Labrador Retriever Forum
I have a dog here that constantly has ear issues.
Have done the anitbiotics route, oral and topical, numerous times over.
It will get better but never 100% and then as soon as it's stopped, right back to square one.
According to cultures, there is mostly bacteria, some yeast but very little.
It smells horrible.
Any suggestions on what else to try? 
There is a surgery that opens the ear canal. My vet does them in extreme cases.
We have a old boy that is now deaf from chronic infections. Looking back I should have done the surgery on him when he was younger.... Hind sight is 20/20
I had 2 bitches with this problem. I would use antibiotics and the infection would appear to go away, only to return soon. Then I got a new vet for other reasons. He prescribed antibiotics but had me make another appointment at the end of the course of treatment and told me to keep the appointment no matter how good the ears looked. They looked fine to me but I went anyway and sure enough he looked inside and so a small amount of infection very deep in the ear. He tried another antibiotic and another and finally I went back and it was clear. The infection never returned. (Of course I also had changed foods and did regular cleanings from then on.)
have you done any allergy testing with the derm doc?
jan
Have you tried swabbing the ears out, daily, with a solution of 1/4 alcohol and 3/4 vinegar? That's what my vet reccommends for yeasty ears.
Zymox with hydrocortisone from vetamerica.com
Works when nothing else will.
Do you by chance give him rawhide to chew on? That may causes issues also. Hopefully you get it under color. I would recommend K9 ear cleaner (purple stuff) for maintenance.
zymox every day. It is not an antibiotic, it is an enzyme for the yeast. You can buy it at Amazon.com Make sure the dog has no corn, wheat or soy in it's diet- none at all. add apple cider vinegar to food every day- it will take a month or so, but will clear. Look at your dog treats too, many of those have corn or wheat. Make your own out of rice flour and oats. The dogs get so much yeast in their system, it takes time to clear.
Not sure if this will solve your problem since all problems are not the same or require the same treatment.
I had a pup that started to itch and have mucky eras. After cleaning and treating them with no success I changed food to no grain one, within a week the ears cleared up (I kept treating them) Now everything is under control. Maybe you can try this?
Good luck.
Could you be more specific on the kind of bacteria found in the ear? We have had 2 dogs over the years that have gotten pseudenomas in the ear. With the last bitch (it has returned 2 times) we get a culture done to define the bacteria and sensitivity for drug treatment. Each time the sensitivity has been a little different. We flush every week or week and half until the debris stops forming, then continue with the drugs until there is no debris whatsoever. We haven't had this happen to us - but if the bacteria gets behind the eardrum - it would need to be removed. We use drugs in the ear and also orally to fight this bacteria.
This is the ear formula that mimic's the formula of the mometamax. It is 16 oz isopropyl alcohol, 4 tbsp boric acid powder and 16 drops gentian violet.(The gentian is the working ingredient in the mometamax too) Be careful it stains clothing. Use two drops twice a day then once a day for several weeks and then you can decrease use. I use it once every several weeks now. My guys have had no ear infections since I started using this a few years ago and I had done several rounds of otomax, zymox and mometamax with my guys before without lasting success. You can also substitute tea tree oil for the gential violet as it too is an antibacterial/antibiotic/antifungal agent.
Good Luck.
Is this remedy okay for pregnant girls?
Susan,
I don't think it's such a good idea to use Tea Tree Oil in an affected ear. While you're correct, it does have antifungal properties, it can also cause irritation. That might be more of a hindrance than a help, and could lead to hematoma if the dog continues to scratch at the ear. A better substitute might be Calendula, which has antiseptic as well as soothing properties. JMHO
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Replying to:
This is the ear formula that mimic's the formula of the mometamax. It is 16 oz isopropyl alcohol, 4 tbsp boric acid powder and 16 drops gentian violet.(The gentian is the working ingredient in the mometamax too) Be careful it stains clothing. Use two drops twice a day then once a day for several weeks and then you can decrease use. I use it once every several weeks now. My guys have had no ear infections since I started using this a few years ago and I had done several rounds of otomax, zymox and mometamax with my guys before without lasting success. You can also substitute tea tree oil for the gential violet as it too is an antibacterial/antibiotic/antifungal agent.
Good Luck.
switch your dog food to Nature's Recipe Venison and Brown Rice and your troubles will soon leave.in many cases this is actually a allergy to products in reg.food
Careful with the tea tree oil. It can burn their skin. I tried a natural flea treatment on the dogs that had tea tree oil in it and it caused severe chemical burns on the skin. My Vet said not to use that on dogs.
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Replying to:
This is the ear formula that mimic's the formula of the mometamax. It is 16 oz isopropyl alcohol, 4 tbsp boric acid powder and 16 drops gentian violet.(The gentian is the working ingredient in the mometamax too) Be careful it stains clothing. Use two drops twice a day then once a day for several weeks and then you can decrease use. I use it once every several weeks now. My guys have had no ear infections since I started using this a few years ago and I had done several rounds of otomax, zymox and mometamax with my guys before without lasting success. You can also substitute tea tree oil for the gential violet as it too is an antibacterial/antibiotic/antifungal agent.
Good Luck.
My 9 yr. old had chronic ear infections from the time we got her (age 2). We were constantly at the vet trying to clear it up, twice had her sedated so they could completely clean her ears out. Vet put her on a fish & potato food, which worked but was quite expensive. I switched her to Eagle Pack Holistic - salmon/anchovy/sardine formula - and we haven't had a problem since. Good luck!
While I agree with the cautions on the tea tree oil, please remember that this is 16 DROPS in 16 fluid ounces of liquid. I personally do not use the tea tree oil, as I prefer the gentian. However, as we all know every dog reacts differently to different chemicals and some react better to one than the other.
Regardless, good luck in finding the solution as gunky ears are such a pain!!
More and more of the allergy research on dogs in places like Tufts is showing a connection between diet and chronic ear infections/problems. Easy and cheap solution is to switch to a food that has as little in common with your old food as possible in terms of ingredients. Could be raw,one of the no carb diets like Orijen, one of the prepared foods you add your own protein to, or you could start down the road of learning to cook for your dog. Expect to see any benefits from the change about 6 weeks out. You may have to use this approach a couple of times since you don't know what may be triggering the allergic responses.
More expensive option...consult with an allergy vet; do the blood tests and have the vet put your dog on a cleansing diet..I believe Science Diet has one that allergy vets use. There is one in Canada called EXCLUDE that works well, but for some reason, there don't seem to be USA distributors anymore. If you can get it, I would give it a try to get his system flushed out.
The meds are great, but it is only treating the symptoms, not the cause. Certainly use them, along with a pH regimen to keep the ears from providing a good medium for bacteria and yeast growth, but finding the cause will ultimately be the best for you, your sanity, and certainly for your dog.
PREGNANT BITCHES-Zymox (corizone free)
NON PREGNANT bitches & dogs-Zymox with cortizone
Follow the directions on the container exactly! Works beautifully and does not irritate...even ulcerated ears...killys yeast ans pseudemonia
Gentian violet is an antifungal. Mometomax does have an antifungal, but is also a potent antibiotic. To imply this is the same is misleading.
There is not a "one size fits all" drug for ear problems. Cultures and sensitivity tests should be done to see what might work best. JMO. Also - are there that many dogs out there with allergies? Just seems like there is so much talk about it.
