Where do you think most medicines derived from, nature. Personally I have used the Blue Power Ear Treatment on Emmett years ago with phenomenal results. I didn't even follow the course of use that people usually recommend and it worked great without suppressing and since then I have only used basic ear cleaners or even just witch hazel.
Treating the cause and not just the symptoms with chronic yeast problems is the key. A change in the diet is sometimes all that it may take. Boosting the immune system so the body deals with yeast the way it is supposed to is another part of it.
While I would recommend some of the things listed on that page way down the list a lot of them are just common sense.
But you can stick with life long medications if you want, why should you look to a better way when you can just prescribe something, and when that med causes problems in some area from long term use, prescribe something for that.
Advise the crap food that promotes yeast, and prescribe meds. Where do vets come up with this?
I'm sorry flower, I wasn't trying to be negative (man, it seems as if I'm apologizing to you quite a bit for some reason). The thing is read through that website real closely. To me it ran in circles and didn't really say much other than dog food is evil and vaccines are evil and you shouldn't trust drugs, but should use these "naturally derived" refined substances, which in your own words are exactly what drugs are. Do you see the circular logic in that? I also want to know where I said life long drug therapy was appropriate, because nowhere have I ever said that. Thats your bias against anything even remotely not labeled "homeopathic" or "natural" and hatred of evidence based, logically thought out treatment plans speaking, not something I've said. It's, in my opinion, a very close minded approach to what I'm trying to say in this thread.
I agree with you in that the key with yeast infections is finding the cause, because many times the cause of recurrent yeast infections is an underlying allergy or other issue. I've also seen recurrent yeast infections in hunting dogs that when we got them out of the water, their ears cleared up. The same with dogs where the owners insisted on putting caustic materials or using water to clean their dogs ears. I had one cocker spaniel patient when I was in private practice where the owners insisted on bathing the dog three times per week. They'd get the dogs ears soaking wet and wash them out with a dilute dish soap solution, then not rinse them, and not dry them appropriately. We fixed the ear infections when I realized the bathing practices and I got the owners to go to baths once every 2 weeks with out flushing the ears with dilute dish soap. Amazingly the dog quit smelling bad too.
I also thought i was pretty clear in that I think alot of veterinarians screw up how they treat ear infections. There is a systematic approach for ear infections that will work for all of them, however there isn't a single one treatment because of the differences in causes of the infection----this doesn't matter if you are prescribing antibiotics/antifungals/or some tree oil homeopathic stuff.
You need to follow these steps in my mind:
1) visually examine the ear for signs of exudate, ear canal redness, character of the ear drum, and to try to scale the degree of pain and discomfort of the dog.
2) determine type of infection: yeast, bacteria, mixed yeast and bacteria via cytology. This is always a wrights/dif quick stain, may or may not be a gram stain.
3) Base a culture on severity of infection---if its severe or reoccuring perform a culture to determine antibiotic resistance. That said cultures aren't always mandatory at first presentation of an ear infection depending on severity of infection history and health status of animal
4) prescribe appropriate antimicrobials: antifungals for yeast, antibiotics for bacterial, both for mixed infection
5) avoid topical steroids unless the dog is extremely painful or there is severe inflammation, then if there is use corticosteroids appropriately--taper dose of oral or appropriate topical drugs.
6) REEVALUATE: this means stress to the owner to administer all medications as directed and recheck the ear once the meds are completed. If there is still a problem based on cytology, culture may be indicated. Again, this is based on severity of cytology, differences in gram stain, and response to treatment. Its not the same for every dog or even every infection in the same dog.
7) If infection reoccurs within 3-6 months, or it persists after appearing to clear up, then you have to look for underlying causes including what the owners do with the dog---hunting, bathing, allergies, dietary reactions, etc. I honestly think you'll end up chasing zebras if you jump on this outside of a thorough history with the first presentation of an ear infection. Dogs get ear infections without an underlying cause, just like humans. A single isolated infection doesnt' mean their immune system is shit becuase they were vaccinated 7 years ago or that they are allergic to every food they eat. At the same time, there may be an underlying problem causing that infection, especially if its a reoccurant yeast infection. That cannot be ignored.
One of the key things with yeast and bacerterial growth in the ear is changes in pH that occur within the ear canal because this can actually provide a better growing environment for both yeast and bacteria . This is what makes substances like Triz-EDTA very effective both for treatment and prevention of ear infections. I'm not a big fan of some of the homeopathic tree oils because I've seen some really bad reactions to some of them. Everything you put into a dogs ear has the potential to change the pH of that ear canal. This can be a good thing, or it can be a very, very bad thing if you cause irritation within the ear. What this means is you can take a relatively minor infection and make it very bad relatively easily by randomly puttingn some of the things you can find out on the internet labeled as "homeopathic" or even "ear cleaner'. A couple of examples: One was a dog when I was an intern who looked like it had hot pokers put into its ears. The owner was applying lemon oil and tea tree oil because she thought that the dog had an ear infection. Nothing was seen on cytology other than normal bacterial flora---mild numbers of diphthroids. When we convinced her that her dog didn't need antibiotics and finally got her to quit putting that crap in her dogs ears, the ears cleared up.
I also saw a dog indirectly when I was in Ohio where the owner made it severely vestibular when she tried to "candle" the poor dogs ears. She thought it worked for humans, it had to work for the dog. Basically she managed to rupture the dogs eardrum and poured hot wax into its middle ear. I wish I had more followup on that case, but I was just an observer when it came in for the initial emergency.
I also wish I had a dollar for every ear infection I saw when I was in private practice where the owners totally made things much, much worse by trying to clean their dogs ears with hydrogen peroxide. What is sad is I've heard veterinarians recommend this treatment as a cleanser. Stop and think for a second, what does H2O2 do when it is exposed to biological media? It breaks down to H2O and gives of O2 gas. So basically by cleaning a dogs ear with hydrogen peroxide, you are creating an oxygen rich water filled environment in the dogs ear in which the surface skin is very irritated as a result of the action of the hydrogen peroxide. Mallazzezia loves that kind of environment. Its a recipe for a severe yeast infection or worse yet a severe mixed yeast and bacterial infection.
Do you get what I'm trying to say? I'm not a fan of randomly putting things in dogs ears because I think it leads to more problems. It doesnt matter if its some homeopathic remedy, some junk you get from the gypsie down the street, or veterinary approved and licensed antimicrobials. The type of infection present needs to be deterimined and then treated appropriately based on that evaluation. Treatment needs to be of sufficient duration and followup MUST occur for you to prevent reoccurant infections.