It was a nightmare. At least to me, it was. I felt so stressed out and depressed over it. I couldn't talk or write about it, until now.
Rossi gal had an ear infection, which began in Oct 2012. All along, she had a skin issue, but she didn't have a problem with her ears until that fateful day in Oct 2012. I noticed her left ear canal looking sore. Stupidly, I used the herbal ear wash to clean her ear and that's it. She scratched at her ear hard, resulting in her whole ear becoming bloody and very inflamed. Wrong move. I shouldn't have used the damn ear wash on her, it worsened her ear's condition. This also marked the beginning of the nightmare.
Between ears and skin, I would rather deal with the skin. At least, I can see her skin and target the rashes. But I was unable to delve deep into her ear canal. The ears are like an abyss to me. I feel so lost.
I got the vet to check out her left ear and she was diagnosed with a yeast infection. She was prescribed Surolan ear drops. As expected, it contains steroids and for this very reason, I refuse to use it on her. Actually, I just wanted a diagnosis of her ear from the vet, not the meds.
I tried to manage her ear infection on my own, using silver sol, internally & externally. I fed her silver sol, flushed her left ear and cleared out a lot of wax daily for a long time. Her ear flap & lobe were also very flaky. I was also removing a lot of flakes & wiping her flap+lobe with silver sol daily. I used up many bottles of silver sol. But there was no improvement. Silver sol didn't work for her.
As time goes by, her ear's condition deteriorated. She was feeling very uncomfortable, shaking, rubbing & scratching her ear all the time. A lot of furs also fell out from her ear to the extent of being nearly bald. Her ear was so sore, till her canal became narrowed too. It really pained my heart to see her like this. I was very upset and angry with myself for my inability to improve her ear's condition. I blamed myself for what happened to her ear too.
The turning point came when I came across Dr. Dobias' blog on ear infections. In his entries, he wrote on the causes of ear infections and how to manage the ears naturally. One point in his blog that strike me was, excessive cleaning can cause ear infections and ears dun need to be cleaned frequently. He also listed down a step-by-step guide of the natural ear treatment. I decided to follow his advice of not cleaning the ears unnecessarily, as well as his steps in the ear treatment.
http://peterdobias.com/blogs/blog/11014029-natural-treatment-of-ear-infections-in-dogs-part-1
http://peterdobias.com/blogs/blog/11014025-ear-infections-in-dogs-natural-approach-to-treatment-part-2
I ordered the products that he listed in the steps of his natural ear treatment.
I started Rossi gal on a 2-month liver cleanse (Livton Complex), while giving her Green Min concurrently. At the end of the cleanse, I started to give her zyflamend (an anti-inflammatory supp) & continuing Green Min. After 1+month on zyflamend, I added on Zn Otic (a natural ear solution).
His ear treatment works for Rossi gal. It takes time and a lot of patience, but it works! Her ear infection has persisted over a year and finally, things are looking up. I'm overjoyed to see the significant improvements in her left ear and so grateful to Dr Dobias' blog that has helped her so much.
Thank God for Dr Dobias! I like his perspective, which is so different from the conventional point of view. His approach is natural & gentle, working from the inside out, rather than loading the body with meds. I personally find Dr Dobias' blog very insightful & his methods are definitely worth a shot.
I have taken pictures of her left ear to monitor the progress, as follows:
 |
| This is the very first pic I took, though the infection started in 2012. It was inflamed, swollen & flaky with black pigmentation spread out on her flap. The skin on her flap was hard & rough. Eventually, alot of the furs around her ear dropped off too. |
 |
| The latest pic taken of her ear. Looking so much better. :) |
Overall view, Before and After:
The inflammation & swollenness have significantly subsided, the flakiness has reduced alot, the black pigmentation is fading off, the skin on her flap has softened & smoothened out and more furs are growing out.
The journey was not an easy one. It took so long for Rossi gal's ear to see improvements. I was so worried that her ear was not gonna heal. By looking at her ear then, I really felt hopeless. Thank God this wasn't the case! Thank God that her ear is on the road to recovery. Hoping to see her nice pink ear back soon. ^_^
At the same time, I will also keep up with the supps & do whatever is necessary to maintain the condition of her ear. Seriously, I do not want to go through the nightmare again.
