HELP! Prolonged ear infection...

[dilhrchick]

My Koda has had an ear infection in both ears for well over a year now. He's been to the same vet twice for it and both times they gave me the same meds (ear drops), but it still didn't clear up the infection. It helped a little, but it just comes back and gets progressively worse.

At this point, my hubby is out of work and we don't have the approximate $150 it will cost to go to a different vet to get his ears taken care of. They are red, itchy and painful to him and he's constantly shaking his head. Sometimes he scratches so bad his ears bleed. I don't know what to do since I don't have the $$ to take him to the vet now. Please help........

[FlyAway]

I feel your pain. I had the same problem with my dog last year. Months and months of ear pain and scratching until they bled. I have 2 different vets and both had different medicines.

Try Zymox to start. I needed to clean my dog's ears twice a day.
Zymox Ear Cleanser for Dogs and Cats | NationalPetPharmacy

Unfortunately, Zymox did not cure my dog, but it helped a lot.

What ultimately worked for my dog was an ear cleaner with Borax (sodium borate) in it. So, I think my dog's ears were probably a yeast infection.

Maybe somebody has a more experience, but like I said, my poor dog suffered for months until I finally got it straightened out.

http://dogaware.com/health/ears.html#solutions

[1sttimeforgsd]

I don't know about a really bad ear infection, but for occasional flareups I use 1/2 white vinegar and 1/2 water. I understand the $$ situation, as life has thrown us a curve also. Hope that your future will get better and that you find something to work for your Koda's ears.

Also try the search in the black line at the top of the page, I think that there was a discussion a few days ago about the same thing. Good luck.

[huntergreen]

i have literally spent thousands of dollars on kyra's ears over the years. as i work in a hospital i have also tried people meds with out success. over the summer i cultured her ears, came back with mrsa and a couple other things with out senceativity to antibiotics. i just bought zymox yesterday for 21 dollars and change. we will see if this works. worth a shot as i have exhausted all people and vet script meds. the label says it is effective in treating mrsa, but i highly doubt this.

[N Smith]

"Blue Power Ear Cleaner"

INGREDIENTS:
16 Oz. bottle of Isopropyl Alcohol (standard 70%)
4 Tablespoons of Boric Acid Powder
16 Drops of Gentian Violet Solution 1%
Mix together in alcohol bottle and shake well.

http://www.itsfortheanimals.com/Adobe/Blue%20Power%20Ear%20Treatment.pdf


Never tried this, but I have heard from people who's dogs were having recurring ear infections that it is a god send. Please do this outside though, as it is pretty messy.

Ideally, you want to get to the root cause of the ear infections, but this may help get you through the holidays and provide relief for your pup.

[GatorBytes]

Huntergreen...read this about MRSA, although doesn't specify how, you cna look into w/your vet - I know B12 comes in injections so why not B3

Vitamin B3 may help in fight against staph infections, ?superbugs? | News & Research Communications | Oregon State University

Raw Organic cold pressed coconut oil (Nutiva), I use by swabing some on a soft white cloth (T-shirt material) and rubbing in the ear allowing enough to melt into the canal...this kills yeast and bacteria and emulsifies the gunk to bring up to the surface...was the only thing I tried that works and he will let me do.

You can get Goldenseal or Mullien tincture (in alcohol), melt couple tbslps. of coconut oil (not in micro), put in shot glass and then glass in hot (not boiling)water bath and add 20 drops of tincture and mix, drizzle melted oil into each ear - about a tsp. each. Massage the base of the ear to work in, allow head shake and swab gunk out as it comes up...do 2x a day..should make about 3 days worth. Just resubmerge the shot glass in hot water to melt.

You can sub olive oil or sweet almond oil, but coconut oil has healing properties of it's own.

You can also crush fresh garlic and allow to infuse in oil for 20 mins, strain the garlic use alone or w/goldenseal

Perhaps garlic gelcaps, and pierce and add to oil - not sure if has the same healing properties of fresh garlic

[mcavan]

We battled years of ear infections, scratching so much Oeska would get hematoma's that needed surgical repair from the scratching and head shaking and none of the topical medications worked for her. Finally we consulted with Lew Olson of B-Naturals with all her symptoms, she also had many allergies, yeasty smelling feet/skin, would get hotspots and more....Lew recommended removing ALL carbs from her diet (this was MANY years ago when very few people fed raw) so we switched her to raw, just meat, bones, organ meat (pre packaged BARFWorld products back then) and within days there was an improvement and within a couple of weeks almost of her symptoms dissapeared. She lived many more years, never had another ear infection or hematoma..she still would get a little itchy certain times of the year due to her other allergies (she was also allergic to human dander :-() but nothing like what we saw when she was on dog food.....

[Magwart]

My last dog came out of the shelter with a bad, painful ear infection. They prescribed Clavimox (a wide-spectrum, powerful oral antibiotic pill). It successfully knocked the infection out, and it didn't come back. We also had to clean the puss out of his ears twice daily with sterile guaze and gentle ear cleaning solution while he was on the antibiotics.

[Verivus]

I don't know if I'd start anything without actually knowing what kind of ear infection your dog has other then to provide pain relief. You can make the problem worse.

[DHau]

My step mom had a dog that had constant ear infections. It turned out there was a broken bone deep within the ear.

If I were in your shoes, I would tell the new vet's office what is going on with your dog's ears as well as your financial situation. Maybe you can make payments or make some sort of trade in labor. Vets can always use help with cleaning cages if they do boarding.