I feel so sorry for Rip.
Wouldn't think that ear infection and food quality would be related but guess it must be. Unfortunately I have no suggestions as to make it "better" whilst waiting for the vet but when my poodle had otitis when he was little, I used to hold a damp and cold towel on the outside of his ear and head and seemed to reduce the need to itch - for a while anyway.

Amazing how a couple of weeks can have such an impact.

 

Iams has corn in it. we've never given Ripley corn for any reason, and especially NOT the crap quality corn found in dog food like Iams. apparently that, or something else in Iams, has caused a reaction. there's nothing different in my house that could have caused this reaction, and i clean her ears every couple of days. i cleaned them last night and they were LOADED with gunk.

she's not been overly itchy, fortunately, but last night she was whining while rubbing at her ear and face and i just wanted to make her feel better.

Aweh nooooo how awful.

We are leaving Egon at a family members as well today for four days as we head to an out of town wedding.. I'm freaking out. I portioned all his food with bags and labels, hoping to avoid this kind of thing.

But he has never been away from me before, and I'm worried haha.

Did you feel like this too or am I a overly attached dobe mom? Lol

we didn't portion her food because 2 weeks is a lot of wasted baggies, but i'm regretting it right now. i knew she'd put on a couple of pounds (the person watching her loves to spoil dogs) but i didn't expect 4 pounds of gain in two weeks. that's INSANE to me.

i was freaked out. and i wish she'd called me and said she'd run out, i would have at least directed her to the rest of the food at the house.

 

Aweh nooooo how awful.

We are leaving Egon at a family members as well today for four days as we head to an out of town wedding.. I'm freaking out. I portioned all his food with bags and labels, hoping to avoid this kind of thing.

But he has never been away from me before, and I'm worried haha.

Did you feel like this too or am I a overly attached dobe mom? Lol

 

Flushing his ears out with half vinegar and half water should already help start to rid of the yeast. Also fill his belly with good probiotics..when we get the occasional ear infection here we feed kefir and I swear the good cultures in the belly help prevent the systemic yeast from growing.

 

she regularly gets plain Greek yogurt and it hasn't helped. flushed her ears yesterday evening.

 

You can flush them daily. It won't hurt Poor guy! I hope he's feeling better soon!

 

she. and thanks...so do i.

 

I have no advice on the ears.

I just wanted to commiserate with you because I am aware of how much work you put into making sure Miss Ripley is well taken care of and in show condition weight wise, only to have this setback. I know how disappointed you must feel.

 

frustrated doesn't quite describe it, but it's the closest word i can think of right now. and the worst part is she KNOWS how hard i've worked with Rip.

sigh. family.

Uhg how frustrating, I know baggies for every meal can be a lot, but perhaps a bag for a days worth, I cuts back on bags and then no matter how much she gives in one meal she still only has a daily amount.

Hope you're talk with them goes well, perhaps mention the x amount $$ vet bill they've cost you because they thought they could ignore instructions.

it's not even the cost that bothers me. i do intend to bring up how that food should have lasted twice as long as it did, and at $60/bag it isn't cheap to replace or overfeed.

but really, though, she should have called and let me know the food situation instead of changing her food on me. that's what angers me the most.

 

Uhg how frustrating, I know baggies for every meal can be a lot, but perhaps a bag for a days worth, I cuts back on bags and then no matter how much she gives in one meal she still only has a daily amount.

Hope you're talk with them goes well, perhaps mention the x amount $$ vet bill they've cost you because they thought they could ignore instructions.

 

i'm actually seeing her this evening after our vet visit...and i intend to have a talk with her about it.

 

You can use drops of witch hazel/water 50/50 in the ears- helps kill the yeast and the inflammation.

Specsgirl's rec on kefir is a very good one- yogurt doesn't tend to have a very good mix of probiotics, but a good WATER kefir can have up to 50 strains of good bacteria and yeasts and tends to eliminate bad yeasts in a hurry.

I am wondering why everyone here seems to feed milk based probiotics? My dogs dont get milk products, so I dont give a milk based product. I understand living in an area where that is all you can find, but if you have a health food store, then there should be more available.

I wish someone working with wild canines would do a culture and see what bacteria mix is typically found in the gut I think it would be really interesting!

 

I forgot to add- I am sensitive to corn products. Whenever I eat it my ears become extra waxy (sorry if its TMI )- so I could totally see this happening to a dog- especially with the skin breakouts and everything- her body is trying to rid itself of foreign proteins and the skin and lymph are particularly good at getting rid of what is floating around in the bloodstream.

 

I second both kefir and the vinegar/water ear cleaning. I would also add rubbing alcohol to the vinegar water mixture Equal parts of all.
Kefir is a step up from the yogurt, just as easy to feed.
Food is love to some people. sorry to hear Rip has to suffer.

 

Malaseb shampoo and/or MalAKet Wipes work great for these kinds of things. Both available via amazon. Both are over the counter but probably always best to run it by your vet first.

I'm one of the neurotic ones and pre-portion all of Shannon's meals. Our parents mean well but they spoil the heck out of her.

I hope she's feeling better.

 

she's doing FAR better today, thanks. she's stopped rubbing her head/face and is much happier in general.

 

Yep, I believe too that it was the Iams. Greta is highly allergic to corn and soy, we had her skin tested when she was 1 1/2 and those two things she tested very high to. And I believe it, because the few times she has gotten into a family members dog food, she ended up with itchies and hot ears.

My MIL is the guilty one, that disregards feeding instructions and feeds whatever she feels like, so we no longer rely on her. She once watched my SIL's dachsund for 2 weeks, went through his bad of food, bought another one....a different kind. They came back to the dog literally dragging his belly and it took 2 months to get the weight off of him. It seems that some people equate food with love, at least in my experience, and it's always the grandmas and grandpas.

Hopefully your dog will get over his itchy ears and extra weight and back to normal. You just can't win with vacations, you either board, and they are more miserable, or you trust them to someone who is not you, and they do things all wrong, and stuff happens. Sigh. This is why we so rarely go away

 

she's back to normal, itch-wise. acne's gone, for the most part, and she's aalmost at the weight that makes me happy. she's also a bit more active.