O'Riley
05-31-2010, 01:11 PM
I'm grateful to Natalie and the K9Diabetes forum for posting this alert about common ear medications and their potential to do irreversible harm:
http://www.k9diabetes.com/forum/showthread.php?t=260&page=2
After reading this alarming thread and the associated links, I have a lot of questions.
Does it take any great skill for a vet to see the eardrum and determine whether or not it's perforated/broken? Is this something a specialist should determine?
I'm confused about bacterial -vs- yeast ear infections. Are antibiotics used for bacterial infections, and antifungals used to treat yeast? I read that yeast infections have a strong odor and bacterial infections have no odor. For those of you who have experience with both types of ear infections, do you know whether this is true or not?
I also read that antibiotics given systemically can cause loss of hearing, but I don't know if this is true or not. Is it externally/directly applied antibiotic ointments and drops.... AND shots, pills, liquid antibiotics taken by mouth that put a dog at risk for becoming deaf?
If the eardrum is perforated, and the dog has the kind of infection that requires antibiotics, what are the treatment options?
~Rosey
http://www.k9diabetes.com/forum/showthread.php?t=260&page=2
After reading this alarming thread and the associated links, I have a lot of questions.
Does it take any great skill for a vet to see the eardrum and determine whether or not it's perforated/broken? Is this something a specialist should determine?
I'm confused about bacterial -vs- yeast ear infections. Are antibiotics used for bacterial infections, and antifungals used to treat yeast? I read that yeast infections have a strong odor and bacterial infections have no odor. For those of you who have experience with both types of ear infections, do you know whether this is true or not?
I also read that antibiotics given systemically can cause loss of hearing, but I don't know if this is true or not. Is it externally/directly applied antibiotic ointments and drops.... AND shots, pills, liquid antibiotics taken by mouth that put a dog at risk for becoming deaf?
If the eardrum is perforated, and the dog has the kind of infection that requires antibiotics, what are the treatment options?
~Rosey