemical used for yeast infections. This Gentizol contains not only gentamycin, but a steroid and clortrimazole for yeast infections. So it would cover bacterial infections, yeast and has a steroid to reduce inflammation. But if this is in fact a yeast infection it seems to me you needn't run the risk of hearing loss by using gentamycin. I guess the vet is covering all bases but I'd prefer to know whether the infection is a yeast or bacterial one although you could have both. My experience with dog ear infections has been with drops, which I don't recall having gentamycin included. I think there may be better alternatives.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

With my many many experiences with ear infections, I was always told that the risk of hearing loss with Gent. Is only if the ear drum is perforated. That is why they don't give it if they can not verify it being intact, as your vet did. I did not read the forums, did they mention that?

[Tara L P]

I did read that about the ear drum last night somewhere, and instantly remembered that the vet did check for that and told me what he saw. 

I do think that there are other better options. Last night i ordered Zymox Otic ear treatment with hydrocortisone from Amazon. I did a quick delivery and am hoping that I can wait for that to come and use it instead. 

I probably will need to flush her ear with something maybe apple cidar and purified water before I add the Zymox, right?

Thanks everyone.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

No, I wouldn't do any flushing or cleaning before using the Zymox.   I have lots of ear problem experience with my Maltese and my husbands Minny Dachsund!!!. The Zymox with cortisone is excellent.  I use Thornit as a preventative with Riley (so far clean ears, dry and no problems)

[Colleen, Jake & Baxter]

I have used the above (Zymox Otic ear treatment with hydrocortisone) for over a year and a half and it has been a lifesaver.  I use it as a preventative before any baths & grooming several days beforehand and afterwards.   No ear infections ever since I started using it on Jake and he used to suffer from them all of the time.

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

Oliver has had ear problems since day one.  His vet would give me Remicin (gentamicin sulftate) ointment which really never worked.   I did some reasearch on line and found a recepie that works wonders for Oliver.  His ears are really large and very thick and heavy so no air gets in.  I use a two step process, a wash and then a powder.  I used this for two days 2x a day and the infection was gone.   The wash consists of Alcohol, boric acid powder and Gentian Violet mixed together, I wash his ears out then wipe dry with a gauze pad and then put a little powder  in his ears which makes them smell really clean and keeps them dry.  The powder is made up of zinc oxide powder, boric acid powder and idoform powder.  This two step process is amazing and works immediately.  The iodoform poweder kill anaerobic bacteria & fungi and the zinc oxide and boric acide keep the ear dry which prevents infections.   Ever since I used this method my baby has not had an ear infection, so much for expensive ear ointments the vet sells !!!