ladyjane, thank you very much for this info. I was going in this direction tonight as I realized that 1) my vet is not helping and 2) I may be the cause of this all along...although I don't see how it's happened to just one ear. But some more things are happening that are pointing me at what she's eating:
Firstly, I think I
am cleaning the ear too much. But mostly to keep it dry. I will stop for now, unless it really gets nasty in there.
Secondly, have any of you had experience with CET oral maintenance chews? Apparently these have yeast in them, and I think (as much as Jenna loves to chew them and they're supposed to be good for her teeth, which are terrible) we're going to have to stop using them. The company seems to have switched formulas in these recently, because Jenna would not eat the newest bag we got about a month ago at first. Now she can't get enough of the darned things and carries them around in her mouth and when I have one in my hand she's becoming snarky about getting it from me, instead of gently playing with it like she used to. I try to keep her to one a day, but still...I think this may have built up in her system and caused the ear problem (which could've still been exacerbated by the snow, but who knows at this point?)
There's not much discharge/ear wax today at all. The doc tells me she has 'alleriges' and insists I have to put her on a special diet. Can you guess which one?
These people are Hills fanatics. So was my last vet. This company must have a heck of a monopoly going here. I'm thinking the only reason now that Jenna isn't covered in sores is that I rinse her with apple cider vinegar after her baths. But lately she's getting stinky between her usual bathing times, and this, plus excessive eye discharge mostly on the right side and some tenderness in the belly area...oh yeah...it's beginning to add up.
Her diet consists of Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance canned food varieties (the most recent that she loves is the bison/sweet potato, but I may have to keep that one from her) and Royal Canin YT 28 dry. She gets the moist in the morning and dry at night. It is not free fed, she gets very possessive of her food so I only give what she can eat immediately. The cats tend to try to snake it and I don't need a cat/yorkie fight at 3 AM because her crunchies have been hanging around and she decides to have a midnight snack.
Any thoughts and ideas would be most welcome. I know I can't treat her ears with vinegar while they're raw and irritated, but perhaps in future? Also, is Epi-Otic too strong for the infected ear? How do I keep it dry? Plus the doc gave me animax/panalog ointment to try instead of the mometamax for a few days, then I'm to call her again...which I may just not. I can see from what I've reasearched tonight that the steroidal method may be useless.
Uh-oh...and here's another symptom...for some reason she just dry heaved a bit lying next to me on my chair....I'm thinking her tummy is more upset than I realized, because this has also been going on for about the last week or so. Forgot to tell the doc that though.
Okay...I've rambled on enough. Any help would be most appreciated! Thank you all so much!
