Conrad and the Yeastie Beasties

Sooooo, Conrad has a yeasty ear. It's his first ear infection of any kind since I can remember but it just will. not. go. away. We treated with Tresaderm for two weeks and when it still hadn't cleared up we got what our vet referred to as "The Big Guns". She did a slide and it's definately yeast and we got the big bad yeast annhilating ear drops, but I'm still not seeing much improvement.

Advice? Something I can add to (or remove from) his diet? He already gets live culture yogurt every day. Tea tree oil? Some sort of small animal sacrifice I can make on the Alter of the Yeast Gods?

Thanks!

Cressida, if I knew of something, I'd let you know. As is I'm sending out hound dawg vibes for a speedy recovery.

maybe if you wrestle in a vat of yogurt, you could appease the yeast gods.....
mmmmnope, I got nuthin/ sorry. -- but I hope it heals quickly!

My Daisy also has the Yeast Curse. I find that cleaning the ear frequently (like twice a week) helps. The stuff my vet gave me was an anti-fungal ear medication called Miconosol (Micaved Lotion): http://www.1800petmeds.com/pdetail.asp?SK=10088

It worked really well.

I battle the yeasties with my Newf. The blue power ear solution works great. Now that her ears have been in control for some time, I flush her ears out once and a while with the solution just to keep them yeast free.

I also completely avoid carbs and higher glycemic veggies with her. If I slip up and give her carbs, we know it.

There are also herbal supplements you can give to help combat yeast.

My friend uses this stuff called Erasil (I think that's how it's spelled) and it works well for her dog. I've never tried it though.

Gunnar, my GSD had horrible ear infections. We switched to a single source protein/grain food and used the blue power ear wash, we also added acidophilus a pro biotic you can find at whole food markets or health stores. He has been yeast infection free for over a year now and we were able to switch him back to a regular dog food although I stay away from multiple protein/grain sources still.

My Lab mix Beauty has had constant battles with yeasty ears for 2 1/2 years now. My vet and I have tried a wide variety of medications and ear cleaners, but nothing ever completely got rid of it.

I finally put her on an elimination diet and found (some of) the culprits - she can't tolerate rice, corn or soy at all. She is much better without those things in her diet, but still gets occasional mild flareups.

The best thing I have found to treat the infections is Zymox Otic. It's an enzymatic "goo" that you put in the ear daily for 1-2 weeks. The enzymes eat up all the yeast and bacteria and eventually leave her ear nice and clean. Best of all, it doesn't hurt or sting like so many other things do. She actually tilts her head for me to put the stuff in her ear.

Good luck trying to appease the Yeast Gods. It isn't easy.

Thanks everyone! If it doesn't clear up by the end of next week, I'm going to ask our vet about the Zymox Otic stuff.

Poor guy. He is really getting tired of me messing around with sticking stuff in his ear constantly.

You may want to look into these:

http://www.nzymes.com/Articles/Instructions_for_systemic_yeast_infections.htm

And, this is a home made ear flush/treatment that works incredibly well. I didn't believe it could work better than the "vet" stuff until I tried it and boy was I wrong. I worked in a vet clinic for quite some time and am familiar with effective ear meds, but this stuff is really great. Here is how you make it:

• 16 oz. bottle isopropyl rubbing alcohol
• 1/4 cup borid acid powder
• 20 drops 1% gentian violet.

Mix the above ingredients together. Shake well before each time you use it. Pour into the ear canal and massage around. Dab out excess with cotton or paper towel. You may want to do this once a day at first and then just every once in a while is all you should need to maintain healthy ears. Also, it can stain so do it outside.

Question on this ear cleaning solution mix.

If you dog is all white, will this solution color the hair when the dog shakes it's head? Can you clean it off the hair?

It will not clean off the fur easily. Gentian violet will stain everything - I always suggest cleaning the ears with it oustide the house unless you don't mind purple stains on floors.

If you soak up excess solution with a paper towel ( I think paper towels work best) after you do the flush the it will not stain very much if at all. You may see a little light lavendar under the ear flap.

Herschel is white and he never had problems with getting stained.

This is a good thread for more information about Blue Power Wash: http://www.chazhound.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58357

I swear by the blue power wash, but minus the blue. Just alcohol and boric acid work just as well for me.