Hi..... I have a 13month old Golden Lab. He has had no end of ear problems which the vet now thinks it could be an allergy of some sort? However I'm not convinced... he has mucky/smelly ears which we clean every other day & if we don't they become infected. They drive him nuts & he hates having them cleaned Has anybody been successful in controlling ear problems with diet?? Or have any other suggestions as to what we could do?? I don't want him to be on steroids really so wondered if there was anything else we could try? Many thanks.
Hi Lucy and welcome to the forum from the Beanwood pack, Bramble, Benson and Casper. I also have a lab who has the occasional ear infection, he has one now. What seems to trigger his ear infections is stress...and possibly diet. He had been in kennels just for a few days and I forgot to bring his own food...hence he put on a few pounds, and a few days later developed an ear infection. Diet really be a huge factor in our dogs wellbeing, and is not uncommon for allergies/intolerance to manifest in problems with skin and ears. I am not a vet however, what has worked well with other members experiencing the same recurrent problems is a referral to a vet dermatologist. What also I would consider, is how to make the experience more tolerable for your dog. Clicker training is a good way to help a dog feel more comfortable. You can also train a dog to "choose" when they have had enough by a training a "chin rest" . I can't seem to locate the video for that, I think @snowbunny may have a link?
My last Lab had itchy skin and sometimes gungy ears. I think it's worth trying a change in your dog's diet. With Rolo we eventually excluded wheat, which seemed to help a lot, though he did need the occasional course of steroids during a flare-up. I understand why you don't want to use steroids, but if your vet suggests it, it doesn't necessarily mean problems -we used as low a dose as possible as infrequently as possible and my boy lived to well over 14 years. If you try changing diet, think about excluding one thing at a time. As I say with Rolo it seemed to be wheat, but I know other people have found chicken to be an allergen. You could try using a food with a single protein source and see if it helps.
I would be asking for a referral to a specialist. I seem to remember one of our members saying they tried lots of things their vet advised, but the specialist cleared it up very quickly.
With Abby, my Lab who died in March, we had to occasional rounds of steroids along with food changes and non-steroid allergy medicines, and to be honest we never completely fixed the issue. We cleaned her ears regularly and used Monistat (can't remember the generic name) when an infection began. Sometimes it helped (if it was yeast-related), but usually we ended up having to do drops for her. I hope your dog feels better soon.
My boy also got ear infections, then October last year we changed his food and he has hardly had any infections since the new food.
Buster was Royal Canin Labrador, then I moved to Millie's Wolfheart Farmers Mix, I've now moved him to tracker mix as he was putting on weight.
Yep same here. One of my dogs has colitis and millies wolfheart tracker mix is low fat which really helps with this and none of the ingredients set of his intolerances. He is intolerant to chicken and grains.
Rorys been great on it I've been really pleased to find something he likes and can tolerate. Since using it he's stopped having his tummy rash and sore ears too
I have a 6 year old chocolate lab that has a chronic left ear infection and occasional itchy skin. He is on a grain free diet and take Apogel daily ( new pill that doesn't have the side effects of prednisone). He still suffers with a chronic stinky itchy red ear. The vet has told us the next step is sewing his ear canal shut and leaving him deaf in that ear or allergy testing and shots. I have spent so much money on this crazy ear.....any suggestions? Where do you buy the Millie's wolfheart tracker mix?
Diet can have an impact on health in ways that as yet we don't understand. As a trainer in the UK I'm not allowed to advise clients on diet, only a vet can do that so it may be worth having a chat with your vet and perhaps look at changing your boy's diet. Sometimes it's a case that it's unlikely to cause any harm and may be of benefit. @Nursejulie Millie's wolfheart is only available directly from them on the internet. They do usually provide excellent service and are very helpful on feeding/quantities/ best food. Really good delivery service as well.
They do have it in some shops now if you go on their websites it will tell you your nearest retailer. Mostly Yorkshire though.I use their mailing service it's very good. There are a lot of other good foods out there I've tried a few.
I'd forgotten that there are a few stockists but the service from Millie's is really good. I placed an order this morning which is being delivered on Wednesday and that's on their free delivery. I wish other companies delivered the same service
I know they are really good and they were very helpful when I was trying to find a food that suited Rory.
My guy, who lived until almost 15, had gunky ears and it was due to allergies, which only got worse as he got older. They cleared up first switching food - to lamb and rice, then salmon and potato, and finally to hydrolyzed protein. The hydrolyzed protein cleared up both his ears and his skin...and he had a very comfortable last year or two, even with food he wasn't crazy about. He stopped scratching constantly. We had him on an elimination diet to determine what he could and couldn't eat...I visited a specialist at our local veterinary school. Very helpful. Good luck!
