# Long post but need thoughts/suggestions!



## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

I am having an issue with Rex and Leo's ears. Rexy started having ear issues in April. His ears were red and produced a thick dark wax. I worked with our vet through the Spring and Summer to no avail. We treated with antibiotic ointment that went in the ears and homeopathy remedies. I tried apple cidar vinegar, witch hazel and distilled water ear rinse. I changed his diet from kibble to Darwin's frozen raw which he ate for 2 months then wouldn't eat anymore, back to a different kibble then to Primal Freeze-dried raw beef which he is eating now. About the time we started the Primal i also added the Proviable-DC and Only Natural Pet Immune Strengthener. The dark wax cleared up and I thought I was on a solution to the ear issue. I put Leo on the Primal, Proviable-DC and Immune Strengthener as well because we were going on vacation and the frozen raw was too much trouble to take with us. The other change I made at this time was to switch to CC Fair Advantage Shampoo. Though both dogs seem fine in all other ways, they have both have ear issues. Rex no longer has thick dark wax in his ears (yeast I think) but now his ears and Leo's ears are very red and some itchy and are just getting worse. I have to do something to figure this out. 

If they were yours where would you start? My inclination is to stop everything I am currently doing and go to something else but what? When I was feeding before I changed to the Primal I was using turkey and duck primarily with sweet potato treats and some fish based food and treats. 

When I switched to the Primal beef Rexy's ears stopped producing the thick dark wax. Leo was fine on the Darwin's and I still have some but honestly I really don't like messing with the frozen raw and DH refuses to even try to feed the pups for me with the frozen raw. Both pups ears are red and somewhat itchy though not intensely so. I started putting coconut oil and lavender oil in them last night just to try to soothe the inflamed skin. It did seem to help with the itch but the ears are still red. Obviously this isn't the source to the inflammation. 

Any ideas?


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## Chasing Mayzie (Aug 16, 2016)

My pup, Mayzie, was diagnosed with sarcoptic mange. Oh how those ears itched! What I did to comfort the itch while the mange was being treated was to rub coconut oil all over it a few times a day. It seemed to soak in and disappear, almost like hand sanitizer. I also heated it up and added about a tablespoon to her kibble (Wellness TruFood grain-free slow cooked raw). As far as whether it helped her immune system or anything, I can't say, but as far as a soothing treatment, that worked. 

Hope your little guys get on track soon!


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

i would suggest Jean Dodds Nutriscan testing and go from there. NutriScan Food Sensitivity and Intolerance Test for Cats and Dogs - Dr. Dodds


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## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

Here is my 10 cents which is worth, at most, 2 cents. I treat Ricky's ear with Ori-Optic once a month as a prophylactic. Ori-Optic is available at the chain pet stores as well as on-line without a prescription. I also keep the hair clipped very short at the entrance to his inner ear. All this was recommended to me by Ricky's Vet. Ricky was experiencing ear infections until I started this regimen, and he has not had any problems since.

All dogs are different. What works for one my not work for another. You may want to try what I do, but I won't recommend that it will work.

Good luck to your two little boys. Your Vet may need to prescribe an anti-inflammatory medication for them. I don't think it has anything to do with the food.

Ricky's Popi


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## Tux's Mom (May 24, 2016)

Tux developed a swollen itchy red ear in one ear. The Vet treated the infection. Cured. 
As a preventative she recommended several things. I have followed her instructions, and there have been no more ear issues.

One: Keep hair pulled out of inner ears. (It can literally matt inside the ear canal and you can't see it)
Two: Keep water out of the ear canals when bathing. (stuff with cotton balls and avoid water near the insides of the ear)
Three: flush both ears especially after bathing with Ketoseb + PS Flush and dry ears afterward. (makes the ears smell really good too).

Good luck.
Nancy


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

I seems strange that both Rex and Leo are having ear issues... Just thinking it would probably be a good idea to keep the ears dry. My two have the hair in the ear canal plucked during grooming. The groomer uses a special powder first and then plucks. We have never had any ear problems. I know the raw diet is supposed to be the best, but I don't feel comfortable feeding raw. I think I would find a one ingredient kibble. I know a friends dog has a lot of skin allergies and the only food that doesn't cause a problem is rabbit. I have no idea what might work...Have you tried cooking their food? Then you would know there are no additives.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Chronic ear problems are SO often food intolerance, but just changing from one commercial food to another can be an exercise in futility if you don't know WHAT food is causing the problem. WhenKodi was at his worst, my (integrative practice) vet suggested a two prong approach. First she put him on a temporary VERY limited ingredient diet, to get all but tow foods out of his system. It was JUST ground turkey and sweet potato. She says this can't, of course be a permanent diet, but it is close enough to complete that she feels comfortable leaving a dog on it for 6-8 weeks to get all other reactions to potential "problem floss" to settle down. At the same time, we did the Nutriscan testing. When it came back, we reintroduced a diet that avoided all of his problem foods. He still has some allergy issues, but they are WAY, WAY less then before. 

I had tried a bunch of different foods too, and things would appear to get better for a while then would worsen again. Now I know that the culprit was fish. When I heard that he was HIGHLY reactive to fish, I was perplexed, because, to my knowledge, I'd never fed him fish. (because I hate the smell of fish-based foods) Then i started reading ingredients lists more carefully, and further down... MANY commercial dog foods, including very high quality ones, contain fish oil, because it's GOOD for most dogs... NOT good for Kodi. I doubt we ever would have tracked this down without Nutriscan testing.


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## Tux's Mom (May 24, 2016)

I would also consider the groomer who is plucking their ears. If they don't wash and sterilize their tweezers, then think how easy it would be to pass infection from one dog to another. You can pluck their ear hairs very easily if you do it often while the hairs are still few and fine. Then apply the antiseptic flush, and dry.


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## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Our groomer plucks with her finger tips. I remember she mentioned using tweezers isn't a good idea.


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## Chasing Mayzie (Aug 16, 2016)

goldanimals said:


> ...One: Keep hair pulled out of inner ears. (It can literally matt inside the ear canal and you can't see it)
> ...


I second this. My vet regularly pulls the hair out of Mayzie's ears for me. He explained the same thing Nancy mentioned here.


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## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

Thank you all for your comments. Leo's left ear was really red and sore this morning so I took him to a different vet as mine was away for the holiday. This vet swabbed his ears and found them to have yeast and a bit of staph infection.he gave me Tri-Otic drops to use twice daily for 10 days. I will get with my regular vet this week and work out a dietary plan and see about getting a Nutriscan done for both of the pups. I would really like to get their ear issues resolved and I do think diet plays a role in their ability to resist infection and fungus. I will let you guys know how things progress. Thanks again.


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## Jackie from Concrete WA (Mar 23, 2015)

Gee, I'm so sorry about all the ear problems! I was going to suggest maybe going to a different vet, but I just read you saw a different one already. Sure hope you can get to the route of the problems.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Chasing Mayzie said:


> I second this. My vet regularly pulls the hair out of Mayzie's ears for me. He explained the same thing Nancy mentioned here.


It really depends on the dog and the amount of hair they grow in thier ears. I plucked Kodi's ears a few times when he was very young, because I thought I should. My vet told me he didn't need it, so I stopped. His ears haven't been plucked in over 6 years, and they are clean as a whistle. I don't pluck either of the girls ears either.

This is NOT a one right answer issue, check with your vet. Some Havanese need thier ears plucked, for others, it is a unnecessary irritant to the skin inside the ear, which can cause its own problems.


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## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

Leo does get hairy ears. I don't pluck them clean but about every 3 months I do pluck out some hair. Just enough to open things up a bit. That has worked pretty well for him until now. 

I don't feel like the medicine the vet gave me is anything other than a bandaid so to speak. I needed something to calm down his left ear in particular. Now it's trying to figure out the real cause. Since yeast lives on just about everything including our dogs the real challenge is figuring out what caused this acute bloom so to speak. Primal Freeze-dried food has good protein and low glycemic veggies. No potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, soy, grains or added sugars that supposedly can feed yeast. I have been restricting the very few treats to freeze-dried beef liver or freeze-dried beef. I did add Proviable-DC. Reading about it says it has no known side-effects and the probiotic supplement sold by Dr. Peter Dobias to deal with yeast among other issues is quite similar. 
I have been giving the pups Only Natural Healthy Pets Immune Support which includes some mushrooms. Another website included mushrooms as a substance to eliminate from the diet when trying to get yeast under control so I will stop that supplement for awhile. I only give the pups filtered water. I limit vaccines, don't use lawn products, use vinegar as a household cleaner, use Charlie's Soap for laundry and household cleaning. I started using CC Fair Advantage shampoo so I will go back to CC Spectrum 10 for awhile. I feel do frustrated trying to figure this ear thing out. For several months with Rex and more recently with Leo. I will do a Nutriscan in the next week or two to see if that can help with the diet. Anyway I feel bad for the boys. Especially Leo as he is very pain sensitive.


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## Chasing Mayzie (Aug 16, 2016)

krandall said:


> It really depends on the dog and the amount of hair they grow in thier ears. I plucked Kodi's ears a few times when he was very young, because I thought I should. My vet told me he didn't need it, so I stopped. His ears haven't been plucked in over 6 years, and they are clean as a whistle. I don't pluck either of the girls ears either.
> 
> This is NOT a one right answer issue, check with your vet. Some Havanese need thier ears plucked, for others, it is a unnecessary irritant to the skin inside the ear, which can cause its own problems.


Yes, that makes sense. On one hand, not plucking the hair could increase moisture and give a hospitable environment for fungus to grow, but on the other hand, plucking hair could make tiny wounds that would allow bacteria to enter the bloodstream. Checking with the vet to see which you are dealing with would seem smart.


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## Zoe093014 (Jan 27, 2015)

Zoe also has the groomer pluck ear hairs if necessary. She is on a home cooked fresh food diet with weekly wild salmon oil as well as a variety of meats and organ meats, vegetables, etc. I too don't feel comfortable feeding her raw and she actually doesn't care for it. She had a couple of yeast infections when she was a tiny pup and was given a prescription for it but she is doing well now.


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