Shih Tzu ear yeast infection: OTC remedies when vet meds fail?

Question

Hi I have a shitzu who has been having problems with her ears for a while. The vet she was seeing was let go from the practice and I'm taking her to this vet the new one two times already and it cost me a fortune and the medication she's giving her isn't working. Is there anything I can do OTC to help her? I can't afford to keep going to the vet. I believe it's a yeast infection in her ear it smells and she gets really aggravated easily now. Pet's info: Dog | Shih Tzu | Female | spayed | 10 lbs

Ann Dion, DVM · Accepted Answer

Hello. I am sorry that Annabelle is having issues with her ears. If you continually use products on and off, and don't do a full round of anti-fungals/antibiotics, then you can breed a resistant colony of bacteria or fungus, so be very careful about how you use medications. Shitzu's unfortunately are prone to ear issues. There are a few things you can try. I would get an ear cleaner (no medications), that is alcohol based (Epi-Otic is my favourite) from the pet store. I would clean the ears very well with this, and most importantly dry them out very well afterwards. I would do this once a day for about 10 days. If the infection isn't too bad, you can likely treat it just with cleaning and keeping the ears dry, and then once a week clean the ears and dry them in order to prevent future infections. Some people will use a hair-elastic or schrunchie to keep the ears up during the day to keep air-flow going. Also, having the hair plucked out of the ears when grooming can help, as some dogs have more than normal amounts of hair that traps moisture. The yeast typically grows secondary to moisture being trapped in the ears. If the ears are very bad and thickened, sometimes the best thing to do is just have surgery to open up the ear canals (called a TECABO (total ear canal ablation and bulla osteotomy)). This is expensive but a long term fix, so in the end can save money. If she won't let you clean the ears out now, it may require some pain meds to allow for the first couple cleanings. Make sure you get any pain medications from a vet as human products can be very dangerous and fatal if given inappropriately. Good luck with Annabelle!

Shih Tzu ear yeast infection: OTC remedies when vet meds fail?

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