Dog food allergy--ear infections--diet change? - Page 2

And one more time,It can be as simple as changing up the protein source in the diet.Yes,I also am dealing with this with one of my boys.Its not an easy road so try and get it licked as soon as possible.Good luck to you and your boy.Domenic

Hi Gator113,

Don't take a step backwards, stay with your raw diet.

I am feeding all my dogs a raw diet full time now, and they have more energy and are looking very healthy.

I have one dog that gets gunky ears sometimes, so I am trying something new that I have heard from a reliable source could help with ear problems, it is Coconut Oil.
  I am just giving it to the one that sometimes has ear problems, I'll let you know if I see improvement, as in never happening again!
  I give 3 Tablespoons a day, melted down, or straight from the jar, they love the taste!
  You can also use Coconut Oil  inside their ears to clean them once a week, it kills mites, and loosens up the gunk.
  We also use it in cooking, has a nice neutral taste....
  

 Here is the product I'm using, good luck with your dog, hope he's feeling 100% soon!

Pharaoh had ear infections in his youth.  It was from shredded redwood bark (sometimes called gorilla fur) that I had on my previous land several years prior.  It degrades over time into micro-splinters.  The symptoms were much like allergies.  Two different vets diagnosed him as allergic based on symptoms.  I allergy tested him and came up with nothing.  NO ALLERGIES!!!!!  There were however, several sad repercussions from the steroids and anthistamines to treat him for something that he didn't have.

It was a guy who worked with Shepherd rescue who came up with the real culprit.  Once I stopped letting him out on the property and taking him to parks instead, it all went away.  All the misery for nothing.

If he got out in the backyard, I hosed him off and dipped his feet in apple cider vinegar water mix.  I also put a bit of apple cider vinegar in his water-very helpful.  K9 liquid health ear solution is great stuff and has gentian violet in it so use it outside!  www.vitacost.com/Liquid-Health-K-9-Ear-Solutions  Read the reviews-5 star.

Good luck.

Michele

I have a female, very allergic to Chicken.  Raw or Kibble.  She gets red, itchy ears and digs at them like crazy.  I feed lamb and she has no issues.

It might take a bit of switching around to figure it out, but well worth it. 

KIM

www.justk9s.com

gator - what exactly are you feeding him?  what are you mixing?  what are all the ingredients?

www.marvistavet.com/html/body_ear_infections.html

This is an excellent article on ear infections by a board certified veterinary dermatologist.  In the section  STEP TWO she mentions that chronic ear infections require culturing... allergies and hormone imbalances are cited as two causes of chronic ear infections.

Hope this is helpful

Constant ear infections can be caused by dog himself. If something gets into his ear - he’ll keep on scratching the inside of the ear and infect it with his dirty paws. I had ear infection problem for years - vet recommended different kinds of medicine and nothing worked. For over a year now, my dog didn't have a single ear infection and it's only due to the very simple solution suggested by another breeder.

"Use baby wipes to clean the dogs ears when he starts scratching it - then spray Hydrocortisone into his ear to prevent him from scratching it further". For me it worked miracles and the effect is almost immediate. Dog doesn't scratch his ear - no further irritation... Spray Hydrocortisone bottle (about $4 in a grocery store) lasts forever, too.

Doberdoodle said it right... it's generally a grain or a source of protein that is the cause of food allergies... other symptoms may be problems with anal glands or red/swollen anus.  You can still feed raw... but trying another protein source and eliminating grains would be the first step... (some proteins you can try would be fish, venison, buffalo, duck, lamb, etc)... and please note.. it can take up to 12 weeks for the body to adjust to a new diet before you see improvment.