one protein source vs. multiple protein sources

[cavkingcharlesx3]

my cavy is currently on the Canidae ALS (with lamb, chicken, turkey, fish). He has ears that can be problematic sometimes (but not infections) and i have heard that feeding a food w/ one protein source (such as the Canidae ALS with chicken or lamb) can help with this rather than feeding a multiple protein source food.

is this in fact true?

 

[Herschel]

my cavy is currently on the Canidae ALS (with lamb, chicken, turkey, fish). He has ears that can be problematic sometimes (but not infections) and i have heard that feeding a food w/ one protein source (such as the Canidae ALS with chicken or lamb) can help with this rather than feeding a multiple protein source food.

is this in fact true?

If the ear problem is due to an allergy, then feeding the Chicken and Rice or Lamb and Rice formula might help.

Herschel ear problems for a while and I used the "Vet Solutions" brand ear cleaner. He hated it and I felt bad that I had to clean them so often, but I kept getting all sorts of crud out so I insisted on cleaning them.

Turns out, the "Vet Solutions" stuff was just making the problem worse. I skeptically tried "Blue Power Wash" and have been amazed. I've gone from cleaning his ears every other day to cleaning them once/month. I used to scrape out all sorts of black stuff, now nothing comes out at all.

http://itsfortheanimals.com/BLUE.HTM

 

[cavkingcharlesx3]

oh wow, i use the "vet solutions" cleaner also. i didn't know it makes it worse.
i found this cleaner that uses aloe vera, and i'm also thinking about going back to malaseb because i heard this works very well. i have a bottle of malaseb left over from before, but it's expired, so i don't know if i can use it or not. it expired 11/30/2006
i personally dont' remember how well it worked

http://www.revivalanimal.com/product.asp?pn=26-052
this is the one that uses aloe vera

i also found this all natural cleanser from a place called cybercanine
http://www.cybercanine.com/shop/earcleaner.htm

i probably should order something new and stop using the vet solutions next week.

in the meantime, should i continue with the vet solutions? i also heard that 50% apple cider vinegar and 50% water also helps. Also, cooled green tea?

eek, so much information!

i will also look into that blue power wash, i heard it's very effective. the only thing i'm worried about is the boric acid, i heard it's roach killer?

 

[Herschel]

in the meantime, should i continue with the vet solutions? i also heard that 50% apple cider vinegar and 50% water also helps. Also, cooled green tea?

eek, so much information!

i will also look into that blue power wash, i heard it's very effective. the only thing i'm worried about is the boric acid, i heard it's roach killer?

The 50% apple cider vinegar trick kind of works. The side effect is that your dog's ears smell like vinegar all of the time. Never heard of cooled green tea...

Dr. Fosters and Smith has one that supposedly works, but it has salicylic acid and I think that causes irritation and dryness. After my experience with Vet Solutions, I don't trust any of the big commercial cleaners.

Boric acid kills roaches but is mainly harmless to pets. "Boric acid is deadly to cockroaches, but is low in toxicity to people, pets and other nontarget animals. It is also odorless and contains no volatile solvents."
-http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef614.asp

I still vote for Blue Power Wash.

 

[cavkingcharlesx3]

http://www.revivalanimal.com/product.asp?pn=26%2D052[/url]
this is the one that uses aloe vera

i also found this all natural cleanser from a place called cybercanine
http://www.cybercanine.com/shop/earcleaner.htm

do you have any opinions on these cleansers?

also, this one:
http://www.biconet.com/pets/earWashDry.html
this is all natural also.

And anything about the expired Malaseb?

 

[Herschel]

The Aloe Vera looks nice but prolonged tea tree oil application could cause irritation. I really don't know if the Echinacea has a purpose other than the appeal to people.

The AloCetic product looks nice. It would essentially have the same results as using 50% apple cider vinegar.

Malaseb Flush is another one of those proprietary veterinary products that I don't trust.

Your goal should be to find the source of the ear gunk and stop the problem. These cleaners will all help get rid of the gunk, but I don't know if they will prevent more from forming (it isn't in the best interest of the manufacturers for you to stop buying the product). Are you sure your dog doesn't have ear mites? What does the discharge look like? Is it just cerumen accumulation?

 

[cavkingcharlesx3]

yeah i'm positive my dog doesn't have ear mites. he doesn't have those coffee grinds in his ears, and he's definitely not scratching at them. his problem is that his ears can get very damp. however, it doesn't smell very much (except after we put cleanser in, it smells like cleanser after that) and his discharge is not brown/black. i'm pretty sure it is not an ear infection, he's had those before and he was itching like crazy and the gunk was dark brown, which it is not now. i'm just looking for a good cleanser so that we can effectively prevent ear infections. by cerumen you mean earwax right? the stuff in his ears actually kind of looks like human ear wax...thanks for your help!

 

[Romy]

I was always told that you should avoid using products on your dog's ears if they aren't having a problem with mites or disease, as it could disrupt the pH and whatnot, then start actually causing problems. Anybody know if this is correct or not?

Maybe when his ears are moist you can just use some cotton balls to wick up the extra moisture, without putting any cleaners in there? That's how we always cleaned our dog's ears and they never had any problems with them.

 

[Herschel]

I was always told that you should avoid using products on your dog's ears if they aren't having a problem with mites or disease, as it could disrupt the pH and whatnot, then start actually causing problems. Anybody know if this is correct or not?

Maybe when his ears are moist you can just use some cotton balls to wick up the extra moisture, without putting any cleaners in there? That's how we always cleaned our dog's ears and they never had any problems with them.

Right on. I agree 100%.

 

[cavkingcharlesx3]

ok, that's a good idea. my mom actually guessed that if we aren't having problems, we should just stop using the cleanser. she guesses overcleaning = making it worse. that totally makes sense.

i will try just the cotton balls! thanks for all the help