Allergies - chronic ear infections

jacniel

jacniel

New Member
Hi, my 9 year old cocker spaniel has had ear infections almost constantly in the 4 years I've had him. For the majority of this time I fed him natural balance LID bison or merrick grain free buffalo. After another round of infections, the vet suggested switching him to Hills Z/D. He has been on this for 3.5-4 months now and has eaten nothing but this food. He still has had multiple infections during this time and was treated for all of them. The old food should be out of his system now so with the current infection, can I assume he does not have a food allergy? Or should I still try and switch him to a rare protein i.e.: duck or kangaroo? Also wondering what sort of environmental allergies are common with cocker spaniel and if that should be my next step to combat this. Thanks for any and all advice!
 
Welcome to the forum. He just may not have a food allergy. Some dogs do have chronic ear problems. Have you considered taking him to a allergist? Another suggestion would be to get in touch with Dr. Dobbs who is a very well known animal naturalist vet. She has a FB page and a website. I would google her and get in touch with her. Several of my friends have sent in saliva samples and she works from those, telling you what your dog is allergic to. What ear wash do you use? There are many out there that really are wonderful.
Many of us use the old standby Blue Power treatment or a variety of that as an ear wash. http://www.castoffcockers.org/documents/pdf/Blue Power Ear Treatment.pdf

I do sure relate to your problems. I also am fighting ear problems with my 13 year old. His ears were great till he reached his senior years. He has always love swimming in swimming pools, and developed problems it seems after that. Then he developed a growth in one ear that my vet removed that caused more problems. I ues the blue on him almost daily, and also I keep a prescription ointment here for him. Good luck.
 
You can also trim the inside of the ear flap and face with #10 blade and the outside with a #7. This will promote air circulation and limit moisture.
 
Hi @Polly thanks so much for your response. I'm currently using Virbac Epi Opic, which was recommended by my vet. Will look into making the one you recommend however. It does seem at this point that he just has an environmental allergy or a chronic issue if the food change has had no effect. My vet also recommended blood work to test for allergies as a next step but will look into Dr. Dobbs as well. Thanks again for your advice.

@manuel unfortunately that's what we've been doing for a while now but thanks!
 
I too swear by the blue powder treatment. the gentian violet can be hard to find you may need to ask your pharmacist to order it for you. the good news is its pretty cheap.

Since this is a newish issue and food challenges do not seem to be working, you might consider seeing a veterinary dermatologist for scrapings to see if its mites, yeast or even a fungal infection. The blue powder treatment will help if its yeast. Also be sure the feet are kept clean/dry and preferably short. IME, they get yeast in their ears, scratch w/their paws then get yeast infections in their paws and pass it back and forth. Soaking the feet in 50/50 dilute brown listerine with water can help with yeasty paws. ...... If they smell like fritos, suspect yeast.
 
@Cockers4Ever thanks for your response! I believe my vet does scrapings every time we go in. He's had just yeast and just bacteria infections through out the years.... but the past few times he's had both yeast and bacterial infections and is commonly prescribed Posatex for this. He does tend to chew on his paws, but with all the infections actually rarely scratches his ears. They've never smelled of yeast either. I was hoping the Hills Z/D food would cut down on his paw nibbling but it hasn't seem to make a difference and he's done it pretty consistently for the 4 years I've had him. I guess my question still is if I can rule out a food allergy since the Z/D had no effect?
 
jacniel said:
@Cockers4Ever thanks for your response! I believe my vet does scrapings every time we go in. He's had just yeast and just bacteria infections through out the years.... but the past few times he's had both yeast and bacterial infections and is commonly prescribed Posatex for this. He does tend to chew on his paws, but with all the infections actually rarely scratches his ears. They've never smelled of yeast either. I was hoping the Hills Z/D food would cut down on his paw nibbling but it hasn't seem to make a difference and he's done it pretty consistently for the 4 years I've had him. I guess my question still is if I can rule out a food allergy since the Z/D had no effect?
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To find out once and forall, I think I would take him to a dermatologist, if the Derm can find out what he's allergic too the money will be well spent in savings from constant guesses from your regular vet. And your boys suffering.
 
jacniel said:
I guess my question still is if I can rule out a food allergy since the Z/D had no effect?
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Absolutely not.

Personally, I would either find a vet dermatologist or see if I could find a reliable supply of raw duck necks and start feeding the duck necks and only the duck necks and see how it goes. of course your dog could also be allergic to duck..... as long as yuo're feeding the raw neck including the bone, your dog will be fine for a few weeks consuming nothing else. then you could start adding things found in the commercial foods like potatos , sweet potatoes etc.

The problem with commercial foods is they add things like "natural flavors" and extra ingredients ... even vitamins are a source of allergies. I've had dogs be allergic to duck, turkey, vit E, salmon oil, flax oil, beef... fortunately not all the same dog!!

If you can find a good homeopath who uses NAET that can be an option as well.
 
look for Asian grocery stores. You may be very surprised that not only can you find them but they're pretty inexpensive too.
 
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