ebgillespie

Our six year old basset hound started developing yeast infections in his ears for about the last year. We live in Ohio.

Our Vet has prescribed Malotic 15G/Triotic/Gentizol and Ketoconozole 200 MG which have cleared up the yeast infections, but they seem to come back in a couple months and then we repeat the above medications.

We have recently changed his diet several times, we are now on Exclusive Lamb & Rice Dog Food which hasn't resolved the issue (our Vet thought it would):

Exclusive Pet Food - Home

I did a search of the site before I posted this and nothing really stood out.

Any ways to prevent the cycle and stop the infections?

Any ways to self treat this problem instead of Vet visits and medications every few months?

As I wrote above this is a relatively recent problem.

Thank you ahead of time for the replies.

CatherineM

First is to keep their ears clean and dry. Mine wore hats when I lived in Florida, and that would keep their ears up a bit to allow for some air movement.

Second, yeast feed on sugar. The dog I had yeast issues with, it wasn't the main food, it was the treats. Once I stopped giving him a certain kind of treat, the yeast died off. I guess I starved them to death.

ebgillespie

One of the salmon treats we were using has sugar in it. However, the other chicken treat has "chicken, vegetable glycerin & salt". Is vegetable glycerin also unacceptable?

Thank you!

roscolaylamommy

Have you also changed the treats you give your dog. Sometimes even if you change the food but not the treats, the allergen can still be in the treats you give and keep causing the infection.

You could also try making what I call "basset ear gear" if you're handy with a sewing machine. It's basically a large hair scrunchie made of a wide piece of elastic with fabric covering it. Here is one I made model by the vivacious Ms. Layla Jane.

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Wworm

What CUTE pics of Layla!

say, are you taking orders-- Worm says he would like to have one and would pay $$ to stop having to use these chip clips for his ears...!

back to the original post, is your basset getting his ears wet somehow? and what about during baths? and how often does he get baths? are you using a weekly ear rinse for his ears?

Worm's had 1 ear infxn (also yeast) at the very beginning, and since then, for his weekly rinse, our vet has us use a prescription solution that has definitely an anti-fungal/anti-yeast and also Tromethamine (Tris)-- not sure what Tris is. He hasn't had any ear infection issues since...

Kirska

Harley gets them too and our vet recommended trying an OTC antihistamine, but we haven't since he absolutely refuses to take any pills larger than microscopic.

__________________
Mom to Anabelle and Lila, rescued ladies and Harley, Corgi/Beagle/Basset/?? mutt

"Saving just one dog won't change the world, but it surely will change the world for that one dog." - Richard C. Call

houndmomma

I'm so sorry to hear about you're little guy’s ear problem – Ouch, I remember how bad they hurt. Did you ever try “OtiRinse”? It’s an ear cleansing & drying solution. We got that from our vet years ago to use as a preventive when I clean their ears. It appears to work as their ears have been one of the few areas I haven’t had problems with. I let them smell it before put it in their ear – then give them a good ear massage and then wipe them out real good. And you can't forget the treat they get when its done.


Kirska, Did you ever try cream cheese for Harley? I get the blocks of cream cheese – and just wrap the pill in it – it goes down in one quick swallow. For the larger pills I have a pill cutter so I’m not giving too large a ball of cheese. All my guys now look at pill time as “treat” time. Thank goodness…

Jen~

Mikey T

ueast feed on a lot of things sugar being one of them, tHe largest source of sugur in the diet is carbohydrates which are converted to simple sugars by siliva. Are you sugesting that someone with athelets foot infection not eat any charbohydrates the and just how does the "sugar that you eat get to the outside dead layers of skin This not feeding sugar or not eating sugar to prevent a yeast infect is B.S.

CHAPTER 10: Yeast Infections
So unless a dog is peeing in its ear this is not a big source or change in sugar Also the yeast most common in ear infection is a diferent yeast/fungus entirely. Generally the fungus/yeast causing ear infections is from the Malassezia genus which feed on fatty acids only, not sugar. which makes a lot of sense since they are normally skin fungi while fatty acids are prevelent on the skin not sugar is not.
Seborrhoeic dermatitis


Recurring yeast infections in the ears are generally the result of an underlying dermalogical skin condition. the two most promenient are allergies and the second being Seborrhea. Keep in mind food allergies only account for ~10 of all allergies in dogs many act like it is much higher but it is not the case. Seborrhea which in basset is generally the oilly type with a greasy coat feel and dandruff, there is a dry type as well. It is thought to be genetic in origin in the basset.
Unles the underlying causes are under control it is like for ear infections to keep reappearing. Most general practicing vets are not very good at working through skin problems you may be better served with a vet that specializes in dermatology

find a dermatologist

CatherineM

Sorry, my experience with yeast has to do primarily with female bulimics and people who have recurrent skin yeast infections in folds that develop due to extreme weight loss. It is not unusual for bulimics to binge on high sugar foods, and they often have recurrent yeast infections in a place that men don't have to deal with. A low sugar diet can greatly help break the cycle of infection. As to yeast in fold irritations, corn starch used to treat the high moisture in that area can cause more harm than good, so we switch them to talc based powder.

I'm sorry that you found my answer to be B.S.

roscolaylamommy

Layla says thank you! I would be happy to make one for Worm. I would need to know how big around his neck is (this one is made for Layla's neck size - which is fairly thick). Just PM your information and I can get started on a custom one for Worm.