My dog has recurring ear infection in one ear. (labrador, terrier, rottweiler)
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I've been rincing his ear out with water and vinegar and it helps. As soon as I stop it gets painful again. It's only been happening for a year about the time I sold my house and moved to an apt. The medicine worked for a while then, like the vinegar, it comes back again shortly. A vet on line said wash the dog all over with an antifungal. Would that help his ear? I feed him Newman's Own and he looks good for an older dog. He's a terrier about 11 or 12 and very active. Could the apt be moldy?
Kona had a ear infection a few years ago that wouldn't go away, finally took a vet visit and 10 days of an ear rinse and antibiotic ointment, no problems since.
Take him to the vet and get the medicine that is packed into the ear ONCE by the vet. It's very powerful. One application at the vet office and ear infection is gone. Not all vets have this type of medicine in stock. Call around and find one that does. Make an appointment at whichever vet you find that has it.
Rich, I have a Rottweiler who also has had chronic ear infections in only one ear. We have spent HUNDREDS of dollars trying to get it cleared up. I can't think of the name of the med Hopes is talking about, but we've done multiple rounds of that with no long-lasting effect. I believe it is a combo of 3 antibiotics to pretty much cover anything that is festering in the ear.
Is it an actual infection? The only reason I ask is we found with Holt that he only got infected when the wax buildup in his ear kept air from circulating well. I use some pads I found at Petsmart and we have only visited the vet one time in the last 8 months, and then we were able to treat the tiny amount of infection with oral cephalexin. I do have to clean his ear every single day and am amazed at the amount of black wax that comes out, but only out of the right ear. I had a Rottie with very floppy ears that I washed out with Otomax about once a week and that held her infection down; however, the current boy is blind and flips out with fluid going into his ears. He's not happy about the pads but will tolerate them. Win. Floppy eared dogs are more likely to develop infections.
Food allergies are often the cause of infections that never quite resolve. Newman's is a good brand of food - perhaps it is the protein source that is bothersome? If you're feeding chicken, you might try switching to beef. I don't think they make a lamb or fish-based food, but those are supposedly better in terms of causing allergies. However, I do think it's important that you find out what kind of infection it is - yeast and bacterial are the most common. If it's recurrent, insist on a culture. Your dog might be outside the norm and you could spend even more money trying to cure something it doesn't even have. I have heard some great things about Zymox, which I believe Amazon.com handles. You might try that with a regular cleaning regimen.
Thanks, Sam, this only happened since we moved to an apt. The apt is 40 years old and we vacuum up a ton of stuff every day--my wife is a cleanaholic too. I'm wondering if it something in the air or carpet. I'm going to trim the fur around his ears, give him a good anti-fungal bath and vinegar rince and maybe call my vet about that one-time treatment. Thanks all for the reply.
Take him to the vet and get the medicine that is packed into the ear ONCE by the vet. It's very powerful. One application at the vet office and ear infection is gone. Not all vets have this type of medicine in stock. Call around and find one that does. Make an appointment at whichever vet you find that has it.
Can you call the vet and get the name? I'd really like to know.
I just called. It's a BNT Treatment. The vet cleans the ears very good and then pack this medicine into the ears in the office.
You don't have to do anything at home. No cleaning. No applications of medicine. Nothing.
I learned about this by accident. I had a lab who would get ear infections after being groomed or swimming. I always had to apply the medicine from the vet at home multiple days, etc. When he had a recurrent infection, I truly hold myself responsible for not being the best at applying the medication appropriately.
When my beagle basset had an ear infection after a grooming, the vet just automatically did the BNT Treatment because she could tell there was no way we would be able to apply medication at home. He STRUGGLES big time when you try to do anything to him and it takes many vet techs to hold him down just to look into his ears. This was so wonderful I asked for the BNT Treatment for my Labrador and he never had an ear infection again!
I will NOT take my dogs to a groomer ever again. They always got ear infections after being groomed due to getting water in their ears. I don't clear their ears either. NEVER. If I mess with their ears, they'll get infections. I let the vet clean the ears if the vet thinks they need to be cleaned.
It's not due to your house being moldy. It's due to moisture in the ears, similar to how women get yeast infections. If anything, continually washing with vinegar could have washed all of the good bacteria away and caused a yeast infection. I doubt giving your dog a bath with an anti-fungal would make a difference for the ears. You mention an online vet, but have you ever taken your dog to the vet for ear infections? I'm wondering why you haven't tried the normal medicine the vets usually prescribe. I would never consider vinegar and water to be a strong enough treatment for a yeast infection that is strong enough to be recurring.
I hope you find a vet that has the BNT Treatment. Not all vets in my area do. Call around. If you can't find a vet with it, try begging your vet to order it specifically for you. If you can't find the BNT Treatment, get the regular medication that you need to apply multiple days. If you haven't tried that and have only been doing vinegar and water, the normal medication from the vet will help.
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