HELP! My dog has had cronic ear infections for the past year.?

Question

she has been on antibotics, we clean them all the time, full of blackish brown guck. And they smell. The vet is at a loss as to what it can be. Alergies maybe, so we changed her food.

I switched her to a salamon flavored dog food. which takes 6 weeks to so any improvements. and I did make a appt with a different vet. :)

Answer 1

When you switched her food, did you switch to organic? Is she still producing all the wax? Did you buy the same meat when you changed the foods? It could be that she is allergic to a specific meat or some kind of preservative that they put in the food. Go organic.

Answer 2

Often this is caused by an allergy to wheat or corn - one of the top ingredients in dog food sold at grocery stores. Get a good quality dog food, like Eagle Pack, Innova, Evo, Canidae, Nutro, etc. Make sure meat is one of the top three ingredients in the food and wheat or corn is not there or very low on the list. Or, switch to raw feeding and/or home cooking.

The bottom line is NO GRAINS. At all.

My dog had chronic ear infections too. Even though he was on Eagle Pack dog food. Turns out I wasn't thinking about his biscuits - which were packed with grains. Or the cat food - which he used to get as a treat. And the occasional half of a sandwich I didn't finish - white bread!

Once I stopped giving him anything at all with grains, his ears started to clear right up.

Answer 3

I have to chime in here... If it isn't a bacterial infection, make sure they have tested for a fungal infection. Fungal usually smells bad (kinda yeast like), and can be caused by allergies. Fungal infections can be cleared up with the appropriate medicine. Rescue groups even us Monistat because it works as well as what you get from the vet, but is much cheaper.

If you have the time and don't mind doing this...

I recommend looking into a raw diet. Prey model is the best. I read a book called Raw Meaty Bones (it is available online at www.rawmeatybones.com) and it changed my rescue dogs life. She had all kinds of health issues when I got her... ear infection, demodectic mange, eye infection, etc. I switched her to a prey model diet and within 3 weeks her hair grew back, her ear cleared up completely, etc. It was great. It is like having a whole different dog.

I did tons of research trying to figure out how to help boost her immune system... I found out about raw feeding (even Oprah's vet said it is the best for dogs.)

Here are some sites to get some info:

www.rawmeatybones.com
www.rawfed.com
www.rawlearning.com
www.rawfeddogs.com

and if you decide to take the plunge and raw feed:

Here is the best place for help/amounts/types, etc.:

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/

Answer 4

My dog had a similar condition- I agree with some of the other posters that it does not sound like a food allergy- that would more likely manifest as skin rash and irritation. I used K9 Liquid Health ear cleaner- it's in a brown bottle and the liquid itself is blue- it cures anything from mites to just plain ear infection and cleared up Emmy's problem in about a week and a half. When you are done cleaning them out, make sure you dry them with pure cotton balls- moisture can amplify these infections. It may be a fungal thing- again, the product above will help. Good luck and update us w/ how she's doing.

Answer 5

Even if this food doesn't do the trick, keep trying. It took lots of experimentation with my dog do figure out what he could eat and what he couldn't. I actually ended up cooking for him because he was allergic to EVERY kibble I tried him on. He was also allergic to beef, chicken, pork, eggs, lamb, canned tuna, grains......I ended up having to feed him fish (bought frozen, usually pollock, sardines or smelts), potatoes and vegetables.

But in the end, I managed to clear up his skin and ears.

Go do some research on canine nutrition.

You might also try the Blue Power Ear Treatment. Just Google that term you'll get lots of pages with the recipe. It works wonderfully to clear up infections, but if the dog has allergies the ears will just get infected again until/unless you fix the underlying problem.

Answer 6

My Lab has chronic ear infections partly from allergies (his are not food) and half the reason is the shape of his ear drum and the flopped over ears. Dogs with the long ears get tehm more because there is no air circulation. All you can do is clean them, use the ointments from the vet when he gets them, and figure out the root of his allergies. My dog is on holistic care and it is the only stuff that works.

Answer 7

Food is not the only allergy out there! maybe she is alergic to her soap or the laundry soap you are using, or maybe wash her bed im something hypo allergenic. try to wash everything in your home like the carpet, your clothes, and anything else she comes in contact with with a hypo allergenic soap. also you may find the right sollution but the problem will probably come back, then change her food again, unfortunatly alergies do not ever go away!

Answer 8

What were you feeding and what are you feeding now. Many allergies to food are because of the grain. make sure the food has no corn, soy or wheat. You would want whole grains like rice or oatmeal.

Could be the protein as well.

Answer 9

Its because she has a narrow ear canal & most likely floppy ears so that she is not getting enough air flow to dry it out.It helps to have her in a cool envirorment & outdoors when not too hot out.You should be using a cleaning solution & ear drops as well.Have the vet show you how to so you dont go too far & injure the ear drum.Id try a different vet.Diet has nothing to do with it.

Answer 10

Dogs with "Flappy" ears are more prone to it. Our vet gave us a new medicinal product called "Burrows". We use it once a week and we haven't had any issues since. Also clean his ears once in a while.