I have a 7-year-old Golden Retriever who seems to have chronic ear infections (mostly yeast) since we moved to the South. Since he was a puppy, I’ve been giving him Brewer’s Yeast & Garlic tablets for skin & coat, and also as a flea deterrent. Could the tablets be causing increased problems with his ears?
Can I ask – what is your Golden eating? Kibble, canned, raw? If commercially prepared foods, what foods? For me personally, diet is always where I start – it seems like eight out of ten times a diet change (if warranted) corrects problems like this.
My opinion? I don’t think the brewer’s yeast and garlic tablets are causing the problem. How often do you clean his ears? Do you use any type of wash or product to clean them?
Better yet eliminate potential irritants which would begin with diet and
supplements. Brewer’s yeast is a common allergen. Vets are all too quick to offer relief of symptoms without looking for cause. Grains, sugars, and starches from carbohydrate laden processed foods would be a good place to begin but a vet is not going to do that!
My friends’s Golden’s had the same problem. She is fortunate her vet offered us Zymox and it works great for her. I check her ears often and if the odor continues a couple days, I grab the Zymox. Rosie is 67# and extremely good at accepting exams or treatments and it only takes her 1/2 an eye dropper daily to each ear for 7-10 days.
It comes in a small squeeze bottle but we put it in an eye-dropper bottle because one drop from the eye dropper is less irritating to a dogs ears than the drip-drip-drip from the original bottle (and way easier on us). Ask your vet if this might be a good choice for your dog.
This has been great for my dog and your vet will give you more details. Here’s the info I included w/another subject a while back…
Zymox OTIC Enzymatic Solution is sold exclusive to veterinarians but you can check it on their web site below or do an on-line search by product name (is distributed to vet supply companies such as Butler). If your vet agrees with the Zymox, do not clean the ears during treatment as that may disrupt the enzyme action. Zymox is offered with and without steroids.
I’ve also used Zymoc for another Golden with great success. Ask for your vet’s opinion.
Thanks for the feedback. I’ve been using Zymox Otic for about a year now — great stuff! (And it’s available online as well — I’ve found it for a lot less than what the vet sells it for.)
I changed Cosmo’s diet several months ago, as he was starting to vomit bile, and it turned out that his food had tons of wheat in it. I switched him to Premium Edge, which is a better quality food. But the ear issues (mostly yeast infections) remain. Should I discontinue the Brewer’s Yeast & Garlic tablets? If so, for how long?
I’d discontinue the Premium Edge! Still full of grains and no doubt contributing to your dogs chronic ear problems. Have you considered a raw diet? You will never get a handle on his ear issues while continuing to feed him a grain based diet.
I just came back from our homeopathic vet. Both of our goldens have this rusty colored gunk in their right ears. The vet says that when they have issues with their right ears, it points to the digestive system, liver and metabolism, if its the left ear, then its usually issues with the hormones.
Since both Goldens have it, it may be coming from too much protein.
Beef seems to be what most dogs have problems digesting 
I’ll try omitting the beef, and feed the rest of the stuff, cause I don’t know what I should be changing in their diet, its very diverse with a 75:25 or 80:20. Vet says I should lower the meats and increase in fruits and veggies.
Here is a perfect example to back up my statement last night about
discussing diet with a vet! Regardless of how “homeopathic” or “holistic” they are…and BTW this doesn’t sound like a homeopath at all with that right ear/left ear theory….they have no a clue about diet!
Your vet’s thinking is backwards. It is not protein that feeds yeast, it is starches and sugars from carbohydrates. The problem isn’t the beef, it’s the fruits, veggies and grains. Changing this diet would be quite easy….increase meat and eliminate the fruits and veggies totally.
Dogs are carnivores. Their normal diet is large ungulates which consist of mostly meat (up to 80), around 10% edible bone and 10% organs. That’s it!
They do not eat the stomach contents, have no need for fruits or veggies. There is no requirement or benefit to carbohydrates. There is not “too much protein” in a raw diet. It is the perfect amount of
protein when fed as nature designed.
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