dalmation ears

Question
My Dalmation is 11 yrs old and shakes his head frequently. I took him to the vet months ago with a yeast infection in his ears. What ever the vet did, it did not really work. His ears still smell bad, and now there is  brown, gooey junk showing up in his one ear. I clean it almost daily. I have tried alcohol, peroxide, vinegar, monostat, and the rest of the ear drops the vet gave me that does not work. Please tell me what I need to do so my dog is not uncomfortable any more. The reason I did not take him back to the vet is because I cannot afford it right now. Thanks for any help.

Answer
Yeast infections are secondary to allergies.  So if the vet you are using has not discussed the possibility of allergic ear disease, the ears will not get any better. There can be allergies to the food that the dog is eating or to pollens/molds/and insects in the environment.

Sometimes, we use cremes and liquids in the ears that contain corticosteroids, which will reduce the inflammation in the ear and can give some relief from the itch.  The ears should be cleaned out with an acid type of degreasing ear cleaner once daily for at least 2 weeks and then once weekly for maintenance.