Recurring ear infections! HELP!

[catstamm]

Does anyone have any advice on recurring ear infections and allergies. If you recall my horrible experience at the vet last month w/ Carlee, and an ear infection. Now it has gotten worse, to the point of stumbling yesterday. Today after work we went to Lee Anne's and it was terrible. She looked drunk and kept falling and triping over herself. She has all the signs of an inner ear infection (so much for the ear drops) and we are off to the vet tomorrow. From everything I've read these ear problems are most often caused by allergies. Does anyone know of any natural remedies or suppliments I could use once this is cleared up? I hate pumping my dogs w/ antibiotics and crap. I'd I would hate for her to continue to have these problems.
She has had very little, if any, hearing since I brought her home.....which I am sure is from untreated ear problems her whole life.
Why do people breed these diluted dogs????? The skin and allergy problems they have is heartbreaking :sosad:

[Courtney]

Treat it from the inside out with a raw, natural diet...

http://www.rawmeatybones.com/book-files/ww.pdf

[Chris]

Why do people breed these diluted dogs?????

My Ollie is a diluted coat. Brown nose, pink lines around his cute little eyeballs, light brown eyes the color of well creamed coffee. Man, was he a can of worms with his ears. The first few months he just couldn't shake it. Just as it is cleared up, he got it again.

I have to look to see what medicine help him finally kick it. One was a regular vet med. and then there was a homeopathic one that had an smokey / ashy smell to it that kicked it. And when you squeezed it out it was a pale pinkish color. Does anyone know what i am talking about?
Whatever it is, it did good for Ollie. Oh, i am still very watchful because you just never know when he might start up. But he has done very well this past year.

But i agree with Courtney on also going the nutritional route.

[oceangirls]

My mom and I had a cocker spaniel named Amber who had abnormally narrow ear canals. She had chronic ear infections and ended up having both ear canals ablated (surgically closed) which in retrospect we should have done a lot sooner to spare her some of the steroids and antibiotics - she eventually ended up with kidney failure.

I would totally agree with Courtney and my first route would be diet. However, I don't feed raw - I would probably try some of the different foods like Wellness Simple Solutions or others that don't contain common allergens (like corn or in some cases eggs, etc) or lots of fillers or additives. You may have to experiment with different single proteins like chicken vs beef vs fish. If you can get an allergy profile done to see what she is sensitive too, that can help.

As far as supplements vs drugs, that might be a great option. My cautions on supplements are
(1) they ARE drugs (you just can't patent a plant, so no one will spend the money on research studies) and also have the potential to cause kidney/liver damage
(2) since they are not regulated by the FDA, sometimes what you're buying is just an expensive sugar pill... other times it's something that's not supposed to be in there. For instance, impure prescription drugs have been found in some "natural" supplements :faint: - one example is an impure Valium was used in an antianxiety supplement (forget which - might have been valerian or kava)

I am not totally against supplements, but I have heard/read enough horror stories to be cautious. If you have the option of using an experienced holistic provider to guide you, I think this is a fantastic option. Patrice (lotsadox) has used one with great success - she might be able to offer advice on finding a good one.

Rayz for Carlee :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: this is a tough problem :( By the time we started switching foods around for Amber, it was too late to help much.

[lotsadox]

I agree with Courtney also. Nutrition will be the answer to keeping the infections at bay. I'm sure that there are some homeopathic remedies out there that will help get rid of the current infection. I've never had any ear problems so I don't know of any to recommend. :sorry:

[catstamm]

Well....as I'm sure most of you know, I'm not sold on the raw diet,....too many mixed reviews for me to jump in.....with that said, Carlee and Cami eat "Nature's Variety Praire Venison, as well as "Solid Gold, "Barking at the moon"....the new Salmon based kibble. They also get 100% wild salmon oil, glucosamine, and vitamins suppliments. I think their nutrition is good ?????
I guess, I was just wondering if anyone uses any holistic herbs or suppliments. That would help prevent the problem in the future?
The vet confirmed, what I have already learned today, that skin, coat, allergy and ear problems are seen with diluted dogs, especially the blue coats. She did say that I have done a great job with her coat, no bumps, pimples, or dry flaky skin, which results in staph infections.
Courtney, you know I agree with 99% of everything you have to say. Maybe one day I'll be saying, why didn't I listen to Courtney?.....but for now
Our Government can't seem to get it right at regulating raw meat for human consumption.....so why would I trust anyone regulating it's safely for my dog.
JMAO

[Patt]

Allergies could be the reason for recurrent ear problems. Also problem with thyroid. I’ve read changing the diet might help but have no idea if this is true. Wellness Simple Solutions is a good brand, only 5 ingredients. Since it's an inner ear infection I would work closely with your vet on this one.
Sending lots of ear :bigrayz: :rayz::bigrayz: :rayz::bigrayz: for Carlee. :hearts:

[Wiener Mom]

My Oskar was constantly having ear infections as well. I changed his diet to Natural Balance Hypo-Allergenic - has never had another.
I'm not sold on the RAW or BARF diets, but I know some believe whole heartedly in them.
What are you feeding your pupper now?

[oceangirls]

What are you feeding your pupper now?

In her post below, Cat mentions feeding Nature's Variety Praire Venison and Solid Gold "Barking at the Moon" (cute name). I see from the ingredients they look like very good foods, but of interest they both contain egg - that was one of the things Amber was allergic to. However, if you've already tried experimenting with different foods without much benefit, it might be airborne allergies in which case diet won't fix the problem. Is she better during other times of year (like winter vs summer?).

On the www.dogaware.com site, there is a section on ear problems with some links and I see they mention a couple of supplements for dogs with chronic problems. You might find some ideas there; the site is pretty reputable.

Also if it IS an allergy issue, consider the shots if that's an option - it might desensitize her over time and spare her the antibiotic/steroid use. Those helped Amber quite a bit, but when the ear canals are abnormal, they are prone to getting things stuck in there (grasses and other irritants) that cause inflammation which leads to scratching and infection, etc. In that case you can only do so much with food and supplements. I hope that is not Carlee's problem.

Sorry this is way more info than you wanted - just hoping you don't have to go through what we did, if there is anything I can suggest that would help:(

[catstamm]

My Oskar was constantly having ear infections as well. I changed his diet to Natural Balance Hypo-Allergenic - has never had another.
I'm not sold on the RAW or BARF diets, but I know some believe whole heartedly in them.
What are you feeding your pupper now?
It's 2 posts above yours.
Patt you are right, it is caused from allergies, and is a huge problem with diluted dogs....especially blues! Right now she is on Baytril and Dermlone (drops) ....everyone cross your fingers....that she gets better.
The good thing is she make NO attempts to ever think about jumping off anything!!

[catstamm]

In her post below, Cat mentions feeding Nature's Variety Praire Venison and Solid Gold "Barking at the Moon" (cute name). I see from the ingredients they look like very good foods, but of interest they both contain egg - that was one of the things Amber was allergic to. However, if you've already tried experimenting with different foods without much benefit, it might be airborne allergies in which case diet won't fix the problem. Is she better during other times of year (like winter vs summer?).

On the www.dogaware.com site, there is a section on ear problems with some links and I see they mention a couple of supplements for dogs with chronic problems. You might find some ideas there; the site is pretty reputable.

Also if it IS an allergy issue, consider the shots if that's an option - it might desensitize her over time and spare her the antibiotic/steroid use. Those helped Amber quite a bit, but when the ear canals are abnormal, they are prone to getting things stuck in there (grasses and other irritants) that cause inflammation which leads to scratching and infection, etc. In that case you can only do so much with food and supplements. I hope that is not Carlee's problem.

Sorry this is way more info than you wanted - just hoping you don't have to go through what we did, if there is anything I can suggest that would help:(
Wow Great info Kim...thanks so much. I'll check out dogaware, again.
What do you feed Amber?
I have so many dog foods in this house, I should open a store.... I have Canidae "Platinum", Solid Gold, Wellness, "Lite", Nature's variety Praire, and Wysong....and "Hot Pockets" for the hoomans :rotfl: :rotfl:

[Patt]

Great post Kim, lots of good info. :appl: :appl: :appl:

Many :bigrayz: :bigrayz: to Carlee :crossfin: :crossfin:

[oceangirls]

Amber went to the Bridge in May 2005 when she was 12-1/2. I think she was usually eating Purina One or something similar most of her life - by the time we learned about better foods (on dog message boards!), she was starting to have early symptoms of kidney failure and it was hard to get her to eat so Mom ended up switching foods around and incorporating some cooked chicken, etc, just to get her to eat something. By the time we tried Wellness, Natural Balance, etc., she'd already had the ear canal surgery by then so I can't really say how much that would have helped the ear problems.

[Tex]

Sorry I'm late getting to this one Cat. No expert advice here, but sending huge healthy ear :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: for Carlee!!! How about an update? Is she doing better? Nothing is worse than having to watch them do the "drunk dachshund" walk bc of an ear infection.........