# Yeast Infection in the Ears



## Mandy (Aug 30, 2012)

Last week I noticed my 6 month old female boxer had redness in her ears. I thought it was just from playing with my other boxers so I didn't think much of it at the time, but it started to get worst. I posted pics on another forum and was suggested to try treating her with ACV and coconut oil. So I've been doing that since Wednesday. It's not getting any better and it actually appears to be getting worst. She is not bothered by them at all. I rarely if ever see her scratching. She has never rubbed her head against something nor does she shake her head like it's bothering her. I don't believe it's a moisture issue because she doesn't get bathed often at all and when it's raining or snowing outside we don't stay out very long. She's fed a raw diet and has been fed this diet for about a month and a half now. I think I covered everything. Does this look like a yeast infection to you? Is there something else I should try? I'd like to treat it naturally instead of going to the vets to get some prescription (of course I WILL take her to the vets if it doesn't improve soon).


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## Sheltielover25 (Jan 18, 2011)

Did your pup have allergy issues before to food? Are you feeding chicken from the store? Most times the chicken is fed grain and then if you, or your pet, have a grain allergy that can cause it to flair up. Just a thought...


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## Mandy (Aug 30, 2012)

No allergies that I'm aware of. We brought her home on 10/19 so she was already over 4 months old. She was doing fine on her kibble (which was Purina Pro Plan from the breeder), but I wanted her to be raw fed. I was originally feeding her chicken from our supermarket, but have started going through an actual poultry supplier about 3 weeks ago.


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## CoverTune (Dec 20, 2011)

It looks more like an allergy to me, I would expect a yeast infection to be deeper in the ears, not on the flaps. Also, is there any odour? A yeast infection produces a noticeable smell.


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## Mandy (Aug 30, 2012)

No odor either. If it is an allergy is there anything I can put on them to treat them while I try to figure out what she's allergic to? Also how do I figure out what's she allergic too. As I said she's raw fed. So far she gets bone in chicken (as the staple), bone in turkey necks, beef, lamb, and I just started her on pork.


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## monster'sdad (Jul 29, 2012)

It could be any numbers of things but I doubt it has anything to do with diet or allergies. Try some EMT gel on it for a few days.


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## woganvonderweidenstrasse (Nov 22, 2012)

Try apple cider vinegar. 1 teaspoon mixed with a quarter cup of clean water. Flush the ears with it and let her shake it out - try once a day and see if it'll improve.


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## Khan (Jan 17, 2010)

Khan has bad allergies to both food ingredients and environmental items. That looks like what his get like when he's been exposed to something. ACV does nothing for him. He is actually allergic to Flax, Salmon, and Coconut oils! Not very typical; but since you just introduced the coconut oil, it may be a possibility...
It's more likely that it's something in the house, or yard. Did you use a new detergent or fabric softener? Khan is very intolerant to some carpet cleaners, (you know the kind you sprinkle and vacuum up) How about a new bed. Cedar is also a no-no in our house. You said she was playing with other dogs. If those dogs sleep on a cedar bed, and she's bothered by it, the residue left on their skin could be enough to trigger it. (First hand experience) 
Getting rid of the trigger eliminates the problem within a few days. An OTC allergy pill like Benadryl works well. 1mg for every lb. The avg adult pill is usually 25mg, so give 1-2 pills morning and evening for a few days. If you see an improvement at least you know where to start.


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## Mandy (Aug 30, 2012)

I've tried using Apple Cider Vinegar and coconut oil already, not helping. I just started using the coconut oil after she already had the problem so I don't know if that's the problem. We've not used any new detergents recently. We use the kind without any perfumes because sensitive skin runs in our family. I don't use the carpet powder stuff often at all. I don't think I've used it since she came home. The only dogs she's played with also live with us in the same house and neither of them are showing this. I'm really wracking my brain trying to think of new things we've introduced into the house, but can't think of anything.


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## Felix (Oct 9, 2012)

Doesn't look like a yeast infection at all. It would be deeper in the ears and yeast creates a very itchy sensation along with swelling of the tissues due to scratching. Not sure what it is, if it's not bothering her, I would just keep an eye on it. Perhaps putting stuff on it is keeping the area red. Leaving it alone might be just what needs to be done.


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## Mandy (Aug 30, 2012)

OK, so I just remembered that I did use a different detergent to do my bedding and Abby's bedding not to long ago. It's one of those mango scented (I think it's mango) detergents. There was probably about a quarter of a bottle left so I was trying to finish it. I guess I didn't consider it as "new" since I've used it in the past. I wonder if it might be that? Guess tonight I'll rewash everything with the blander, no scented detergent that my mother uses (she has sensitive skin). Maybe start with that and some benedryl?


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## Georgiapeach (Jan 24, 2011)

Rewashing definitely worth a try. Also, did this start after you introduced pork?


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## Mandy (Aug 30, 2012)

Nope. Before pork.


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## Mandy (Aug 30, 2012)

Just a quick update. We've decided to have her looked at by the vet. She's going in on Thursday night. Will let you know what happens.


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## Sheltielover25 (Jan 18, 2011)

I would try to ask the supplier what the animals eat that you're feeding. It might be an imbalance of Omega 3/6 ration causing it. It might be the new detergent, but from my experience a dog senstive to something like deteregent would be senstive to other environmental things, but it certainly doesn't hurt to go natural on the end, too. 

It would be interesting if you could get free-range chicken not fed any grains and see if that clears it up. I might try giving her some canned sardines it sounds like pup could benefit from some omega-3, if anything.

Best of luck!


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## monster'sdad (Jul 29, 2012)

It is some type of contact irritation with a minor secondary infection. It is nothing to worry about, just treat it topically with EMT or combination of an antibiotic/antifungal cream and don't let anyone tell you some magic herb or hemp oil will help or it is caused by grains.

When it comes to allergies grains are not even statistically significant when wheat is excluded. All grains combined account for less than 5% of food allergies whereas common animal proteins are about 80%.

It has nothing to do with diet or the diet of any animal your dog is eating.


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## Sheltielover25 (Jan 18, 2011)

monster'sdad said:


> It is some type of contact irritation with a minor secondary infection. It is nothing to worry about, just treat it topically with EMT or combination of an antibiotic/antifungal cream and don't let anyone tell you some magic herb or hemp oil will help or it is caused by grains.
> 
> When it comes to allergies grains are not even statistically significant when wheat is excluded. All grains combined account for less than 5% of food allergies whereas common animal proteins are about 80%.
> 
> It has nothing to do with diet or the diet of any animal your dog is eating.


LMAO! Yeah, all those hundreds of people who have come on here and talked about how after they switched to a grain-free diet their dog's allergies went away are just full of it. It's almost laughable they way you think. It's down right BS, too. Yeah, there's also no health difference in grain-fed meat to grass-fed, huh? LMAO


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## Mandy (Aug 30, 2012)

monster'sdad said:


> It is some type of contact irritation with a minor secondary infection. It is nothing to worry about, just treat it topically with EMT or combination of an antibiotic/antifungal cream and don't let anyone tell you some magic herb or hemp oil will help or it is caused by grains.
> 
> When it comes to allergies grains are not even statistically significant when wheat is excluded. All grains combined account for less than 5% of food allergies whereas common animal proteins are about 80%.
> 
> It has nothing to do with diet or the diet of any animal your dog is eating.


I hope it's something easy to fix and figure out. We shall see. She goes to the vet on Thursday.


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## monster'sdad (Jul 29, 2012)

Sheltielover25 said:


> LMAO! Yeah, all those hundreds of people who have come on here and talked about how after they switched to a grain-free diet their dog's allergies went away are just full of it. It's almost laughable they way you think. It's down right BS, too. Yeah, there's also no health difference in grain-fed meat to grass-fed, huh? LMAO


From Dr. Susan Wynn, PHD & Advisor to Natures Variety:

_* "If dogs have the genetic predisposition to develop food allergies, they can become allergic to certain foods. A recent review of 7 studies indicates that dogs are most commonly allergic to the following foods (in descending order): beef, dairy, wheat, egg, chicken, lamb/mutton, soy, pork, rabbit and fish*. In cats, the most common allergens are beef, dairy, fish, lamb, poultry and barley/wheat (in equal numbers), egg and rabbit in equal numbers. I will admit that I’ve seen higher numbers of corn allergy than would be suggested by these numbers, as well, but please note that grains do not constitute the majority of allergy offenders."_

If you understood why allergies occur, you would understand why common animal proteins account for such a large proportion of allergies. Irrational hysteria is not a good way to go through life.

Please note the statement, about being genetically predisposed. This means its the dog's faulty immune system. The truth is only 10% of allergic reactions are diet related, so when you do the math you will find the chance of a dog being allergic to any food, even beef, is statistically irrelevant.

Cornell did a study on 10,000 dogs and found that rice and corn had about the same incidence of about 1% each. 1% of the 10%, not 1% of the whole.

"Don't let the facts get in the way of a good story"


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## Mandy (Aug 30, 2012)

Arguments aside, I just wanted to post an update on her. It appears whatever it is is starting to go away. I haven't treated her ears directly with ACV or coconut oil since Saturday night. Her ears are still a bit on the reddish side and they still have some scabbing, but they're looking better. I've been keeping with her raw diet and started putting some ACV in with her water as well as giving her some coconut oil with her meals. I don't know if that's what's making the difference, but she's moving in the right direction. I'm posting pics of her ears taken just a few minutes ago.


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## Khan (Jan 17, 2010)

Mandy said:


> Arguments aside, I just wanted to post an update on her. It appears whatever it is is starting to go away. I haven't treated her ears directly with ACV or coconut oil since Saturday night. Her ears are still a bit on the reddish side and they still have some scabbing, but they're looking better. I've been keeping with her raw diet and started putting some ACV in with her water as well as giving her some coconut oil with her meals. I don't know if that's what's making the difference, but she's moving in the right direction. I'm posting pics of her ears taken just a few minutes ago.


Chances are it was some sort of reaction to her environment. Detergent would be my guess. It was probably just enough to give her a mild reaction. Again, Khan gets this exact same thing when he's exposed to "something" Once the exposure is removed and his system clears, his ears are back to normal.


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## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

I haven't read through all the posts in this thread to see if it has been suggested, but have you tried any Colloidal Silver? It works well for a number of skin issues.


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## CoverTune (Dec 20, 2011)

Wow, the ears are looking lots better, that's great!


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## Herzo (Feb 5, 2011)

Glad she's getting better and yes those look nothing like Turtles when she had hers, it was deep in the ear canal and dark brown stuff coming out . I should have taken a picture, I have never seen such bad ears. She has been having allot of dark brown stuff coming out again after the bread incident and also eating tomatoes but I think we are on the mend once again.

I use the blue ear cleaner.


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## Mandy (Aug 30, 2012)

Well, that was short lived. Her ears were redder this afternoon when I went home for lunch than they were yesterday. I'm thinking it's the beef. It hadn't been in her rotation of meals for the past few days while it seemed to be getting better, but she did get some last night for dinner. Seems weird that they were improving when she wasn't getting beef and then once she gets it her ears start turning red again. I'm going to skip beef for a few days to see if it gets better again or not. If it does, than I guess that would be the cause of this! If it is beef, has anyone ever heard of a food allergy showing in the ears like this?


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## Khan (Jan 17, 2010)

Hate to sound like a broken record; but that's exactly where Khan's first signs of trouble show. His ears get red and blotchy, then the black gunky stuff starts to show. His ears stay that way until the allergen is removed. It doesn't matter if it's food or environmental. Whatever the culprit, it shows in the ears first. If the reaction is really bad, it moves to his tummy and inner thighs. It "typically" shows up as a red blotchy rash if it's from environment. If it's a food reaction, his skin will turn a greyish black! Again, once the problem is removed and his system clears, all the symptoms go away! In either case, his ears show the first signs of trouble.


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## Mandy (Aug 30, 2012)

Good to know! I've always been under the impression that allergies would show up in the paws first accompanied by some intense scratching and/or licking. In Abby's case she's doing neither and her paws are totally normal. The only thing that's off is her ears. I skipped beef last night and her ears are looking better this morning than they did yesterday. It may be too early to say for sure, but I'm feeling pretty confident that she has a beef allergy going on. They were improving so much while she was not being fed beef, one beef meal and her ears turned red, no beef yesterday and it looks like they're getting better again. So, we'll skip beef for a while to see if she continues to improve and stay well. If she does, we'll take beef out of her rotation.


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## shellbell (Sep 24, 2011)

Was just going to chime in that this does not at all look like a yeast infection. I've been there and it is usually quite apparent with black gunky stuff in the ear, and you will definitely notice the odor if you take a whiff. I too would venture to guess a possible allergic reaction to something (either food or environmental).


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## Mandy (Aug 30, 2012)

Thanks again everyone. I'm really leaning more towards it be an allegy to beef. I gave her beef once this week which made it flare up again. Since I've stopped feeding beef it seems to be clearing up again. My plan now is to wait until it's completely gone for a week or so and then try to introduce some beef again. If her ears flare up than I'll be sure it is beef. I'd just hate for this to be a weird coincidence and cut beef out of her diet if she's really not allergic to it.

Here are some pics I took of her ears this afternoon. Still some redness, but it looks a hell of a lot better than it did earlier this week!


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## bett (Mar 15, 2012)

monster'sdad said:


> It is some type of contact irritation with a minor secondary infection. It is nothing to worry about, just treat it topically with EMT or combination of an antibiotic/antifungal cream and don't let anyone tell you some magic herb or hemp oil will help or it is caused by grains.
> 
> When it comes to allergies grains are not even statistically significant when wheat is excluded. All grains combined account for less than 5% of food allergies whereas common animal proteins are about 80%.
> 
> It has nothing to do with diet or the diet of any animal your dog is eating.


where did you go to vet school?


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## bett (Mar 15, 2012)

Dogs With Food Allergies: Symptoms, Common Triggers, and More



http://www.petwave.com/Dogs/Dog-Health-Center/Multi-Body-System-Disorders/Allergies/Treatment.aspx


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