# More ear infection information



## louise (Dec 5, 2008)

The culture for Ellie's ear infection came back today. It is a staph intermedius infection which is highly resistant to the standard antibiotics usually used to treat this.

My doctor is researching alternatives and I am looking for a specialist.

Has anyone had any experience with with this?

It's pretty scary because it's in both ears, although worse in one.

Louise


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Oh dear! Poor Ellie, and poor you! I have no experience, and just send you wishes for a good specialist to help clear this up!

Poor little girl!


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## MopTop Havanese (Sep 25, 2006)

Oh poor thing! I hope you can get a solution to this quickly, I can only imagine how it feels for her- she reminds me so much of my Sugar-


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

Louise- That is so frustrating. I looked on my vet's site to see if he had anything about ear infections. Maybe look it over for things you and your vet haven't tried or considered? He wrote about 20% of ear infections are due to allergies from diet. And referral to allergy specialist in those cases. I have never had an ear infection with my dogs but I grew up with Goldens that had them all the time and it is a constant battle.

http://animalpetdoctor.homestead.com/Ears.html

I know I have heard that staff infections take a long time to go away in dogs. You may want to consider seeing a holistic vet as well.


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## Scooter's Family (May 23, 2008)

Poor baby, I hope she's feeling better.


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## Petaluna (May 9, 2008)

Louise, i know we talked about this is a PM a few weeks back, did you find a holistic vet yet? I once had an in-vitro culture done on myself by a progressive lab (Great Smokies Diagnostics) with different natural antibiotics for a specific bacterial infection, they were able to test it against things like grapefruit seed extract, herbs, etc., it came back sensitive to blue violet gentian. Also, I keep reading colloidal silver is the thing that will often go after resistant infections. I've also been reading about keeping a dog's immunity up, I know you do a natural diet, which is usually recommended as the first line of defense, and I think we talked about Pepper Toast's suggestion that carrots in the food make some small dogs yeasty, in this case I know it's bacteria, but I think sugars (like dextrose in carrots) can still feed unhealthy bacteria. She also mentioned she uses very dilute oil of oregano, I am thinking internally vs. topically in this case, and I've also read about an immune booster called Transfer Factor, I think they may make one for pets. I took it myself for awhile, and years back gave it to my yorkie when she was old and going into kidney failure. It perked her up for a couple of months. It's expensive, though, just a heads up. I am thinking at this point working on her immunity with a good holistic vet, maybe one that does homeopathy, even if you have to consult over the phone. If you can give them a good history, and now that you know the specific organism, you might get good results.


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## Leslie (Feb 28, 2007)

Louise~ I'm sorry to hear it's a staph infection. They're notoriously difficult to get rid of. When Tori had her ear infections, I was "cruising" the web looking for natural cure info and came across the Blue Power Ear Treatment. I don't know if it can help in Ellie's case, but it may be worth a try.

Please give her extra belly rubs from me. Poor baby must be miserable :hug:


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## louise (Dec 5, 2008)

I mentioned colloidal silver to my vet and was met with a "that wouldn't be appropriate". The holistic vet I've found in the neighborhood is mainly one who does accupuncture and nothing else holistic that I know of from talking to other dog owners.

I am on my way to take her to the dermatologist at one of the local hospitals (I talked my way into an appt. today), and I will mention colloidal silver to them - also ask what other immune system builders they might recommend. We'll see how open they are.

Louise


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## maryam187 (Jul 18, 2007)

Louise, what an awful ordeal! This most be nerve wrecking and costly. I was thinking if the petstore vet where you got Ellie from knows more about this staphylococcus and how to handle it? I imagine Ellie isn't the only dog in that petstore that ended up with this. Poor baby and poor you :kiss:

NB: in absolutely NO way do I mean to 'sprinkle salt in the wound' by bringing the petstore up. I am just 100% convinced that that's where she's got this resistant staph from and was wondering if their vet would be more familiar with it.


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## Petaluna (May 9, 2008)

Louise, I'm not surprised to hear the response about colloidal silver, but I think it couldn't hurt. The PPM is so low that it's practically like water. If you google colloidal silver and pets, you could get some recommended uses and dosages, in her water, and possibly even right in the ear. You may not be able to find a good holistic vet in your area, some are just interested in the money factor of having that under their name and aren't really all that educated about alternatives. You may have to consult with someone out of state by phone. Leslie mentioned blue power ear treatment, it would not surprise me if that is blue violet gentian root (gentian looks very blue). 

I'm in the habit of doing my own homework and taking things into my own hands with my own health because conventional medicine did not work for me, and you probably won't find much support close to home if you go that road. Just an example, my previous and only dog, a yorkie, was on kibble (various kinds, vet and breeder recommended), and we tried some canned as well. She threw it up routinely and had terrible hot spots. I spent several thousand dollars on medications, allergy shots (recommended by a "holistic" vet who I realized later was just in it for the money), many vet visits, did everything they told me. Put her on a raw diet and some supplements and oils when I learned about it, stopped vaccinating her, and all her problems pretty much vanished. She was very low maintenance other than her diet and supps from then until old age, when her kidneys started to shut down. Actually, not completely - she did get cataracts eventually, and her teeth did go bad, but her tooth issues started by the time she was just over a year (when she was on kibble), she always fought brushing, and when on raw by 4 years, I was not giving her bones, probably a mistake. 

A side note, I was talking about vaccinations to the woman who owns the grooming and boarding place I'll be taking my new Hav for her for puppy classes and probably grooming, and she was highly recommending bordatella, the one for kennel cough, which she said they can pick up easily when out among other dogs, esp. when getting groomed, etc. I told her my yorkie had been groomed about once a month all her life and never had the vaccine, never got kennel cough. She seemed very surprised, but I was not. 

Your puppy did not get off to a good start before you got her, and her little immune system has been bombarded with a lot of drugs, despite the good diet she's on. Antibiotics and steroids kill healthy gut flora, and the health of her gut is a big part of her immunity. (Do you have her on a good, live & active probiotic?) If what the vets are recommending isn't working, and they are not supporting your efforts to find alternatives, maybe it's time to look outside your immediate area? I do think a lot can be done by phone with a good holistic vet or homeopath. I'm all for going the medical route if alternatives don't work, sometimes it's necessary, but it seems like you've been down that road unsuccessfully, and I don't think most of these regular vets and sub-specialists are going to be on board with alternatives.


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## Cosmosmom (Jan 12, 2007)

I agree do your homework and be persistent ..
Cosmo suffered from yeast infections in one of his ears .. It was very resistant and took many trips to the vet we found the cause was found to be his hair was not being removed well enough from his ears by the groomer...
He finally had to have the vet remove it and it was not pleasant he had to be put to sleep for it . I could not believe the amount of hair that was removed and was packed in his ear canal .. She had him on all kinds of drops and she had me coming back every two weeks and it still persisted .. I finally just stopped everything except a holistic remedy given to me by the groomer . I felt his ears were just being handled and manipulated too much .
I added Colostrum to his food to boost his immune system and I also added probiotics to his food as well .. 
I made sure the groomer was very careful when he was bathed and removed the hair in his ears well .. It healed naturally and now it is fine . I make sure all groomers make sure his ears and clean and dry ..
The good thing that came from this if that could be said is he lets me touch his ears now as he is used to it and also he does not seem to be as carsick .


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## louise (Dec 5, 2008)

UPDATE: Talked my way into seeing a specialist today (they had a minimum of 2 weeks wait and I felt I couldn't wait).

Dr felt the infection, even though it was initially very bad was caused by the grooming which I'd had done the day before the infection showed itself. At this point, after all the medications, a quick look under the microscope showed no bacteria but the ears were red and irritated.

She recommended I continue with the Clavamox as a precaution, particularly since there is a torn eardrum, and she added a steroid for 7 days to bring down the inflamation. She also told me to wash the ears twice a week and taught me the right way to do it.

I'm to come back next week and if she still sees any inflammation, she will use some anesthesia and look more carefully. She will also check the eardrum situation.

The vet=tech who took the history gave me a look about the torn eardrum - the look said that maybe the infection didn't do that - maybe the vet did that when they washed the ears. I have thought that before and will never know for sure. But I am very relieved to know the eardrum will repair, although it could take up to a year.

Thanks for all your help and good wishes.

Louise


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## Brady's mom (Dec 1, 2006)

I have used the Blue Power ear wash on Brady and it is great, but I believe I read NOT to use it on a dog that has had problems with the eardrum. I hope your baby is feeling better soon.


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

I hope this is the answer you've been needing! Hope she heals fast, with no more problems with infections!


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## maryam187 (Jul 18, 2007)

Here's hoping for improvement!


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