Warning: Risk of Deafness from Ear Medications

[Cara's Mom]

Had an English setter boy a few years ago with constant ear problems. Vet gave Otomax and when he went deaf, it was blamed on chronic ear infection.

[BestBuddy]

Note to self-don't let Buddy use the internet!
I'm sure he read this thread and said "I can do that".

Well Buddy has an ear problem that I tried to treat with Epi-Otic and a herbal ear cleaner containig tea tree oil and aloe vera. It seemed to work because large amounts of wax came out with the herbal and the epi otic flushed it out but it became ulcerated and I think the herbal irritated so he had blood coming out of his ear. Off to the vet and we are treating with Canaural. Within 2 days it is all healed up and the only down side is his BG's are up a bit maybe because the ointment has prednisolone in it. I don't know if it is just age or the diabetes but we seem to have a permenant booking at the vet.
Jenny & Buddy

[k9diabetes]

Another link Alison posted at the Cushings board:

http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proce...6566&O=Generic

[Bichon Mum]

Hi All

Gosh that is strange as Zeno had hearing when he could hear a pin drop just a while back then kind of overnight went deaf, then it came back then went.

I always thought it was ear infection / drops related.

Is there anything to help or is there nothing that can be done (he is old but it was so sudden it really seemed like the infections he kept getting),

Big hugs

Sharon x

[k9diabetes]

Hi Sharon,

If it's coming and going, then I would tend to suspect something like blockages, infection, inflammation. The antibiotics, as far as I know, cause completely permanent hearing loss.

Natalie

[O'Riley]

Thank you very much for posting this important alert. 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?

[Patty]

Hi Rosey,
Your vet should be able to see the eardrum with an otoscope.

They can also take a swab sample to look under the microscope and to be sent to the lab for culture to determine whether your dog has a bacterial or fungal infection - or both.

Ali's yeast infections did smell "yeasty." There are medications that tackle both bacterial and fungal infections.

I'm not aware of specific systemic antibiotics that when dosed properly cause hearing loss. I'd be interested in reading up on it though if you know where you read about it. I do think it's mainly the topical meds that are the risk.

As far as treatment options available, I would evaluate on a case by case basis. Questions like: What type if infection are you dealing with? What the potential cause is? And from the culture report, what medication is the organism sensitive to?

Rosey, does your dog have frequent infections? You could post about it in his thread and maybe get some more specific answers.

Patty

[eileen]

As some of our diabetic dogs get UTI's, Mildred gets recurrent ear infections instead. Her's are treated with using Baytril Otic which is a combination of an antibiotic and antifungal drop.

[k9diabetes]

I personally am suspicious that a perforated ear drum is needed for this to happen - I just don't think there are that many dogs with perforated ear drums. So I have always worried that an intact ear drum may not be enough to protect them.

As others mentioned, the vet should be able to view the ear drum as long as there is not too much inflammation or crusty stuff in the ear. Sometimes that does obstruct the view.

And I believe the risk is greatest when ointments are placed deep into the ear canal, where they can come into contact with the inner ear.

We used systemic oral antibiotics when we could and if we had to use a topical we used it sparingly on the outer part of the ear only, keeping it out of the canal.

Natalie

[ozzi]

This is an interesting thread and made me start to wonder about gentamycin since it is a possible treatment for Kobi in the future should his eye meds stop working to reduce pressure.

In people, gentamycin IV carries the risk of permanent deafness, and it's not reversible in any way. I don't know how it works in dogs, but I'm wondering if Kobi might be at risk for becoming deaf with an injection of gentomycin in his eye. I will definitely check it out with the opthamologist before making any final treatment decisions, but this thread started to get me thinking about it. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Kevin