Yeast Infection

Question
QUESTION: Hi,  I purchased two large Hydrocortisone-free med and gave my cocker spaniel the treatment stated on the med.  However,the infection as not cleared although it do's not seem as bad as it was.  

I was thinking of puchasing more of the med, would you plese tell me if it would be ok to continue the treatment, or do you suggest anything else that I may try?

He has had various treatments from our vet including an operation, but still the problem persits.

Kind Regards, Christine

ANSWER: Did the vet give you this medication?  What is it?  An oral medication or do you mean something topical?  Tell me what it is and what's in it.

What sort of "operation"?  I need a lot more information.

I will say that yeast overgrowth needs constant topical attention (baths & the right shampoo).

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your reply.  The medication I found at Entirely Pets.com.  It is recommended for Yeast Infection. The med is: ZYMOX, OTIC Enzymatic Solution, aids in the treatment of acute and chronic otitis externa due to bacterial and yeast infections. The med is placed in the ear chanal once a day.

My vet tried lots of ear drops and then he decided to operate. Because we live in Bulgaria, there is a langauge problem and I am not sure what the operation was, only he told me the infection was cronic.

I would be most grateful for any help you can give me.  My dog as suffered with this problem for over 12 months now.

Kind Regards, Christine

ANSWER: Zymox is an amazing ear treatment.

Tell me how much you're putting in his ears.  

Did you also buy the Zymox cleaner?

What you do with this med is FILL the ear canal - put ear flap down and massage base of ear - let dog shake head and do NOT clean out the ear canal.  Just wipe the excess off his actual ear flap.

Do NOT use any ear cleaner (even Zymox) during treatment.

I think what your vet is talking about is ear ablation surgery and there's absolutely no way a regular vet should be doing this surgery.

So let's make sure you're using the med correctly - the instructions are a bit confusing and a lot of people think they're to clean out the ear after a treatment.
Delores

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi,  I have been using the med as you have discribed, I have not cleaned the ears during treatment.  I filled the ear canal and massaged as you have discribed.  I used the med for 7 day's to start but noticed it had not cleared so I continued for another 7 day's.  It had not cleared after the second 7 day's and I continued until I had used the full 2 large bottles.

I have not used the cleaner yet, or attempted to clean them.  I am at a loss as to what to do next.

Kind Regards,Christine

I also bought the Zymox cleaner.

Answer
Okay...now I want you to clean them with the Zymox cleaner.

Fill canal,
Massage ear base, let him shake his head and then
go down there with a cotton pad and clean out the canal.

Do this for 3 days in a row and see if what you're getting has decreased.

Christine, I use square cotton pads folded tightly on the diagonal..you can get further down than with a cotton ball.

Don't worry about having used this for so long - it's quite safe for long term use.
But you should have been taking breaks and cleaning out the canal.

So let's do that now and see what happens when we get that debris out of there.
Delores