Ear drainage

audiedog · Aug 26, 2023

So Bella is doing much better with the UTI's since using the product Rustys owner suggested. Thank you! But now we have another ongoing issue... her ears. We clean them every 2-3 days but she's still shaking her head and scratching at them. We believe it is drainage because she swallows like we do when experiencing sinus drainage. Last night we gave her a benadryl and it gave her relief but I do not feel comfortable treating her with this long term. Comments or suggestions, please?

Rusty’s Owner · Aug 26, 2023

audiedog said:
So Bella is doing much better with the UTI's since using the product Rustys owner suggested. Thank you! But now we have another ongoing issue... her ears. We clean them every 2-3 days but she's still shaking her head and scratching at them. We believe it is drainage because she swallows like we do when experiencing sinus drainage. Last night we gave her a benadryl and it gave her relief but I do not feel comfortable treating her with this long term. Comments or suggestions, please?

That’s great news she is doing better with the supplement I suggested.

What do you get when you clean her ears- black or light brown wax???

Are her ears red?
Good natural ear treatment products:
-NaturPet Ear drops- this is good for infections.
-Skouts Honor probiotics ear clenaer
-Kin Kind Clean Ears

Riva Remedies brand Tissue Aid is a supplement to give them orally to help get rid of ear , eye and skin infections to help get rid of it internally too so if she has ear infection then you should use that and a ear drops and if it’s yeast then address her diet.

If it’s yeast in her ears, then you need a food switch to get rid of the yeast as food causes yeast.

Does she have allergy symptoms? Ear issues can be linked to food and yeast and allergies.

So you Think it’s a sinus issue? Or a ear issue causing sinus issues?
Sinus issues can also be from allergies, is it watery nose or reverse sneezing or choking/coughing? When is she scratching?

When is sinus issues start, same time ear issues started??

Watery nose Rusty has too when he is around more of his environmental allergies.

Here where I am there is smoke in the air from fires a few hours away from us, and that air quality can cause some Lung and sinus issues too, is it smoky air where you are??

I don’t recommend giving Benadryl long term, I don’t even let my vet or anyone give my dog Benadryl at any time, it does have lots of side effects and just suppress immune system. And that one time my vet gave it to him for allergies to the vaccine as a puppy he was 10X Worse when he was given Benadryl which I will never do again let my vet give Benadryl to him.

If your using the Benadryl for allergies- alternatives I use are Four Leaf Rover brand Bovine Colostrum powder you give it 30 minutes BEFORE breakfast as it’s better absorbed on empty stomach, they just lick the powder out of the dish by itself. This is great for immune system and allergies. I give it to my dogs daily.

Quercetin is also a good antihistamine that’s a Benadryl alternative without the side effects.

audiedog · Aug 26, 2023

Yes! Watery nose, reverse sneezing & choking/coughing started at around the same time. The air quality hasn't been the best where we are either. We do have Scouts Honor Probiotic ear cleaner that we used today. I get a dark colored wax when we clean. She's eating A Pup Above and Stella & Chewy freeze dried food that I mix with beef broth, blueberries, keifer, black raspberries. Just bought Earth Animal from a local holistic pet shop today for allergy & skin. But I'm going to check out what you suggested. Yes her ears are red but do not smell which means no yeast right?

Rusty’s Owner · Aug 26, 2023

audiedog said:
Yes! Watery nose, reverse sneezing & choking/coughing started at around the same time. The air quality hasn't been the best where we are either. We do have Scouts Honor Probiotic ear cleaner that we used today. I get a dark colored wax when we clean. She's eating A Pup Above and Stella & Chewy freeze dried food that I mix with beef broth, blueberries, keifer, black raspberries. Just bought Earth Animal from a local holistic pet shop today for allergy & skin. But I'm going to check out what you suggested. Yes her ears are red but do not smell which means no yeast right?

The reverse sneezing and choking/coughing could be from the bad air quality, but I would watch those issues as it could also be related to elongated soft palate. Elongated Soft palate blocks the ability to breathe properly and it’s extremely common in these dogs with short nose. How old is she? If it discontinues when the air is better quality then unlikely soft palate related.
Did you ever get a holistic vet opinion?

Dark wax is Yeast which can cause the irritated ears causing itchy and red ears.
That’s related to too many carbs in the food causing yeast in her gut which overgrowth in her ears too.

Ideally a healthy dogs ears wouldn’t need to be cleaned often, my other dog with no ear issues gets her ears clean once every 2 months for preventative. Rusty on the other hand with ear irritation from his allergies off and on, needs his ears cleaned 1-2 days a week for maintenance and preventative of new ear infections.
Skouts Honor probiotics ear cleaner is really good.

Yeast doesn’t always smell.

What protein is she eating? Do you rotate proteins?

What beef broth do you use? Most of the store bought bone broth have lots of yeast feeding foods too- I actually started making my own bone brith for Rusty a couple months ago, that way no yeast feeding ingredients.
Bone broth is great though for joints, immune system and gut health.

Kefir is fermented , so I would definitely discontinue that as fermented foods feed the yeast which creates inflammation.

If your giving kefir for probiotics- it’s not effective like the actual powder probiotics. For Rusty I use Four leaf Rover brand Gut Guard and rotate that with Protect probiotics from same brand. That’s way better than kefir if you want probiotics for her. And probiotics also keep yeast away(as long as the food your feeding doesn’t feed the yeast).

Stella and chewy is a good brand for healthy dogs But for yeast issues the food has squash and carbs and veg that feed yeast so since she may have yeast I would discontinue that.

Can you switch her to fully fresh raw??

Where are you located? I can recommend good raw brands that may be available to you.

I just looked at the A pup above food your feeding her- all their food has lots of starches like potatoes, legumes and carrots all of which causes/feeds yeast issues which is probably why she has yeast.

Hasn’t she been on antibiotics lately for health issue or UTI?

The antibiotics could have also created yeast issues too and maybe that’s why now the food ingredients are making yeast worse.
I definitely know sometimes there is no choice but to get rid of infection with antibiotics-Rusty unfortunately just had to be on antibiotics and hopefully can come off in couple of days- I absolutely had no choice though as much as I hate giving antibiotics due to yeast and everything.
However, Rusty got a severe Staph infection from all the stress hives from when one of my other dogs passed. That infection was completely unavoidable unfortunately.

So since I don’t feed his yeast cause his food doesn’t have anything to make yeast worse- I will be rebuilding his gut back with Four Leaf Rover Gut Guard and Yeast free Fido kit to get rid of any extra yeast caused by the antibiotics, I will be doing that kit for 60-90 days and then rotate the Protect and Gut Guard Four Leaf Rover Probiotics.

If you are open to fresh raw there is many without yeast feeding foods in it.

If you still want freeze dried- K9 Natural brand freeze dried is better for yeast.

If you want kibble-
Natures Logic brand is the lowest carb kibble their is and no legumes and No potatoes or other yeast feeding ingredients in it, they also have a canned food too which is also good.
Their kibble has probiotics in it too.

I still recommend trying the Bovine Colostrum for immune system and allergies.

I hope this information helps and fresh raw is best if your open to it??

audiedog · Aug 26, 2023

Amazing info! Holy crap I had no idea this was so complicated. We are definitely open to raw diet and live in southeastern Michigan. She is 9 months old and doesn't really eat all that much. She's very picky and we haven't been able to get her to eat at set times. Yes, she was on Meds about 3-4 weeks ago. I will definitely try the Bovine Colostrum. We don't make her food so the protein is whatever is in the brands I mentioned. Gonna have to start from scratch it seems and get her off all the yeast items!

Rusty’s Owner · Aug 26, 2023

audiedog said:
Amazing info! Holy crap I had no idea this was so complicated. We are definitely open to raw diet and live in southeastern Michigan. She is 9 months old and doesn't really eat all that much. She's very picky and we haven't been able to get her to eat at set times. Yes, she was on Meds about 3-4 weeks ago. I will definitely try the Bovine Colostrum. We don't make her food so the protein is whatever is in the brands I mentioned. Gonna have to start from scratch it seems and get her off all the yeast items!

It’s the yeast issues that get complicated- but like the antibiotics and other medications they create a snowball effect for health issues. And allergies are very common in all dogs, not just Frenchies!

I’m not trying to confuse you! 🙂

For the bovine colostrum, it works best when you give it 30 minutes BEFORE breakfast as it’s better absorbed on empty stomach, so the powder by itself in the dish they lick it up.

Since she was on antibiotics, she will likely benefit from a probiotic supplement to replace what the antibiotics destroyed(but it’s completely up to you if you want to add a probiotic supplement, I use Four a leaf Rover Protect and Gut Guard rotated).

What does she weigh? Approximately a 25 lb dog should eat 0.5 pound of raw per day. If her adult weight is gonna be around 25 pounds then she needs approximately 0.5 pound as she is a growing puppy. Of course every dog is different so her weight is your best guide and adjust from there.

If your new to raw, You would takeout 1-2 days of raw food and put in fridge to thaw, rest stays in freezer.
I Always put it in containers for 1 day portions, so tonight I took out tomorrow raw food amounts to thaw in fridge.
0.5 pound of raw food per day for her I think would be a good start.

Raw diet is great for picky Eaters- Rusty was brutal for picky eater, won’t eat any kibble or canned and I had to cook for him then he got picky with that too. So then I switched him to raw and hasn’t turned it down once and he has been on raw for 1.5 years(knock on wood).Rotating proteins can prevent picky eater. I highly recommend rotating proteins in whatever food you decide to feed. Every protein has its own benefits so they get more nutrients when Rotating proteins, and would you want to eat the same thing every day? That’s how picky eater start- I didn’t know until I had Rusty!🙂
Avoid chicken as it’s most common food allergy.

Raw is great for preventing most new health issues.

I googled the raw brands that say they are available to your area, and picked the ones that would be best for her yeast issues(no veg).

-BJs Raw- not sure if they deliver to you or not but if they do I recommend the Beef Blend, Goat blend and all the other proteins blend except chicken(most common allergy), but the main thing is you want Meat, Organ and bone in it- No veg cause most veg is what feeds yeast.

-Vital essentials -some pet stores carry it. They also have the freeze dried too as well as fresh frozen raw.

hopefully one of the brands I mentioned are available to you.

Hopefully her allergies and yeast issues start going away soon when you have her on the raw and bovine colostrum!
It does take time and patience though cause it can take up to 8-12 weeks for her other food to get out of her fully which possibly she is allergic to. So it won’t be overnight improvement, yeast takes a little longer!

Keep us updated on how she does!