For the past couple of days I noticed Tundra shaking head so thought it might be ear mites. Took him to the vet yesterday and it's a yeast infection so he's on Mometamax for 10 days. Also bought an ear cleaning solution she said to use once a week that has drying agents in it. Don't know why or where he "got" this.....he doesn't go swimming but occasionally plays in the sprinkler...or it just happened. He's never had any problems in the past. We did move almost two months ago from northwest WY to central Louisiana so the environment is definitely wetter(but Tundra is a firm believer in A/C)! And I had to switch his food because Canidae is not sold here. I put him on Purina Pro Plan (I bought the Performance by mistake and he definitely doesn't need the extra calories). The one difference I seem to notice in ingredients between the two is that the Purina line has corn and/or wheat which the Canidae didn't. I did mention it to the vet that we had been on a different food for almost two months, but she didn't think that was the cause. He doesn't show any indications of being itchy or licking his feet, etc. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
Ear Infection
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If that's his first ear infection, and first corn, I'd try changing his food to corn and wheat free. Might want to go soy free too. Those are the three major allergens.
One other possibility is hypothyroidsim. That needs a blood sample, and a vet who knows Goldens need higher than low end values to do well. Hypothyroidism can be the cause of allergies and ear infections.
One other possibility is hypothyroidsim. That needs a blood sample, and a vet who knows Goldens need higher than low end values to do well. Hypothyroidism can be the cause of allergies and ear infections.
And recommendations on a corn and wheat free food? He was originally on Science Diet when we adopted him and didn't have any problems before we switched him and that did have corn in it. If he has problems with the infection clearing up, I'll mention the blood test for hypothyroidism to the vet.
Thanks for the info....Petsmart is about my only option other than grocery stores unless I want to drive about 2 hours (or order it and pay a chunk in shipping) to find Canidae. Guess I'll go to Petsmart and read labels!LOL
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Flint River Ranch isn't available in stores but they ship UPS free and no tax. The reason I'm not using it for Hank is they don't make a puppy formula.
http://www.flintriver.com
I know PetsMart sells Nutro.
Most of the premium brands are only available at the smaller pet shops. Sometimes feed stores carry premium dog foods.
I get Innova at Complete Pet Mart, they carry Canidae as well. Do you have one of those in your area?
http://www.flintriver.com
I know PetsMart sells Nutro.
Most of the premium brands are only available at the smaller pet shops. Sometimes feed stores carry premium dog foods.
I get Innova at Complete Pet Mart, they carry Canidae as well. Do you have one of those in your area?
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152 Posts
Hi Sylvia,
I agree with all of the above recommendations, and will add our experience, as well. Years ago, Coby had chronic ear infections. The vet suspected it was a wheat/corn allergy, so we switched his food to Wellness Core Ocean formula. And, we discovered he suffered from hypothyroidism. So, between the diet change and the pills, he was doing well. A couple of months ago, he started to pick at his food, and I thought maybe he needed a change. I slowly switched him to Innova Evo grain-free, but it was chicken based. In less than a week, both ears were in terrible shape. A week on the Mometamax and a slow switch back to Wellness did the trick. I'm not pushing Wellness, but suggesting that it was the protein source that caused the ears to go wonky. Maybe others here have had similar results regarding the protein source, or maybe Coby is unique~! At any rate, just something else for you to consider.
Good luck to you and Tundra. I hope his ears clear up soon.
I agree with all of the above recommendations, and will add our experience, as well. Years ago, Coby had chronic ear infections. The vet suspected it was a wheat/corn allergy, so we switched his food to Wellness Core Ocean formula. And, we discovered he suffered from hypothyroidism. So, between the diet change and the pills, he was doing well. A couple of months ago, he started to pick at his food, and I thought maybe he needed a change. I slowly switched him to Innova Evo grain-free, but it was chicken based. In less than a week, both ears were in terrible shape. A week on the Mometamax and a slow switch back to Wellness did the trick. I'm not pushing Wellness, but suggesting that it was the protein source that caused the ears to go wonky. Maybe others here have had similar results regarding the protein source, or maybe Coby is unique~! At any rate, just something else for you to consider.
Good luck to you and Tundra. I hope his ears clear up soon.
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677 Posts
I agree that it can be related to food, usually grains. But many goldens and other floppy earred dogs are just prone to ear infections. Casey gets them periodically. He is on a grain free food (Origen), and the infections (also yeast) seem unrelated to any activities. The vet has given us hydrocortisone drops to put in a couple times a week as a preventative. I have also started to clean his ears with vinegar and tea tree oil to create an acidic environment that the yeast doesn't like. Since I've started that, about 5 months ago, his ears have been very good. Good luck!
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My sister in law had ear problems with her golden. He was constantly getting ear infections. She switched him from a chicken based dog food to one that is lamb based and hasn't had a problem in years. She swears it was the chicken. Either it was actually the chicken or he just outgrew his infections.
Thanks for all the suggestions. We went to Petsmart today and I got a small bag of the Nutro Ultra Holistic. When talking to the salesgirl who seemed knowledgeable (her bulldog has food issues so she was sympathetic!LOL), she said this Nutro would be the closest to the Canidae which did seem to be the case when I compared the main ingredients of them. She also told me that the Tractor Supply store has a frequent buyer discount on Nutro and Petsmart doesn't.LOL She gave me a $2 coupon too. So we'll see how Tundra does on the Nutro...usually changing food doesn't bother his stomach at all and now if we can those ears cleared up! He's definitely not shaking his head much at all, but we've got till Friday to use the medicine.
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