Natural Yoghurt supplement for itchy ears?

[Hi From NZ]

My reasearch on old threads here tells me to assume a yeast infection at this stage and this seems to be the easiest remedy? It's the inside skin of each ear flap, not the 'intestesting' curly bits toward the inner ear that seem to be driving Bruce to distraction, poor boy. He's got a raw-looking but not bleeding area inside each of those ear flaps.

I remember the owners of the sire telling me he (Dodge - the sire) had a tendency to scratch his ears a lot. Is this a possible clue to something else - hereditary maybe??

Any advise I'd appreciate. I'd like to treat/manage this naturally if I can.

[Caney Creek]

Allergies possibly. It's hereditary. Doesn't sound like yeast; that would be more inside the ear, smelly and very yucky looking so if you can stick a q-tip in there and it comes out not looking so bad, it's not yeast. The raw skin you mentioned could just be that his ears are inflamed from whatever he might be allergic to (or it could be from him scratching )

Honestly, I just took Caney to the vet 2 days ago, POSITIVE she had a yeast infection -- nope, just allergies But I guess it helped to ease my mind that nothing was actually infected. Itchy ears was one of her symptoms (and VERY sensitive to touch). She's on prednisone now to control the itching, and I'm working on doing everything I can to keep the place clean and free of possible allergens and irritants. Ugh.

You might try giving him benadryl for a few days. Antihistamines aren't always enough to combat allergies (at least not in Caney's particular case, since they'd gotten pretty bad) but you might give it a try to see if that helps. If so, there's your answer But you have to give it consistently for at least a few days, maybe longer (something I didn't know) for it to actually start "fixing" his overall itchiness.

Fish oil pills (or omega 3 pills), 2 or 3 daily, will also benefit his skin and coat overall.

[gmacleod]

You should visit a vet for diagnosis. However you choose to treat the problem is up to you, but you need someone with medical knowledge to actually diagnose it in the first instance. Otherwise, you might end trying to treat ear mites or fungus with something that's only any good for yeast - and end up making things worse. In short - its not safe to just assume its yeast.

If it does turn out to be a yeast infection, yoghurt/probiotics can be helpful, but this is more of a preventative measure than a cure (especially when it's established infection).

[Hi From NZ]

Thanks you guys, I hadn't twigged to the connection between yeast and yoghurt (I'm a woman, of course i should've known that, lol!) so I think I might be on the wrong track as you've both said. Caney Creek, you're right, it's not IN his ear, they don't smell bad or ooze anything, and they're nice and clean. Not sensitive to touch either. It's just the skin on the inside of the floppy bits of his ears and he scratches at them quite a lot. I'll run it by the vet when I take him in to get him neutered. Nothing severe enough to worry about, but I thought if I could introduce something into his diet, or even a herbal remedy/ tincture to rub on this skin could alleviate the annoyance for him. He may just be one of those dogs that itches?

[Caney Creek]

Originally Posted by Hi From NZ

He may just be one of those dogs that itches?

I'd call that allergies But it's definitely worth getting the vet's opinion before you start treating him for anything specific.