Stubborn ear infection

[Jenna AK]

Hello All! Sorry we haven't been in here for awhile...lots of stuff going on this summer, so we've been busy.
I had a quick question: Jenna is being treated for a yeast infection in her left ear, for more than a week now with Mometamax. I just got another bottle of it from the vet on Sunday because it didn't look like the infection was fully cleared up, but upon finishing the old bottle off, it seems to be irritating her ear more than it is helping. Last night I used Epi-Otic wash as directed for both ears and dried as well as I could, then applied the mometamax. I don't know if I was just too harsh on her ear in drying it after washing, or if the meds are now causing more irritation than the infection. Today she is okay, but her ear was all red again last night for a few hours after treatment and she was not happy with me. She fussed for quite a while before bed.
I don't want to use something that is hurting her ear, (I'm wondering about getting her a little straw hat since I think the goo may actually be contributing to sunburn in her ear flap when we are outside), but I also don't want to let the infection become resistant. I will be calling my vet tomorrow if we have more trouble with it tonight, but has anyone else ever had problems with this medication or the wash...or just with your Yorkie not tolerating the whole procedure?
Many thanks in advance!

*BTW, Jenna has properly gotten us all fully trained to her desires and has decided to be mommy's doggie instead of my daughter's. No more worries about where she sleeps...she's firmly ensconced on the bed each night! I have never had such a loyal and well-trained dog in my life, she has definitely become my baby. Wow, why have I never had Yorkies before!

[Wylie's Mom]

Hah - she sounds like a total sweetie! I think you're smart to call the vet or tech and ask about the irritation...maybe they'll advise you to wait a few days, let the ears calm and normalize, and then re-start the cleansing. The vet didn't treat w/ the ear ointment for only a week, right? Usually, it's about 14days or so.

Some ear ointments are a wider spectrum and treat yeast and bacterial infections - is Mometamax one of these? Bc she could have both types of infections going on. Be aware that Gentamycin ointments can cause some hearing problems, esp. in yorkies. There are several ear ointments on the market, so I'd be tempted to ask the vet for a different one, if this one seems very irritating .

The vet may also recommend something add'l to help w/ soothing the ear and w/ inflammation.

[Ellie May]

It could cause irritating. The vet may need to look at it. Ellie was in pain after Otomax (pretty much the same) and it was actually likely that her ear was being cleaned too much. The vet found a little sore in there.

[Jenna AK]

Yes, this is what I'm worried about. After waiting all day for a call back from the vet who saw her, I think I'll be phoning first thing and seeing about setting her up for a recheck with my usual vet. The ear sounds too moist to me and she is not really comfortable. Doesn't want me touching it at all. Can't get in there with anything to help dry it out, she won't hold still. I probably didn't clean the ear correctly when I last did it a few days ago and with all her squirming that day I am really angry with myself for not being more careful. I'm afraid I may have either poked her eardrum or just gotten the solution down too far into the canal...although this was how the vet I saw showed me how to clean the ears.
He only gave me 7 days worth of the meds, two drops per day and to wash the ear thoroughly twice a week with the Epi-Otic. But so much black gunk was coming out, I think we did three washings this week.
I do have more mometamax, but now am leery of using it. Do I continue to medicate or stop?
What kind of symptoms would she show if the drum had been injured or burst and maybe is suppurating, causing the wet sound? Or might I have just put in too much medicine? Is there any relief I can give her till we see the vet? She's eating, eliminating and moving relatively normally, but every once in awhile holds her head sideways to favor the left ear. Seems fine right now, but she's getting up and down a lot at night, usually to drink water, which she didn't before.
My poor baby. >_< I'm not very good at this stuff...I wish there had been an easier way to take care of all this.

[Jenna AK]

Sorry for the double post...but here's an interesting bit of info I got online...is it accurate?
****************
Right before bathing your dog, or taking him to the beach, you should rinse his ears with Epi-Otic flush. You can buy it over-the-counter at any vet. Dogs have L-shaped ear canals that extend deeper than our vision can see. Fill his ears with the flush. He will shake his head, which will knock any debris loose. Cotton swab the inner flaps to rid the excess debris. Squeegee the canal in a pinching motion under the base of his ear on the outside of his skin. You will hear a squishing noise as it fills the canal. The flush is made with an ingredient that will dry out your dog's ears faster and more effectively than water can.
****************
It would seem to me that squeezing the canal would force the fluid down into the drum, not away from it. Is this a proper way to rinse a dogs ears?

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by Jenna AK

What kind of symptoms would she show if the drum had been injured or burst and maybe is suppurating, causing the wet sound? Or might I have just put in too much medicine? Is there any relief I can give her till we see the vet?

In humans anyway, when an eardrum is injured (not even burst, but just injured), there is almost always some blood. And the pain caused by injuries to the eardrum is excruciating - it can bring you right to your knees. Is she showing signs of pain? From your description, she sounds good...other than the irritation.

I wonder if you used cotton balls to try and soak up some of the moisture currently in her ear, if that would help after a while? I know she doesn't want you near her ears, but it may help.

As for the best way to rinse, I'm not sure there of the best way - so hopefully someone will chime in who has had ongoing experience with ear rinsing/cleansing.

[smartpuppiepets]

if you had access to this it would be heaven sent to you ... i am not sure what it is called in english, but it is not a water based solution, it is more of a alcohool base as it dryes clean and clear. I buy this at the old country everytime i go to visit... maybe you can research the main active ingredient and figure if you can get it ... guaranteed results of a ear healthy , clean, odor free and most amazing : fungus and bacteria free !!!
here is the foreign name of the remedy i use: "Merthiolate Incolor" 30ml. Digluconato de Clorexidina
Old , very old trick i learned with my grandma ... decades ago. you clean the ears, then use an insulin seringe to apply about .25 cc to each ear for about 7 to 10 days... it works . I buy it over the counter for treatment of small cuts and scratches... but vets can manipulate and charge a fortune for the same thing .
I hope it helps.
XOXO

[Ellie May]

What were you cleaning it with? Qtips?
If yes, did they show you how to bend the flap back so that you couldn't hurt her?

Ear meds and cleaners sound wet to me too, but the sound goes away quickly. There is really no way to get it out once it's in.

[musiccitymom]

Not sure if this would help you or not but thought I would throw this out there. We have a golden retriever that has problems with ear infections. This is a treatment that you put together yourselves. You use equal parts of hydrocortisone cream, a female anti-fungal ointment (like miconozole) and polysporin. Mix it very well and then for a large dog you place a pea size amount in each ear and rub, so smaller than that for a yorkie. Do this twice a day til it is less inflamed then once a week if they are prone to infections. It melts very easily and is very soothing to their ears and Crosby looks forward to it.

I am not a vet and try this at your own risk But it does work very well and not harsh on their ears.

[Mardelin]

For yeast infections Otomax (your prescription was a generic for this, but same thing) is usually prescribed, with administration twice a day, for 14 days. Once in the morning once in the evening. With flushing before the morning application. Flushing with a good ear cleaner with a drying agent. At times a vet will prescribe Otocalm to flush with.

However, at times some dogs are resistent to this antibiotic. I have a girl, with yeast infection that was resistent to the Otomax.....The vet prescribed Tresiderm....she was cleared within 2 days. This after two cycles of the Otomax didn't work.

There are other things that work too. Panalog being one. An all purpose non oral antibiotic.l

[Princes mom]

I'm glad you started this thread, Jenna AK. I took Ian to the vet last week because he was shaking his head a lot and scratching his ears. She said he had a slight yeast infection, also in his left ear. She prescribed the same thing...Mometamax. I was supposed to administer it for 7 days in both ears, but I only did 5 because of Ian's reaction to it. I called the vet yesterday to tell her of his reaction and behavior change (he would hide under the bed if he thought I was going to use it) and she said it was good that I did stop using it. Well now, his ears are inflamed. Both ears are reddish. He seems to be experiencing what your baby did. I will be calling the vet back this morning.
She did not tell me to use any type of wash after.
I know this thread is more than a year old, but what did you finally end up doing? How long did it take for your baby's ear to get better?
Thanks!!

[RileyDC]

Originally Posted by Princes mom

I'm glad you started this thread, Jenna AK. I took Ian to the vet last week because he was shaking his head a lot and scratching his ears. She said he had a slight yeast infection, also in his left ear. She prescribed the same thing...Mometamax. I was supposed to administer it for 7 days in both ears, but I only did 5 because of Ian's reaction to it. I called the vet yesterday to tell her of his reaction and behavior change (he would hide under the bed if he thought I was going to use it) and she said it was good that I did stop using it. Well now, his ears are inflamed. Both ears are reddish. He seems to be experiencing what your baby did. I will be calling the vet back this morning.
She did not tell me to use any type of wash after.
I know this thread is more than a year old, but what did you finally end up doing? How long did it take for your baby's ear to get better?
Thanks!!

Hi There!!

My Riley had an allergic reaction to something he had walked over which caused ear infections in both ears. His Vet gave me Tresaderm drops... well, he ended up having a reaction to those drops. His ears ended up even worse.... they were RED with little tiny pustiles in them.... The Vet then gave me 14-days worth of Clavamox twice a day... they cleared up by the end of those 14-days. When we went back for a re-check she told me to get some VIRBAC Corium-20 and to clean his ears once a week. I have been doing that and have had no problems.... [She wanted me to buy it from them, for $21.00.... but I found it on Entirelypets.com for $6.09.
Good Luck!!

Corium ear cleaner for dogs and cats

[Princes mom]

Originally Posted by RileyDC

Hi There!!

My Riley had an allergic reaction to something he had walked over which caused ear infections in both ears. His Vet gave me Tresaderm drops... well, he ended up having a reaction to those drops. His ears ended up even worse.... they were RED with little tiny pustiles in them.... The Vet then gave me 14-days worth of Clavamox twice a day... they cleared up by the end of those 14-days. When we went back for a re-check she told me to get some VIRBAC Corium-20 and to clean his ears once a week. I have been doing that and have had no problems.... [She wanted me to buy it from them, for $21.00.... but I found it on Entirelypets.com for $6.09.
Good Luck!!

Corium ear cleaner for dogs and cat.s

Thank you for the follow up! This is the first time I've had to deal with ear issues, and I appreciate your insite. I think Elly May and many others use that same site to order meds. I have never ordered any type of med online, but I probably will since I just threw away 40 dollars on the Mometamax, and I will not use it again on Ian.

[Marlee12107]

My granddaughter had to have some of her yorkies baby teeth pulled. He started scratching his ear about 2 days later. Naturally on the weekend . vet closed. It sounded squishy. I told my daughter that the vet told me to use 1/2 alcohol & 1/2 vinegar to rinse ears on our Lab. Cause he gets squishy ears. The vinegar kills bacteria & the alcohol drys the ear out. She did this till she could get to the vet & he told her to keep doing it. He is better now. You might ask your vet about using something like this. Hope he is better

[Princes mom]

Ian has gotten a lot better. He isn't scratching his ears nor shaking his head at all. I used organic coconut on his ears, and the redness is gone. I def will use something else the next time. Thank you!!