[Dailydrool] Pseudomonas and Ears

[Jennifer Martin]

I feel like it is time for me to finally chime in officially on the issue of pseudomonas ears.  Usually the ear infection does not start out with pseudomonas in it.  It starts out as a usual staph or yeast infection.  You are following your vet's instructions to the letter.   You are taking the dog back every two weeks and despite everything, the dog's ears are looking worse.  Then a few months into this pseudomonas shows up.  Well over 90% of the time, when pseudomonas shows up the cause is an underlying food allergy.  I have a vet that does the RAST blood testing and I have had very good results with it over the years (6 dogs tested).  I know some people will prefer to go the dermatology route and elimination diet. That is fine too.  I just beg you to get the food testing done.  Keep in mind that it is extremely rare for a dog to have food allergies and no other allergies.  The really good news is if you catch this soon enough you can clear up the Pseudomonas before you get a resistant strain that won't respond to any treatment.  You will probably also find that some other annoying symptoms might just go away.

My two current dogs were very young when their allergy problems and ear problems started.  So, I have to rotate their food to try to help keep them from developing new allergies.  I was also told they will have to be retested because they were "too young" when they were tested.  That is fine.  I was battling constant ear infections.  Within 2 weeks of finding out what they were allergic to and getting them onto a food regiment suited for their needs, the ear infections were cleared up.  As a side bonus, Beauford's IBS completely cleared up and Bugsey quite throwing up after he ate.  We thought he was just eating too fast.

I do recommend a few things after figuring out what your dog is allergic to.  Keep in mind that dogs (and people) with allergic tendencies just don't do well with a lot of artificial additives in their food.  So I won't feed artificial colors and try to keep the preservatives as natural as possible.  Allergic dogs benefit from fatty acid suppliments.  I recommend fish oil, flax seed oil or hemp oil in that order depending on what your dog can tolerate.  I personally use two times the recommended amount on the label.  There is a LOT of research that shows the benefits of these Omega 3 fatty acid suppliments.  As a side note, they not only help with skin and ears, but arthritis.  I also keep mine on a probiotic.  There is not as much research, but some that shows these are beneficial.  So far I have found Geneflora to be the most cost effective for me.  It helps keep things in balance from a good bacteria/bad bacteria standpoint.  I put it on the food, not in the ears.  I would also work with your vet to establish a good preventative ear cleaning plan.  Unfortunately all my dogs do not do well on the same cleaners.  That would make life too simple.  If you are having this much trouble with ears, you have no business using blue ear treatment.  That is for dogs without serious ear issues that just need a decent cleaner to stay that way.  I am lucky and I have a vet who really works with me to come up with the maintanance plan.  Thanks to this plan and treating the allergies, we are staying in a lot better shape in ear infection department.

Jennifer, momslave to Beauford and Bugsey
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