Ear infections and diet

    • Gold Top Dog

    Ear infections and diet

     Maze has her first ear infection for the first time in 2 years.

    Now! I'm wondering if her diet is causing the infection. I ran out of her usual food last week, and at the same time her ear flared.  I've got a bag of Iams healthy something or other... Can't remember the name right now. I put her on that last night instead of the generic crap she was eating. There's been a minor change already.

    Normally she eats Cal Nat Lamb and Rice small bites with no issues. 

    • Gold Top Dog

    I would guess that its probably allergies to the Iams crap vs an infection (cause Im pretty sure the first ingredient is ground yellow corn?) Iams IMO is one of the worst out there. If you run out of the Cal Nat you could get some Purina or something similar, its not great but its better than Iams.

    • Gold Top Dog

     I got the Iams for free from the food bank so I'm not picky at the moment. She was on something different when I ran out of the Cal Nat. I just put her on the Iams last night to see if there's a change.

    I'm not a fan of Iams either and given the choice, I'd rather feed Kibbles and Bits or Purina but *shrugs* Again, can't be picky when I'm getting my extra food from the food bank.

    • Gold Top Dog

     Just FYI, if you don't know... California Natural has been sold to Proctor and Gamble, the company that owns Iams. Keep an eye on your food over the next few months. Things might change, and since she seems sensitive, it's something to watch.

     

    Em was the same way. Switch her food to something that disagreed with her, and her ears would go crazy. I used the Blue Ear powder, or 50/50 vinegar and water to flush and soothe them.

    • Gold Top Dog

     DANG IT!! She is very sensitive to her food.. *sigh*  I didn't know that Cal Nat had been sold... Thanks for the heads up.

    I've been washing her ears with a small amount of mineral oil and cotton balls.

    • Gold Top Dog

    Darby has a sensitive left ear.  It either flares up or gets better with food changes, and it's almost immediate, as in a matter of a couple days of a food change.  I think it has a lot to do with inflammation.  On a raw food diet, even her tear stains completely go away, gorgeous white face and beard. Cooked diets, red tear and beard stains. Kibble, get dark red tear/beard stains and the one yeasty ear. 

    There are certain things that trigger it for her: barley in kibble but not from fresh, flax seed in both kibble and fresh.  She is currently dealing with the flax issue because I have them on the honest kitchen and it has flax in it. 

    As for teh ooky ear, I'd have to look but the vet had a food that has boric acid in the solution and works very well to clear up her ear.

    • Puppy

    I have to be really careful with one of my dogs - have to stick to the same diet (Fromm Pork and Applesauce) or we get ear infections.  I keep Otomax on hand at all times - clears ear infections/irritations up with just one or two doses. 

     

    • Puppy

    ear infections are common in dogs who are on grain heavy foods, try grain free, not sure what you can afford, but Taste of the Wild is the least expensive, if you have a tractor supply near, you can also print $5 coupon on their site.

    • Gold Top Dog

    bluechaos

    ear infections are common in dogs who are on grain heavy foods, try grain free, not sure what you can afford, but Taste of the Wild is the least expensive, if you have a tractor supply near, you can also print $5 coupon on their site.

     

    Small town in BC=no tractor supply

    TOTW is actually one of the most expensive here. I was feeding it to both the dogs but it gave Sandy gas. Lol.  I'm switching Maze to Orijen this month. Buying a small bag and see how she does on it.

    • Silver
    bluechaos

    ear infections are common in dogs who are on grain heavy foods, try grain free, not sure what you can afford, but Taste of the Wild is the least expensive, if you have a tractor supply near, you can also print $5 coupon on their site.

    Natures domain fish and potato is made by the same company and is sold at costco I think $28.00 for 40 lbs
    • Gold Top Dog

     *sigh* No costco either.. *pout*

    • Puppy

    How about this?

    http://www.holisticblend.com/index.php?cPath=18_27

    Petcurean is also a canadian company, their grain free endurance formula looks to have the best ingridients, the other ones dont have enough meat:

    http://www.petcurean.com/index.php?page_id=44