Dog's ear problems

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Dog's ear problems

Postby aunt betty » Tue Jul 11, 2017 10:41 am

Am on my third lab. Two of them so far have had pretty chronic ear problems. The wife, bless her heart, finally figured out why. We tried all sorts of things. Changed his food thinking it's food allergies. Nope. Cleaned the carpets like a freaking 5-star motel and still no help. Of course we were going to the vet. He;d give us ottomax wich kinda sort of maybe might have helped the symptoms but not really a cure. Damn we used a lot of that stuff and it's expensive to use on a really big dog.
Next he got a pretty bad infection which cleared right up after dosing him a while with the ear meds doc sold me.
Then it all started up again. Crap...

So the wife did some research on his symptoms that a trained vet surgeon missed!?!?!
His skin turns black in a lot of places like his belly, nuts,and around his eyes.
He gets crusty skin patches under his armpits and some on the rear legs too.
Chews and licks on his feet a lot.
Licks his belly button raw. That spot right in front of his penis.

Turns out he's suffering from yeast. He begs for bread and pizza crusts and she's been giving it to him. Tried getting her to not do it but too late it got done.

The cure. Two things we're doing seems to be kicking ass on his problem.
1. Been spraying him with a solution of vinegar and water. 1 part vinegar and 8 parts water.
2. Feeding him a couple tablespoons a day of this stuff called Kefir.
Not sure why but it's working. I think it's neutralizing the yeast in his gut.

His ears are nice and pink now. The blackness is going away and his fur is looking a whole lot better plus his fur got really soft.

Am sort of pissed that my high dollar vet could not tell me how to take care of the dog so he would not need expensive meds. Been fighting yeasty-dog for years and now I now why. Never let a dog eat bread.
I've heard that it's incredibly stupid to fuck around with a crazy man's head.
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Re: Dog's ear problems

Postby Darren » Tue Jul 11, 2017 10:51 am

Good to know, thanks for passing along. Mine has had a few bouts with funky ears, smelling like dirty socks and get that dark goop in there. Vet said "yeast" so wife and I started treating him with a similar vinegar solution in his ears......all gone. Now just have to remember to give him a preemptive treatment after we get back from water work or few hunt days.
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Re: Dog's ear problems

Postby aunt betty » Tue Jul 11, 2017 11:12 am

One thing the vet did tell me is that putting water in their ears is bad and will make ear problems get worse.
We've been spraying a micro-fiber rag with it then wiping his ears. They look like a puppies ears again now. Nice and pink.
The rest is spray and rub it in.
He don't like it much but is figuring out we're not trying to kill him and is taking his medicine. :clap:
The Kefir stuff alone is a good thing. Fur started growing back where he'd chewed it or licked it off.

Having a pet that hunts is sort of a pita sometimes.
The real hunters with real dogs tend to scoff at us so we go hunt alone somewhere else.

Oh...we tried the purple stuff too.

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Re: Dog's ear problems

Postby aunt betty » Sat Jul 15, 2017 7:12 pm

Here's a little info on something called Malassezia dermatitus which leads to chronic or recurrent ear infections. The more I research this the madder I get at the vet who would rather sell me expensive meds that only make the symptoms go away for a short time.
Milo is looking much much better now that he's been getting the right kind of treatment but it's still not over yet.
Have to give him baths more. Bathing a lab is a pita. Try getting one wet without a lake handy.
Ears pink but his skin isn't looking so great. Lots of blackened skin.

https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/ ... is-in-dogs
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Re: Dog's ear problems

Postby aunt betty » Mon Aug 07, 2017 8:04 am

No. It's not the water but is the pizza crusts my wife insists on sneaking the dog.
You can not eat pizza around him. Been trained to expect the crust.

Just don't feed your dog bread. The vinegar spay is "as needed".

You might notice when the dog's arm pits and belly gets a little crusty. That is also a symptom of a yeasty dog.
Spray ears, crusty patches, and paws. We spray the dog all over then towel him off and rub it in good.
Really has helped where ottomax and the other crap the vet sold us failed.

If you see your dog getting into paw-licking is another symptom of yeasty dog.

About medicating a dog. You have to start when they are a puppy and look them over all over. Get the puppy trained to let you mess with his feet and ears. Wipe his ears with a rag soaked in a little vinegar during training and the dog will get used to it. Same with feet. It's important because dogs hurt their feet. Getting the dog to let you look then is a real challenge if you've not trained it to accept that you're allowed to pick at his feet and ears. Start early.
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Re: Dog's ear problems

Postby aunt betty » Mon Aug 07, 2017 9:54 am

Putting water in their ears to clean out infection makes the infection worse is what I was told.
We'd been trying all sorts of stuff to clean up chronic gooky ears.
The vinegar solution is working great plus he gets that dose of Kefir every day.
The ear problems are history. I can't get my wife to quit being a dum dum maybe you'd like to give it a try.
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Re: Dog's ear problems

Postby Archeryrob » Tue May 29, 2018 6:26 am

This is the Purple stuff you can use on dogs ears if you have ear problems like mites. The Gentian Violet will stain you clothes, concrete and so on. Make sure you do it outside in the grass!! But it works great. Last dog had big ears nd always infected, this one has small ears and hardly even needs cleaning.

16 oz. bottle isopropyl alcohol (or witch hazel)
4 tablespoons Boric Acid Powder
16 drops Gentian Violet 1% Solution

Mix all ingredients in the alcohol bottle & shake. (make sure you shake before every application).
Treatment: Fill ear with solution & massage gently for 30 seconds and wipe with a tissue. Fill a second time and just wipe without massaging. The dog will shake the excess out. Be careful, the Gentian Violet could stain. I use a eye dropper to fill the ear.

Treatment:
2 times per day for the first 2 weeks
1 time per day for the next 2 weeks
1 time per month thereafter


Wouldn't solve your yeast problem but very helpful for other waterfowl dogs.
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Re: Dog's ear problems

Postby aunt betty » Tue May 29, 2018 6:47 am

The recipe for the "purple stuff" is well-known was tried first, and it did not work.
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Re: Dog's ear problems

Postby Rick » Tue May 29, 2018 7:50 am

We've had great luck with the "purple stuff," even with the alternate (non stinging) witch hazel substitution for alcohol.
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Re: Dog's ear problems

Postby aunt betty » Thu Jun 14, 2018 8:36 am

Have fought and fought with what the vet calls "yeasty dog". Can smell it.
Have changed food quite a few times and nothing seemed to matter.
So we looked at the dog treats. Damn they all contain brewer's yeast.
Milo has gotten to where it's not just ears. He's "yeasty".
It affects his skin too.

Anti-bacterial anti-fungal baths is what helps but it's just covering up the symptoms for a bit.

Apparently some dogs don't tolerate yeast.

He's spoiled and is bored.
No ducks, no geese make Milo something something.
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