Schnauzer With Ear Infection - Yeast

[slk]

I had Mitzi to the vet this afternoon, her first check up since we got her (she's a 4yr old Miniature Schnauzer).

Overall, her health appears very good - but she has a severe yeast overgrowth/infection in both ears. The vet can't see down the ear canal, they are that swollen and blocked with muck. We cleaned them out as best we could, and she is now on a course of ear drops twice a day for 2 weeks. I've just given them another clean, more icky brown came out.

From what I have read, Schnauzers can be prone to this problem, and was wondering once this infection has cleared up is there anything I can do to prevent recurrence?

[Dogsfevr]

Do you get her ears plucked fully when groomed??

Is her ears groomed regularly or are they over grown??

Check her feet & are they sore & yeasty??

It can also be a diet thing.

[slk]

We have only had Mitzi for 4 weeks. The vet said that she has had this yeast overgrowth for quite some time. We noticed her scratching & rubbing her ears, that's why we took her to the vet. Our vet gave her a good 'going over' today, clipped her nails, etc so I am assuming that if she felt she was in any other way 'yeasty' she would have picked it up?

I have noticed that she is very 'smelly' .... she's nice when she's bathed but smells again very quickly, but now I'm assuming that this could be the ears.

I have to take her back to the vet in 2 weeks to ensure that the drops have done their job and I'll speak to her in greater detail then.

**edited to add - I haven't had her groomed yet - I have trimmed her myself - will get our vet groomer to look at her ears in 2 weeks.

Edited November 23, 2009 by *schnauzer*

[Dogsfevr]

If her ears are over grown the drops will be useless,they can pluck & clip now to allow the air to get down.

What was her history prior too you getting her??

The smelling could be her ears as you say ,

Do you now what she was feed before you got her??

Is she black or S/P??

Do her ears sorta look like a cauliflower??

[puggy_puggy]

What is she fed?

I have come across many pugs with yeast infections due to the food they are fed. Once they were put onto a raw grain free diet hey presto the yeast infections dissapeared.

Edited November 23, 2009 by puggy_puggy

[Are You Serious Jo]

I also agree with the diet thing, 99% of the time yeasty ears are due to intolerance of the diet.

[Nekhbet]

yup diet is a factor for yeast

go for as little grains as possible and NO wheat. I use paw paw cream for outer ear yeasts and works like treat

[mutt lover]

Best advice is speak to your vet about preventing it from coming back, but with my dogs i have regularly swabbed their ears out with cotton wool and a bit of parafin oil. and always make sure when you are bathing dog that you put cotton wool in ears to stop any water getting in if you put water over their head. I use an old face washer to wash dogs head and face but if you take to groomer tell them to put cotton wool in ears so as not to get water in.

[blacklabrador]

Are you feeding her a grain based food? (ie any dry dog food). The grain makes yeast overgrow in their bowel (just like making beer!) and they end up with systemic yeast problems. Dogs on raw diets rarely have these problems. Probiotics would help as well.

It obviously needs to be treated locally at the moment but it's very common for dogs to have recurrent yeast infections unless they are treated from the inside out by having a change in diet.

Edited November 23, 2009 by Pointeeblab

[slk]

Thank you all so much for your advice.

Yes, her ears are very swollen & spongy, resembling cauliflower on the inside. The vet is hoping that the steroid in the drops will help to ease that. We are also hoping that the damage is, in fact, reversable. As I said, we don't know how long she has had this infection.

As for her history - I don't know too much. She came from a 'breeder' who had 'finished with her' (her cash cow had dried up I think). She is not very well socialised and is a very nervous dog (I have a behaviourist coming today).

Thank you for the tips on diet. She is eating 4legs, Science Diet dry food and raw chicken wings/drumsticks/necks. I will talk to the vet about her diet when I take her back for review.

On a side note - I have a daughter recently diagnosed with food intolerances, wheat being a big one!! I can't eat it either - evil stuff

[poodlefan]

Try her on a gluten free diet - its helped other dogs I know with yeast problems.

Some apple cider vinegar in her diet also wouldn't hurt.

Good on you for taking her on - sounds like she's really fallen on her feet.

[Dogsfevr]

Besides the chicken necks i would change her dry & 4 legs,

Hills is very high in wheat/corn.

We breed/show minis & see this kind of infection in many mini,s & generally its diet related.most have gone away but generally its a case of controlling what is there.

Your vet may not be the best for diet(reality is they should discussed this with you already as to why she has bad ears)

Our favourite tool for yeasty ears is human 4% peroxide(first aid section of the shops)

We tell our clients to wipe the ears with it & there feet,the problem with bad ears is they will scratch as it itches,they transfer the yeast to there feet & it goes back & forth & hard to budge then you have sore feet aswell.

[becks]

Congrats on getting a mini, even if she is in need of some TLC atm, do come and join us in the schnauzer thread.

Plucking the ears is very important for ear health and you can also use an ear powder to help with the plucking and general ear health (not sure if you can get Thornit powder over there??) Otherwise Biogroom ear powder is a similar, weaker version.

She may also have narrow ear canals, especially if this has been going on a long time, so keeping ontop of ear cleaning will help in the future.

The smell is more then likely the ears, though occasionally the whole body can get an odour with yeast infections.

[Dogsfevr]

becks we have a poor selection of ear stuff able to be imported

[Poodle wrangler]

Poor dog.

As a preventative, I find that Malaseb- diluted 1:50 with warm water- is good for cleaning ears prone to this.

ATM, I would put only what the vet suggests in the ears as they're acutely infected.

The brownish-reddish stuff is normal for an infected ear and should clear in time.

Smelly ears means smelly dog, but the Malaseb is an antibacterial-antifungal shampoo which will help if there's a skin problem, too.

MUST dilute for ears, however!

As others suggest, try modifying diet as well.

[Dogsfevr]

We find Malasab on minis horrid.

We dont use it or recommend it

[Erny]

...not sure if you can get Thornit powder over there??

You can get Thornit Powder via "Groomers". I don't have their contact info at my finger tips, but you should be able to google them. They are in Australia. I have some but haven't used it yet so I cannot testify as to effectiveness.

[becks]

Thornit is the age old remedy for canker in spaniels, it's been around a long time and does help. Some dogs need a tiny pinch of the powder weekly to keep the ears dry.