Yeasty ears!

[AdrianVall]

Hey guys,

I have an 8 month old English Mastiff. He has the NASTIEST ears all the time, ever since he was a pup. I'll clean them, and then a day or two later they'll be disgusting again. What gives?!

I feed a raw diet, which is supposed to clear him of yeasty ears and all that. But they are just gross. I bought a new ear wash they is gentle enough for every day use, but he HATES getting his ears cleaned. I feel so bad. I try to get deep down inside his ears with the cotton balls, but I can only get so far in.

He shakes his head a lot, clearly from his ears bothering him. When he barks, he'll shake his head often also.

Any suggestions guys? I feel terrible for him, and don't want him to continue being like this if I can help it.

Oh, and he doesn't even spend much time outside either. I don't get it!

Thanks,
Adrian

 

[Kandie]

Try taking him to a vet maybe? I have no idea about this. Maybe some others will chime in

 

[dpenning]

It could be ear mites and he needs a trip to the vet as home remedies won't do the job. Good luck and let us know what works.

 

[AdrianVall]

He's on Revolution, which protects against ear mites. So I don't think that is the problem, right?

 

[Marrowshard]

When you clean his ears with the wash, how do you do it? Dampen a cotton ball and swab? When we were dealing with Ebony's icky ears, the vet had us on a antifungal/antibacterial pill schedule (a quick swab turned up not only yeast but also a secondary staph-type infection) and also gave us a gentle ear wash. We were instructed to squirt a generous amount into her ear canal and then massage the base of the ear to help loosen the buildup and move it forward. After that, we had to let her shake her head a good deal which would further loosen the gunk (flinging a portion of it out in the process). After that, we could move in with cotton balls or Q-tips to remove the rest. We tried using cotton balls on her ears but gave up quickly because it was hard to manuever the large ball into all the tiny crevices and we got the feeling we were probably pushing the gunk IN instead of drawing it out.

Eventually we switched to straight Q-tips. We used a LED head lamp to get a REALLY good view into her ears, then we'd just have to settle in for a digging session. Before we kicked the yeast infection, we would easily fill both heads on a dozen Q-tips before her ears were too inflamed to continue and we'd have to go at it again a couple of days later.

If it were me, I see about some oral meds to help beat back the infection and try to keep cuts/scratches in the ears to a minimum; that's just a re-entry point for more infections. Sounds to me like your EM is fighting a pretty bad yeast infection and if he's extra-irritated there's likely to be bacteria in there too making it worse. Also, consider the pour-it-in wash cycle I mentioned. It's not necessary for maintenance cleanings, but if there's just a TON of goop in there it'll help move it out a lot faster and with less irritation from dry cotton fibers.

~Marrow

 

[Tailcreek]

Remove any carbs from the diet. Add 1 clove of fresh raw garlic (anti-fungal) and a probiotic supplement. Check other parts of the body for yeast - armpits, groin/tummy, toes. You must treat his entire body. Keep the ears as clean as you possibly can, give him a bath with anti-fungal shampoo (shampoo with tea tree oil is good), and treat any yeasty areas with a solution of 1 cup hydrogen peroxide and 4 cups white vinegar daily. Feet will need to be submerged in the solution to be effective. Yeast can be stubborn and hard to get rid of. Good luck

Jennifer
www.tailcreekmastiffs.com

 

[Eliz]

worth a trip to the vets to do a culture/swab of ears...could be strep or staph infection...which won't clear up on it's own or naturally...you will require oral antibiotics. Best of luck...

 

[angelbears]

In a lot of instances, there are many natural remedies that work even better than antibiotics. I would try to avoid antibiotics at all cost, they will cause the yeast to explode. Tailcreek gives the best advice around when it comes to these kinds of problems. I know this is a very old thread but I was wondering if the op is around and would tell us how the ears are doing.

 

[ruthcatrin]

worth a trip to the vets to do a culture/swab of ears...could be strep or staph infection...which won't clear up on it's own or naturally...you will require oral antibiotics. Best of luck...

The thread's almost 2 yrs old......

In a lot of instances, there are many natural remedies that work even better than antibiotics. I would try to avoid antibiotics at all cost, they will cause the yeast to explode. Tailcreek gives the best advice around when it comes to these kinds of problems. I know this is a very old thread but I was wondering if the op is around and would tell us how the ears are doing.

I have to agree that antibiotics just make it worse. It would be nice to have a follow up?