Dachshund ear yeast infections: Affordable home solutions for relief?

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. I would recommend using the below products and if no improvement, I would suggest asking your veterinarian about an oral antifungal drug such as Fluconazole to help treat the yeast infection. All of the below products can be found online quite easily. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns. 1. Douxo PS Chlorhexidine combination shampoo and bathe twice weekly until resolved 2. Malacetic conditioning spray and apply to affected areas twice daily until resolved

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. You could try Zymox, which you can find online quite easily. However, the concern with just starting an ear medication without examining the ear canals is that you may be administering ear medications in an ear with a ruptured ear drum. I would recommend having a veterinarian examine Luna so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Thank you for contacting PetCoach with your question about Ryder. Poor guy, that looks pretty bad in the picture! He is missing fur in places, and parts of his skin look pretty red, likely from licking. I'm wondering if he does have a yeast infection or something else like mites, fleas, or allergies. This is something that has to be seen by a vet immediately, it is bad looking and cannot be treated at home. It also needs to be diagnosed by a vet so it can be treated correctly. If paying for a vet is an issue, you can see if your vet accepts payment plans, if there is a low cost clinic in your area, or you can apply for Care Credit online. There is also an organization called Red Rover that give grants for treatment of sick animals, and you can see if you qualify for one of their grants. Best Friends also has a list of resources that offer financial assistance on their website. I'd also see if you can borrow money from family and friends. http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/trouble_affording_pet.html?credit=web_id91754962 https://www.redrover.org https://www.carecredit.com http://bestfriends.org/resources/financial-aid-pets http://lessonsfromaparalyzeddog.com/when-pet-owners-cant-afford-veterinary-bills/ http://www.dogheirs.com/resources-affordable-veterinary-care/ I hope one of these resources helps you. Please take him into a vet immediately. Best of luck.

Yeast ear infections often need antifungal topical ear medications to help resolution. Most topical ear medications will also contain an antibiotic (not always needed) and a steroid, which will help with the itch the yeast can cause. I would recommend that you discuss the proper medication with your veterinarian. Many times yeast ear infections are caused by too much moisture in the ear (like after swimming in a pool or lake) or from inflammation caused by allergies (from fleas, food, environment, etc.). If Tiki has recurrent yeast ear infections, you may need to have her vet work up allergies as the primary problem. For minor yeast ear infections that aren't red, swollen, or itchy, you can try an ear cleanser to help remove the yeast. If you do this for a couple days and it isn't better, than she will probably need prescription medications.

Yeast infections are especially itchy, crusty, and smelly. Often a dog starts with a rash or with simple itching but the skin thickens to an “elephant” skin appearance. The itch is extreme and the odor can be especially troublesome. Parts of the body or the entire body can be affected. Malassezia overgrowth is particularly problematic where there are skin folds ("armpits," eyelids, facial folds, lip folds, throat latch, and especially between the toes). Treatment can be topical, oral, or both. Topical treatment is best used for localized spots of infection while oral medication would be better applied to larger infected areas. If the yeast infection is recurrent or if one wishes to supplement oral medication, topical and oral treatment can be combined. Oral medications are available through your vet. Shampoos such as Chlorhexiderm Max® or Malaseb® shampoo both strip skin oil and kill yeast; however, other anti-yeast products include Selsun Blue®, Miconazole® shampoo, Nizoral® shampoo, Douxo® shampoo and more. The pet must be bathed twice a week to start and the shampoo requires a 15 minute contact time (meaning do not rinse the lather for 15 minutes). It is important to realize that yeast overgrowth occurs in response to a primary problem be it allergy, seborrhea or something else. If the underlying problem is not controlled, yeast dermatitis is likely to periodically recur. It is common for allergic dogs to require some kind of periodic if not on-going anti-yeast therapy.

Hello, thank you for using PetCoach! Sorry that Chance is having this issue. I suggest you use a medicated ear wash (see link below) and an actual ear medication (also linked below). Clean the ears and medicate once per day but do them at opposite times of the day (clean in the evening and medicate in the morning or vice-versa). You don't want to put the medication in the ears on top of the cleaning solution. Do both for AT LEAST 7-10 days. If he is not improved by that time he will need to see your vet. https://worldtails.securevetsource.com/itemView/view/198944_HomeDelivery.pml?productId=136342 https://worldtails.securevetsource.com/itemView/view/198944_HomeDelivery.pml?productId=98587 Be sure you are cleaning the ears correctly. See YouTube video linked below. When you medicate be sure the medication is getting down into the ear canal and not just in the top portion of the canal that you can see. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_8f1fll42A&t=16s Hope this helps. If you have more questions you can always opt for a private consultation where we can chat back and forth. That way you can ask as many questions as you'd like. Best wishes!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is likely an ear infection and I am afraid that there is likely an underlying allergy causing him to scratch a lot and continue to cause further trauma to the ear. I highly recommend that you have him evaluated as soon as possible as this is likely causing him a lot of discomfort. They would be able to diagnose this and start therapy. Medications such as steroids may help decrease the itch. You may use the e-collar to prevent further self-trauma. Best of luck!