Cocker Spaniel Ears

Benny's ears have finally improved. He suffered ear infections since July, especially in his right ear. We took him to the vet a number of times, and I faithfully cleaned his ears and administered three different topical medications. We were treating him for both bacterial infection and yeast.

I don't know exactly what did the trick but after his ear got noticeably worse and Dr. Vick said we may have to consider surgical removal of the ear canal (which would leave him deaf in that ear), I decided to try every trick I could come up with including:

• Continue ear cleaning and prescribed medication twice daily, even though it had failed to work for five months. It does lessen the itchiness.
• Avoid likely food allergens. He was already on a limited ingredient diet because regular dog food makes him itch. I decided to be more selected in his treats - this meant no more dried chicken strips. 
• I fed him occasional scoops of plain yogurt to add beneficial bacteria to his diet.
• Changed his water supply to Shenandoah Spring Water, which I already had on hand in 3-gallon bottles. My reasoning here is that our tap water might possibly be contaminated with pseudomonas (previously mentioned in a July post) which is known to cause canine ear infections. And even with a narrow bowl, cockers get their long ears damp while drinking.
• I closed the heat vent that Ben likes to lie on. This was Frank's suggestion and although I was skeptical, the vet said that the extra heat could encourage yeast to grow. 
• I sterilized his drinking bowl and added a few drops of colloidal silver to his drinking water from time to time. It's antibacterial and does not seem to cause yeast like many prescription antibiotics. 

I wish I could tell you which item did the trick, but the infection appears to be gone. Hooray for Ben!