Sunday 2/5/12 Update - I'm at a loss - several months of yeasty ear infection

[Christine & Camus]

UPDATE Sunday, February 5, 2012

Medication problems.  Okay the liquid ear cleaners burn Camus' skin, so the dermatologist prescribed an oral anti-fungal, as well as prednisone.  Camus has been vomiting since ~ 4:30 PM today. It is only 6 PM and he has vomited 5 times  6 times (he is vomiting as I type).  No dinner or meds tonight, just small amounts of water to keep him hydrated and I am going to sleep on the couch since there is carpet in my bedroom.  Back to the vet tomorrow.

UPDATE February 3, 2012:

Camus had his first visit to the dermatologist this afternoon.  Karen - thank you so much for alerting me to the dangers of long-term ear infections and suggesting I take him to a specialist. 

His ear was a mess, the canal was blocked up to his eardrum, which thankfully was intact and undamaged.  With the blockage NO amount of ear cleanser or medication was going to make a difference, it could not get through the blockage. Karen advising me to take him to a specialist was exactly what he needed.  Had I not consulted the dermatologist his ear may well have ended up being permanently damaged, and it would have been MY FAULT.  I feel bad having waited this long.  If your doodle has ear problems please consider consulting a veterinarian dermatologist.

The doctor irrigated his ear, cleaning it out completely, prescribed an antifungal oral medication and short-term prednisone for the inflammation.  Since the typical ear flushing solutions burn his skin she does not want me to use epi-otic or any other cleansing solution.  He has a follow-up appointment in 2 weeks.  Although he only has the ear and eye symptoms now, considering the symptoms he has had in the past she thinks it is most likely atopy.  I am going to have the skin testing done, but will have to wait since he is taking prednisone for his ear.  The cost for today's visit was remarkable low, only $185.34, which included the exam, the ear irrigation (he was good so they did not need to anesthetize him.), and medication.  The intradermal allergy testing will cost $415, plus office visit $69, and if antigens are necessary an additional $200 for a 4-6 month supply.  They will also teach me how to give him the injections!  One point of interest is, according to the specialist, that research shows in Southern California ~ 70% of the dogs diagnosed with atopy have eye and ear involvement.

Camus has had an ear infection (yeast) for at least the past 5-6 months. Only in one ear and I cannot get rid of it.  He is super-sensitive to the ear washes, his ear gets more sensitive when I flush it.  I flush the ear, clean it with cotton swabs, apply Entederm, and still the infection persists.  He paws at it, shakes his head, and has begun to whimper when he scratches it. In addition to his ear, he scratches and chews his paws. He gets an antihistamine (Hydroxyzine 50 mg) 2x daily.  The scratching has decreased in the last few weeks, but it will start up again if I do not bathe him every week.  He gets a fish oil supplement (human grade) and although I know these are not symptoms of a food allergy I recently switched him to Natural Balance Duck & Potato.  The vet said it is allergies. Any advice?

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Knock on wood, we have been ear problem free ( Also chronic in one ear since last Summer). Currently, we are using Thornit, and stopped pulling ear hair. So sorry you are having these problems

[Christine & Camus]

Camus does not have any ear hair

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

When I brought Oliver home he had a ear infection in both ears with that brown gunk.  When I brought him to the vet for his check up and the rest of his shots she gave me a ointment for his ears and a wash.  I did as instructed but it really never seemed to clear up totally.  I would clean his ears with q-tips, then do the wash, then the ointment.   This went on for a months.  Then I started doing some research and found on line a wash and powder that you make yourself so I figured I have nothing to loose because this ear infection thing was going on for about a year now.  The ear powder treatment is a mix of 4 oz. zinc oxide powder, 4 oz boric acid powder and 1/2 ox iodoform powder.  I had to get the boric acid powder on line.  Then the wash is 16 oz. bottle of Isopropyl alcohol, 4 tablespoons of boric acid powder, 16 drops of gentian violet solution.  I must say that the powder smells really nice and clean.   I mixed both the powder treatment and the ear wash treatmet and have enough for the next 10 years LOL.  All the ingreidents are fairly inexpensive and a lot less expensive than the crap I was buying from the vet.  Anyway.... after two days of washing Ollies ears out with the wash and putting a pinch of powder in his ears the infection was gone !!!!  This works like a charm.  You have to be careful of the wash because the Gentian Violet is purple and it stains so I put the wash in Oliver's ears at the back door, rub the bottom of his ear to swich things around a bit then let him outside so he can shake the excess out.  Then when he comes in I wipe inside of his ears with a gauze pad which cleans them out way better than a q-tip and put a pinch of powder in his ears which keeps them dry and smelling really good.  It has been about 7 months since the first treatment and Ollie has never got another ear infection !!!  About once a month I will do the wash and put a pinch of powder in his ears as a preventative.  Good luck I know where you are coming from.

[Christine & Camus]

Thank you Barbara.  I am going to try the powder, but I am afraid of the wash because every time I wash his ears they get so red and irritated.

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

Glad I can help :)  Oliver's ears always seemed to red and irritated too, the was is a good cleaner, and with the alcohol it dries them out very well.  I have also just put the liquid on a gauze pad and wiped around in his ears as well.. you may want to try that as well. 

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I have had two dogs with severe ear problems over the years and I found through a long and expensive process not to mention painful for the dogs that using Thornit  which is a dry powder is the best cure and preventative.  Washing and wet ears did no good at all.   The main ingredient in thornit is iodoform which you can see is one of the ingredients in Barbara B's powder that she makes herself, Since I got Riley and he did start scratching his ears very early on I started using Thornit once a week and so far no problems at all.  I am of the opinion that the cure needs to be dry rather than wet, that once you get it under control you need to use preventative treatment and that if you see a dog even shaking his head you need to take action.  I am not convinced that this is food related.  I would try Barbara B's home made cure (i couldn't get the iodoform here to make it myself) or buy Thornit which is inexpensive, the only thing is that it does smell chemically.

Good luck with this.

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

 Nicky, you are so right... I also came to the conclusion that why put something wet into the ear like onitment that the vet gave me because the moist environment is what is causing the problem !!!  Ollie has very big, heavy, thick ears and his ear cannal is large so I can get my finger in for a good cleaning. 

[Christine & Camus]

Thank you Nicky.  I've heard good things about thornit.  If the iodoform alone doesn't clear the infection I'll give thornit a try.  Camus has environmental allergies I am just not sure what they are specifically, so I agree with you on it not being food related, but I thought it would not hurt to try.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

I have been having the same issue with Wnston. I got my thornit powder a few days ago. I tried to apply it but I found it hard to get it right, and ended up getting it everywhere.

Do you put the "pinch" of powder right inside the ear, or around the opening. The instructions seemed to indicate it goes around the opening but I'm not sure how that is supposed to clear up wax that is insie the ear...

If I get it on his skin around the outter part of his ear will it irritate the skin?

I totally agree about the liquid wash. I try to put cotton balls in his ears to absorb any residual moisture but he shakes them out right away...

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

I'm lucky where Oliver has big ear holes :)   I wrap a thin layer of gauze pad around my pinky finger and dip it into the powder, I wipe off excess and them put my finger into his ear.  I only put a very little bit just to keep it dry.  If you hold the ear  straight up you can see pretty far down into the ear cannal and it makes it easier to get the powder in there.  In the beginning of my adventure with Ollies ears I would dip a q-tip into the powder and wipe around inside his ear but found the gauze pad works better because you get to clean and leave a bit of drying power too.

 

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

that's great! thanks for the tip.

[Ann Kurtzman]

I can vouch for the boric acid, gentian violet and alcohol mix. Dudley had a problem that I was back and forth to the vet wwith for ages...this cleared it up and he has not had a problem now in over a year!