Ears again

[bunn]

Theo's ears did not improve, so he had to have a general anaesthetic so his ears could be flushed and treated. That was about two weeks ago.

There were no foreign bodies in his ears, and neither the vet's local swabs nor the ones sent off to the lab found anything significant apart from an overgrowth of yeast.

By the next day, the ears were full of wax again! But a course of steroid pills and ear-drops have resulted in healthy-looking ears that don't seem to itch - though they still smell slightly of cheese. The total cost was £520. Ouch.

The internet has of course a thousand and one theories as to how to prevent yeast overgrowth in dog-ears, and I am now wondering whether to try an exclusion diet in the hope that he might be reacting to something in his food... or just accept that he's prone to these issues.

I don't know. I might try one of the new cold-pressed insect-based foods. On the face of it, more ethical than meat-based food for dogs, and I'm sure he would be happy to eat it : he's not picky.

Comments

[grundyscribbling]

Aw, poor pup. At least they're not itchy anymore?
Insect-based foods?

[bunn]

Insects offer more protein than any mammal, apparently, and of course are much more efficient in terms of space/food/water. I can't say I particularly fancy the idea, and didn't even try it with Rosie, who was sometimes difficult to persuade to eat roast chicken or steak. But I think Theo might be quite happy with the stuff, it doens't look visibly insecty.

[sir_guinglain]

Poor Theo! Poor bank balance...

[bunn]

I know! At least he's feeling better.

[narya_flame]

We give Balto insect-based treats, which he seems to enjoy. In the hierarchy of tasty extras, they definitely rank below liver and cheese but above gravy bones and dog chocs. Hope his ears stay issue free now!

[bunn]

If I tried to phase out cheese, THAT would be difficult. Theo is, as you'd expect from a scent-hound, not exactly a triumph of obedience, but he'll do a lot for cheese, so at the moment I carry a pouch full of kibble mixed with a few chunks of cheddar.

I could swap in an insect-based food for the kibble. Swapping in an insect-based wet food for his main meals would be expensive and the Internet seems to be of the opinion that yeast overgrowth might actually be down to too much sweet potato rather than the protein source and a lot of the foods seem to use sweet potato as the non-protein main component...

I wish someone was selling a simple diet which included chews and treats without using a whole range of things that he *might* react to but that doesn't seem to be a thing...

[chainmailmaiden]

Oh poor Theo, I bet he didn't find that fun at all, and ouch on the wallet! I hope you manage to find a solution to it, it's so difficult when you don't know what's causing a problem with them. We never found out what the cause of Linds' itchy skin condition was and it didn't help that she wasn't a fishy cat, so all of the fish oil-based things available for us to try to treat it were rejected. It could well have been dairy with her, but I think she would have deemed life without cheese not worth living! Very frequently plain tuna or plain cheese varieties of Applaws would be rejected, but never the ones which came with cheese :D

You were giving Theo a probiotic weren't you? That's sometimes something which can help with fungal things.

[anerea]

Mmmm, insects! Yummy! (I've heard that they're super nutritious (and part of regular diets in various parts of the world — I've eaten mopane worms in Zimbabwe) but didn't realise insects were more widely used for dog food. That's clever.

I really hope the diet change helps poor Theo's ears. (Just venturing a thought: since neem oil is a natural antifungal, I wonder whether a daily drop in his ears might help at all? I did a quick search for UK suppliers and found this, although I'm sure there's others: Herbal Ear Drops with Neem for Dogs.)