Recurring Ear Infection

aflesher · Jan 2, 2023

Our Bully is 11. She's had minor ear issues all her life (which I think is somewhat typical for bullies) but this last year it's been quite bad. My partner gentle cleans her ear out every couple of days and uses a cleaner with some steroid in it but it doesn't seem to be doing much. We can tell the cleaning routine is really starting to irritate her it's having less and less of an effect. Pretty much every night when we go to bed she has an itching fit where she is doing anything she can to scratch her ear.

Anyways, anyone else deal with something similar? Our vet hasn't be able to help us out much with this issue.

helsonwheels · Jan 2, 2023

aflesher said:
Our Bully is 11. She's had minor ear issues all her life (which I think is somewhat typical for bullies) but this last year it's been quite bad. My partner gentle cleans her ear out every couple of days and uses a cleaner with some steroid in it but it doesn't seem to be doing much. We can tell the cleaning routine is really starting to irritate her it's having less and less of an effect. Pretty much every night when we go to bed she has an itching fit where she is doing anything she can to scratch her ear.

Anyways, anyone else deal with something similar? Our vet hasn't be able to help us out much with this issue.

Get a cotton ball, a few drops of quality Lavender essential oil (like DoTerra online) swipe it in her ear n do the other ear. Oils will seep down on its own. My white face Jake has brown guk often in his ears especially when Nyala keeps cleaning them. I know don’t ask… I get the oil out n clean both ears, takes a good week. I also us a Q-Tip to remove the guk cause it will surface. My vet knows n approves as he always tells me to keep doing what you’re doing

Bulldog2001 · Jan 2, 2023

aflesher said:
Our Bully is 11. She's had minor ear issues all her life (which I think is somewhat typical for bullies) but this last year it's been quite bad. My partner gentle cleans her ear out every couple of days and uses a cleaner with some steroid in it but it doesn't seem to be doing much. We can tell the cleaning routine is really starting to irritate her it's having less and less of an effect. Pretty much every night when we go to bed she has an itching fit where she is doing anything she can to scratch her ear.

Anyways, anyone else deal with something similar? Our vet hasn't be able to help us out much with this issue.

What are you feeding her??

She could have allergies or just have yeast overgrowth.

More probiotics and less carbs help with the yeast issues.

One of my dogs, she has a habit of scratching her ears since she had a hematoma(she is a Golden retriever), and she had a lot of yeast issues.

And my French Bulldog, he is allergic to his own yeast, I give them all probiotics, and I give Bovine Colostrum(I buy the Four Leaf Rover brand), and that’s done wonders for the Frenchie and now also my Golden Retriever. Less scratching and the golden retriever used to have to wear the cone 24/7 from constant scratching from yeast issues.

I also switched them to raw diet, which has hardly any carbs(carbs feed the yeast, causing more itchy).

The vet had no idea why both my dogs were itching and especially the golden retriever, the drops they told us to use did nothing.

I recently tried a new “Probiotic Ear Cleaner’ called ‘Skouts Honor Probiotic Ear Clenaer’ as maintenance.

I highly recommend trying the Bovine Colostrum Powder supplement, give it 30 minutes BEFORE you give them breakfast cause it’s better absorbed and works better on empty stomach, they just lick the powder by itself out of the dish. Then you wait at least 30 minutes(or longer) before you feed them breakfast or treats.

Also probiotics would be beneficial.

What are you feeding??

aflesher · Jan 3, 2023

helsonwheels said:
Get a cotton ball, a few drops of quality Lavender essential oil (like DoTerra online) swipe it in her ear n do the other ear. Oils will seep down on its own. My white face Jake has brown guk often in his ears especially when Nyala keeps cleaning them. I know don’t ask… I get the oil out n clean both ears, takes a good week. I also us a Q-Tip to remove the guk cause it will surface. My vet knows n approves as he always tells me to keep doing what you’re doing

Thanks for the response. I saw other people on this forum mentioning Lavender oil as well. We'll definitely give that a try. Our bully Stella certainly has the "brown guk" that we are always cleaning out of her ears too.

aflesher · Jan 3, 2023

Bulldog2001 said:
What are you feeding her??

She could have allergies or just have yeast overgrowth.

More probiotics and less carbs help with the yeast issues.

One of my dogs, she has a habit of scratching her ears since she had a hematoma(she is a Golden retriever), and she had a lot of yeast issues.

And my French Bulldog, he is allergic to his own yeast, I give them all probiotics, and I give Bovine Colostrum(I buy the Four Leaf Rover brand), and that’s done wonders for the Frenchie and now also my Golden Retriever. Less scratching and the golden retriever used to have to wear the cone 24/7 from constant scratching from yeast issues.

I also switched them to raw diet, which has hardly any carbs(carbs feed the yeast, causing more itchy).

The vet had no idea why both my dogs were itching and especially the golden retriever, the drops they told us to use did nothing.

I recently tried a new “Probiotic Ear Cleaner’ called ‘Skouts Honor Probiotic Ear Clenaer’ as maintenance.

I highly recommend trying the Bovine Colostrum Powder supplement, give it 30 minutes BEFORE you give them breakfast cause it’s better absorbed and works better on empty stomach, they just lick the powder by itself out of the dish. Then you wait at least 30 minutes(or longer) before you feed them breakfast or treats.

Also probiotics would be beneficial.

What are you feeding??

I very much appreciate all the information. I can't remember exactly what we feed her but we suspect the recipe for it changed during the pandemic. We noticed all of sudden it smelled quite a bit different when we opened the bag.

We very much suspect that the two things are related. The worsen of her ears seems to coincide with the different smell of her food and some stomach irritation she's to get periodically now.

We'll try the probiotics, power and ear cleaner and see how it goes.

Thanks again!

Bulldog2001 · Jan 3, 2023

aflesher said:
I very much appreciate all the information. I can't remember exactly what we feed her but we suspect the recipe for it changed during the pandemic. We noticed all of sudden it smelled quite a bit different when we opened the bag.

We very much suspect that the two things are related. The worsen of her ears seems to coincide with the different smell of her food and some stomach irritation she's to get periodically now.

We'll try the probiotics, power and ear cleaner and see how it goes.

Thanks again!

Maybe you should try a different kind of kibble to see if that makes a difference.

I personally would try the Natures Logic Or the Carna 4 to see if it helps her. They are easy to digest and are really good for allergies, very minimal processed too which is good.

Good kibble brands:

-Natures Logic- has probiotics in it and comes in exotic proteins. Less starch that feeds yeast/allergies.

-Carna 4-oven baked nuggets that also have probiotics.

-N&D

Keep us updated

Bulldog2001 · Jan 3, 2023

aflesher said:
Thanks for the response. I saw other people on this forum mentioning Lavender oil as well. We'll definitely give that a try. Our bully Stella certainly has the "brown guk" that we are always cleaning out of her ears too.

That is yeast in her ears from what you describe.

Yeast is very common with allergies.

I would try a different kibble. I listed some recommendations in my other response.

aflesher · Jan 3, 2023

Bulldog2001 said:
Maybe you should try a different kind of kibble to see if that makes a difference.

I personally would try the Natures Logic Or the Carna 4 to see if it helps her. They are easy to digest and are really good for allergies, very minimal processed too which is good.

Good kibble brands:

-Natures Logic- has probiotics in it and comes in exotic proteins. Less starch that feeds yeast/allergies.

-Carna 4-oven baked nuggets that also have probiotics.

-N&D

Keep us updated

I totally agree. It's definitely time to try some different kibble. The Royal Canin Selected Protein that we are giving her just doesn't seem to work for her anymore.

Thanks!

Bulldog2001 · Jan 3, 2023

aflesher said:
I totally agree. It's definitely time to try some different kibble. The Royal Canin Selected Protein that we are giving her just doesn't seem to work for her anymore.

Thanks!

Ohh, definitely recommend getting her off Royal Canin, all fillers and no nutrition!!!

Stay away from these brands as well as what you find at grocery stores:

-Royal Canin
-Hills
-Rayne
-Science diet
-Eukanuba
-Purina

All those foods are full of fillers and cause so many health issues. Also they contain corn, wheat, soy, Chicken, and ‘by product’ which is literally waste from the garbage can!!
Brewers rice is a common allergy and all those ingredients feed yeast and cause inflammation and allergies.

Highly recommend getting her off that food!

The vets only recommend it to make $$$$ off it, they don’t have nutrition training other than to sell their garbage food full of fillers!

2 of my 3 dogs got kidney disease as a result of that food they were on as puppies.

2BullyMama · Jan 4, 2023

Agree - new food is in order. try a more novel protein too... like duck

Anonymity · Jan 4, 2023

aflesher said:
Our Bully is 11. She's had minor ear issues all her life (which I think is somewhat typical for bullies) but this last year it's been quite bad. My partner gentle cleans her ear out every couple of days and uses a cleaner with some steroid in it but it doesn't seem to be doing much. We can tell the cleaning routine is really starting to irritate her it's having less and less of an effect. Pretty much every night when we go to bed she has an itching fit where she is doing anything she can to scratch her ear.

Anyways, anyone else deal with something similar? Our vet hasn't be able to help us out much with this issue.

Our Rosie is 5yrs old. She also suffers a deal with infections in one of her ears. We now use EcoEars dog ear cleaner. She used to stink and be really itchy. We use this two to three times a week when we see that she is getting red and inflamed. And once a week just as regular preventative care. It takes away the inflammation, itch, scaling and smell. It has natural ingredients and smells like witch hazel. She runs from it when I pull out all the cleaning stuff for her but loves me for it after.

helsonwheels · Jan 5, 2023

aflesher said:
I very much appreciate all the information. I can't remember exactly what we feed her but we suspect the recipe for it changed during the pandemic. We noticed all of sudden it smelled quite a bit different when we opened the bag.

We very much suspect that the two things are related. The worsen of her ears seems to coincide with the different smell of her food and some stomach irritation she's to get periodically now.

We'll try the probiotics, power and ear cleaner and see how it goes.

Thanks again!

Try Acana single protein bags. Start with duck easier to digest

oscarmayer · Feb 3, 2023

Stubborn deep ear infections require oral AND topical antibiotics. Talk to your Vet about packing ears and starting a course of oral meds suited for the type of infection.