Antibiotics = yeast overgrowth? Ear/ paw issues....ugh!
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Antibiotics = yeast overgrowth? Ear/ paw issues....ugh!
Submitted by ArchimedesMommy on April 21, 2010 - 12:40amOkay, so Meaty suffers from CHRONIC yeast infections of his ears....EVERY time, they culture the "gunk",
it's usually ALWAYS yeast, here we go
with drops again.....which are almost IMPOSSIBLE to get in his cute ears, and believe me, we've tried **EVERYTHING!!!** Meaty
is just SO strong, and when we are able to grab him really well to get the drops in, I'm so afraid we're gonna either choke
him or break his neck from holding him so hard!!! 
The last time he needed drops, (which was VERY recently!) I had
no choice but to take him to the vet EVERY day and the staff instilled them for me--thank goodness!
Here's the part where I get ***MAD***---recently, I was forced to take him to a different vet because his regular AWESOME
bully-vet was out of town----he was put on TWO antibiotics for folliculitis and interdigital cysts....(Doxycycline 300 mg once
a day, plus Niacinamide 500 mg once a day for a month) it didn't occur to me at
the time that the anitibiotics could cause an overgrowth of yeast, and WHY didn't the vet suggest I feed him some
YOGURT every day when he KNOWS he had JUST gotten over yet ANOTHER bad yeast ear infection??? It TICKS ME OFF
because it's the same with humans....doctors/ pharmacists/ nurses don't tell people that it's a VERY good idea to
take yogurt along w/ an antibiotic!!?? arrgghh!!! I'm not saying this round of TWO antibiotics caused this new infection,
because he does have them ALL THE TIME.....it just would've been nice if the vet had suggested yogurt---!!!
Ugh....and he is STILL licking his paws furiously after over 2 weeks on antibiotics, and his interdigital areas
are redder than ever . I have also read here that MANY of you
soak your bully's paws in Epsom salts----yea, there's NO WAY Meaty would let his paws stay in a soak---).
I am
even starting to wonder if the flat/ VERY red/ approx. 2 inch area under his chin was actually folliculitis....? I HATE
doubting this vet, but also---again, after over 2 weeks of antibiotics, the chin looks EXACTLY the same
All I know is, he's going to his "bully" vet today 
I've given him Benadryl for his absolute misery with the ears,
will start feeding him plain yogurt with active cultures, and also change his food (AGAIN) in case that is what's
causing these chronic infections.
I would LOVE to know what any of you have also done to end your doggie's ear misery? I was reading today about
people applying Monistat cream to the outer ear......Some use a vinegar wash every week.....some use Hydrogen
Peroxide......Our vet's theory is keep the ears DRY though....no rinses.....what do y'all think?
yeast
hey all
I spoke to a food rep at the bulldog beauty pagent awhile back, they have been finding a link between potato (reg n sweet) and yeast growth. my "steeler" who is 8 months old had severe yeast in his ears and terrible tear stains. i have had him on quite a few different foods with no change. i am now giving him supplements specifically for yeast "nyzmes.com" and they ARE working. i switched his food to evo herring and salmon in the am and raw at night. his tear stains are lessening and the ear gunk is now almost non exsistent. my two year old has none of these issues. the program is intensive but i can now say after only 2 weeks its making a difference. you might want to do some research and see if it is something you might want to try. my dogs also get a daily ester C supplement. good luck.
here are my thoughts....
when you go to the vet....your going to in 99% of the time get antibotics....do you need them no no no...but you will get them...have a swelling well your going to get pred...
their not going to make money by telling you get a bottle of witch hazel that will clear up the chin problem...use some diluted tea tree oil to wipe those ears....are they??? no their not?
yes antibotics will casue a yeast infection to get worse...yes ear drops will make ear infections worse if liquid is left in the ear...
get some probitics to help make good bacteria that antibotics destroy...if you have allergies i would not use yougurt becasue the sugars will make a yeast infection and idc worse....
put your dog on 1000mg of vit c this will increase your ph level and kill off bacteria,,,,
cod liver oil is the best for omegas...and this will help with the idc...
good luck....
thanks, I'm going to try the witch hazel for his chin....(nm)
Becky---
what happens with antibiotics is that they can kill the normal "flora" of our intestinal/ urinary tracts---flora is "good" bacteria
They flushed his swollen ear and I KNOW that brought him relief! 
that we need/already have in our body--the antibiotics just make it overgrow. Example, a woman takes antibiotics for a UTI, the UTI is cleared up, but then ends up with a nasty yeast
infection. Eating yogurt or taking pre-biotics can help, but as a friend of mine experienced recently, even though she ate yogurt every day while taking an antibiotic, she
still ended up with a yeast infection---ugh!
Anyway, as far as our sweet Meaty---turns out he had very little yeast in his ear this time--it was mainly streptococci. He's 16 months
old, and the vet thinks once he turns 3, when his immune system is more mature, this will stop. His bully had the same problem until
age 3....I am also going to change his diet to see if that helps. I've also read on other sites that some people apply Monistat (found in
women's healthcare aisle) cream to their dogs' ears externally.
I am SO mad, because the "OTHER" vet I took him to weeks ago who diagnosed the redness to his chin as folliculitis was wrong. I
always doubted him, but figured I can't doubt everything he says just because he's not a bully specialist like our regular vet. Sure
enough, our "good" vet told me he has what SOOO many bullies have under theirr chins---red mange--totally normal.
As far as the interdigital cysts, the vet also said they're normal and they can be treated w/ meds or not---either way, they
go away after a couple months.
I just want my sweet Meaty to feel better---and he does!
Hopefully the antibiotics will take care of the rest....
Mason also has had the ear yeast problem and yeast in general
He was on natural balance sweet potato and fish and I switched him last week to Bravo raw food and took him to the vet. She gave me some MalOtic ointment for his ears and told me to use the douxo chlorhexidine pads in his ears which actually have really helped. Mason didn't just have yeast in his ears either he actually had it on his stomach and everything so she put him on Ketaconazole too because it was so bad and I bathed him in the duoxo chlorhexidine shampoo and am using the spray in it also. After almost 2 weeks (knock on wood) he is doing awesome and no yeast! He is also on acidophilus now too in the pill form because he can't eat dairy products so hoping for no more yeast! Good luck with Meaty!
thanks, Pat....hope your pug gets better! (nm)
I am going through the ear thing with my pug and...
he gets them regularly.
they are using a different drop this time and then in the future the vet suggested using it all the time.but not near as often all the time to stop them from coming back. you have to watch the infections in the ears...it can result in deafness in dogs if not treated properly.
the problem that I have and i believe the reason for this is..I have one dog that is always cleaning everyone else..and that likely just makes matter worse. she is the only one of my dogs that had yet to have an ear infection.
good luck with Meaty
wish I could be of more help to you
the vet feels the infections are a result of the way his ears are placed on his head and the way the folds are...
I dunno..it just is a pain in the butt
hope the continual use of the drops will help this out for my pug
forgot to add...
i hope your meaty feels better soon =)
i was wondering
how my cooper could get an ear infection while he was on antibiotics?? he was on cephalexin for his chin bumps & developed what an ear infection. i bet it was the yeast. i didn't realize this happens! am i understanding this correctly? when they're on ab, the yeast can get out of control? interesting-anyone's thoughts if this is correct or not? hmm....